Contradictory institutional missions reflect contradictory societal impulses, not incoherent staff.

Evidence

Criminal justice institutions are oriented toward punishment and rehabilitation not because judges and corrections officials are simpleminded but because the society has impulses toward reforming as well as deterring criminals. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1195

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘goal ambiguity’ as institutionalized ambivalence inherited from society, which the reader needs to track how discretion converts it into practice.
• XREF: connects to: Ambiguous institutional goals persist because society refuses to abandon conflicting aspirations. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 1085; Vague agency goals reflect society’s own contradictions, not administrative sloppiness — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 1194

Broader Connections

• Vague agency goals reflect society’s own contradictions, not administrative sloppiness #corroborates (0.95) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1194