Example Of Critical Thinking On Ethics And Professional Behavior In The Administration Of Criminal Justice

Ethics is a branch of philosophy. The study of ethics involves questioning what is right and what is wrong. It involves making moral judgments on the do’s and don’ts with regard to various actions or behavior (Souryal, 2011). Ethics itself has three categories. The first, metaethics, deals with processes, language, structure and the thought process applied in the comprehension of ethical terms such as good and bad. The second branch, normative ethics focuses on individuals’ behavior and the setting of the bar as pertaining to conduct. The last branch, applied ethics, concerns itself with providing solutions to arising ethical problems, especially in cases of a professional nature such as in law or medicine (Souryal, 2011).This paper concerns itself with ethics in the US criminal justice system, and their link to professional conduct.
Ethics and professional behavior have a very close and inseparable relationship. This is because the administration of criminal justice involves an interaction with human beings whereas ethics involves an evaluation of situations, and selection of the best course of action from a moral point of view (Banks, 2004). Hence, people involved in criminal justice must understand ethics in order to make right choices. Criminal justice professionals are exposed to situations requiring them to employ authority or force on a daily basis. The law, however, imposes responsibilities on them with regard to this use of force. Since most of these responsibilities are of a moral nature, understanding of ethics is thus crucial to these professionals.
Another area where ethics ties with professional behavior is that of policy issues in criminal justice. How decisions on punishment are made is vital from a moral standpoint. Questions on what is the most appropriate between rehabilitation and deterrence often create a dilemma for criminal justice staff like judges. For example, if an offender is unwilling to attend a drug rehabilitation program, a judge may face an ethical dilemma (Banks, 2004). Should the judge send the criminal to jail and deny them a chance of treatment or should he choose to rehabilitate the offender by forcing them to attend the rehabilitation.
Another area, where the understanding of ethics may guide professional conduct, is in knowing and analyzing the assumptions of the criminal justice system (Banks, 2004). This is especially so in areas where people usually don’t pay too much attention to these assumptions. For example, topics such as how crime and justice relate to each other or matters of equal opportunity in the criminal justice sector. Knowledge of ethics helps professionals to raise concerns over these issues. This may result in changes being made and hence, the accruing of benefits.
Understanding ethics allows one to distinguish right from wrong. Only through ethics can one be able to identify unethical behavior. Understanding of this unethical behavior creates sensitivity. This then allows one to have a moral compass that will guide professional behavior (Banks, 2004). Another example may be the case of a judge who is to try a single mother for a case like petty theft. The judge may jail the mother and be professionally right. However, whether it is morally right to do that is another matter altogether. In this case, an understanding of ethics would allow the judge to explore alternative options.
Critical thinking plays a big role in ethical decision-making. When faced with an ethical situation, it is normal to apply intuition in determining the course of action (Banks, 2004). However, intuition is not always the best choice to apply. Critical thinking makes use of tenets laid down by philosophy and morality. Critical thinking is reflective in nature and is also purpose driven. Ethics, on the other hand, relates to those rules of conduct that are recognized and universally accepted in a group or society. Ethics involves judging the best course of action, and so does critical thinking. That the two share a philosophical basis is only further proof of why they are inseparable. In both, personal bias is set aside, and the best solution is identified.
Ethics deals with issues of right and wrong, or of good and bad. It also focuses on behavior in any system. Hence, these principles must be incorporated in criminal justice work. Therefore, a training seminar for law enforcement officers would be an idea that holds great relevance. One of the areas that this seminar should cover is basic terms and concepts of ethics. This would be a critical part of the seminar because it would help an officer to understand what is meant by ethics exactly. Officers would be made to understand the scope and range of ethics. It would also familiarize them with the most important terms in ethics (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009).
The second area that could be covered in the seminar is ethics for the individual officer. This topic would cover what is ethical and unethical for an officer as an individual. This would encompass ethical conduct for officers both at work and outside work. It would also cover the potential areas of conflict or possible conflicts of interest between officers and ethics. It is important to cover this topic because law enforcement officers by nature of their occupation, are usually held to a higher standard by the community. The officers would be made to understand how their personal lives impact what they do and the perception of the force. Thus, unethical behavior would be defined, and officers could see the gray areas and then know the specific that is behaviors expected of them (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009).
The other aspect to cover is that of management responsibility in ethics (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009). This area would mainly target senior law enforcement officers. This is important because when ethical queries arise, it is the management who take the blame as much as the guilty parties. Officers would be taught on how to handle ethical situations when they arise. This would include what responses to make in case of media coverage. The officers would also be made aware of how ethical issues happening under their watch impact their own careers.
The fourth area would be a discussion of case studies. These case studies could be student generated or prepared cases. The importance of these studies is to give a real life setting to the topics discussed. It allows the participants to reconcile the theoretical and practical parts of ethics training (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009). The lessons drawn from these case studies could provide a template on which officers could base their actions in similar situations. The participants would also get to understand the relevance of ethics.
The fifth area would be the overall consequences of unethical behavior. This topic would address the outcomes of abuse and the potential for these occurring again (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009). This is important so that the law enforcement officers can understand how people in other branches of law enforcement are impacted or affected by unethical behavior. It could look at the impact on the correctional department, the defense and prosecution attorneys and the subculture resulting from it.
Ethical training would benefit both participants and the community at large since it would create an awareness of what ethics are. Implementation of ethical behavior would also create harmony between the law enforcement and the community. This implementation can only arise from having the training in the first place. Another benefit would be to create a strong ethical culture in law enforcement. This would take root and be adopted even by fresh recruits.

References

Banks, C. (2004). Criminal justice ethics: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications .
Souryal, S. S. (2011). Ethics in Criminal Justice: In Search of the Truth (5th ed.). Burlington: Anderson Publishing.
Wyatt-Nichol, H., & Franks, G. (2009). Ethics Training in Law Enforcement Agencies. Public Integrity, 39–50.