Final answer:
The dominant theoretical framework for understanding the structures and practices of police organizations is police administration theory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The dominant theoretical framework for understanding the structures and practices of police organizations is A. police administration theory.
In sociology, a few theories provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life. The theoretical frameworks that have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Police administration theory falls under the framework of structural functionalism, which suggests that societal power and structure are predicated on cooperation, interdependence, and shared goals or values.