Honor Remediation
Capt Rubel
Distinguished Military
Professor of Ethics
How do we create an ethical culture of Integrity?
COMPLIANCE
• Review the rules
• Follow the
procedures, rules and
laws
• “Do this.”
• “Don’t do that.”
• Sometimes given by
a lawyer
• Repeat as often as
necessary
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•
•
•
TRAINING
•
DETERRENCE
“If I do that, I will get
punished. So I’m not
going to do that.”
To change moral
behavior, must have
clear, known and
consistent
consequences
Must have fair and
(sometimes) harsh
punishments
Standards and
punishments must be
seen by the group
Reward the good
PUNISHMENTS
EXTERNAL
DEVELOPMENT
• Develop our people in
Morals and character
• But…. They have to want
to improve themselves voluntarily
How do we do this?
• Help them understand
their morals and character
• Show them role
models
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•
•
Show them how to
improve
Give them tools
Challenge their own
morals and character (why
EDUCATION
did I just do that?)
INTERNAL
Goals of Remediation
• Help them understand the wrongness of their decision and actions
– “Did you know it was wrong?”
– “Yes, but….”
• Help them understand why they did what they did
– Help them reconstruct the moment of the bad decision.
– What was going on in their mind, their morals, their character at
that moment
– We make moral decisions all day long, but rarely think about
why we do what we do?
• Help them learn from this mistake, improve their moral decision
making and character, and go forward – as a better person
What are we looking for in the student (violator)?
1. Sincerity
– (we know it when we see it)
2. Contrition
– (sorry for their actions and take responsibility Repentance)
3. Humility
– (to admit to themselves that they are not perfect, and they
could be made better)
• A desire to learn from this and improve their morals and
character (look at this as a positive, constructive opportunity)
– Can’t make some a better person (change in moral
behavior), unless they want to be….
What can we give them?
• Clarity
• Perspective
(maybe, some wisdom)
- the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience
understanding, and insight
Who am I ?
Who?
Who do I want to be?
How do I get there
Why?
How?
GRADUATION
What is an
honorable
Officer
How did
you get
here?
Background
- Moral upbringing
- family
- character development
- motivation to attend USNA
- high school
- role models
- self-esteem (the mirror)
The
honor
offense
How do we get this
midshipman to be the
honorable Graduate?
- Regaining trust
- become the exemplar
Causal factors
- character development
- Time factors
plan
- Stressors
- Why did you lie, cheat, steal - improved decision making
- action list to work on this
1. Your moral decision
making?
2. Your conscience?
3. Your character?
(mapping)
Problems with starting
• Administrative lag time
• Problem: if Honor Violator:
– Does not fully admit guilt
– Show contrition
– Take responsibility for their actions
This makes it extremely difficult to remediate
(rehabilitation begins with taking responsibility)
• Work with them to see if you can get them to
understand their responsibility.
Can this work?
• Can we “fix” someone in 4-6 months?
• Can we help them improve themselves?
•
How do you measure improvement?
– No more honor violations before graduation –
is too low a measure
– Improved performance, conduct, grades,
attitude, company activity
• We can only start the change process.
• The real change is inside them – hard to
determine
Series of questions
• Meet approx once per week (can accelerate)
• Ask them questions in session- discuss–
challenge their thinking
• Have them write 1 page on each
• Discuss their answers
• Honor journal (Sunday Thurs) (what are your
thoughts about the remediation?)
• Readings- Ethics Library
• Challenge their answers! Make them think
deeper about themselves
Series of question
I. Who?
(How did you get here?)
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What was the source of your morals and values?
Describe your moral upbringing?
How did your family influence your development?
What was honor culture in your high school?
Who was your role model? (what do you admire
about this role model?)
What was your motivation to attend USNA?
Why should I be remediated?
II. Why?
(Why did you commit this honor offense?)
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A clear, factual explanation of what happened – the facts
What were the causal factors?
What were the time factors?
What were the stressors?
Did you know it was wrong? (“yes, but….”)
If you knew it was wrong, why did you do it?
1. What was your moral decision process?
2. Where was your moral conscience?
3. Where was your character (mapping) Which virtues
caused this offense?
Morals + Character = Moral Courage
The Moral
Values to
Know what’s
Right
To Do what’s
Right
OUR
BASIC MORAL
VALUES
DETERMINE
SPECIFIC
RULE/
PRINCIPLE
WHAT IS RIGHT
?
The Character to
Do what’s
Right
OUR
VIRTUES
(CHARACTER)
SPECIFIC
VIRTUE
REQUIRED
WHAT IS OUR CHARACTER?
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION:
“IF YOU KNEW IT WAS WRONG, WHY DID YOU DO IT?”
extreme
Mapping the Strengths and Virtues of Your Character ©
DEFICIENCY minor
Proper Amount
X
X
© Developed By Capt Rick Rubel (USNA Ethics)
minor
EXCESS
X
Perseverance
Pride
Wisdom
Curiosity
Ingenuity
Spirituality
Perspective
Judgment
Open-mindedness
Critical Thinking
Justice
Loyalty
Compassion
Courage/Bravery
Emotional Intelligence
Gratitude
Love
Self Control
Humility
Forgiveness / Mercy
Honesty / Integrity
Prudence
Humor
Optimism/Hope
Patience
extreme
Developing character
Character
∑ Virtues
Actions
Practice
Habituate
Corrective
Action
Good action
Evaluate
Good or wrong
Wrong action
A simple but power idea:
If we can see our actions in the context on an individual
Virtue of our character– “I wish I had been more _____.
Fill in the blank, and go work on it.
III. How?
(How do you become an honorable officer?)
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Why be honorable? (Why, if no one sees you or catches you)
Does the Honor concept at USNA effective in making you
honorable?
How would you change the honor concept to ensure all
graduates are honorable?
Can you ever regain trust back to the level before the honor
offense?
How do you regain trust, once it is lost?
Which virtues of character do you need to work on? (3-5)
Make a character development action plan to work on these
virtues?
How can you improve your moral decision-making at a higher
level (Kohlberg)?
How does honor work in the fleet?
What did you learn from remediation?
Problems finishing
How do you know when they “got it”?
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Non-scientific – no exam
Key questions: (YES or NO)
1. Do they take responsibility for their actions?
2. Do we really think they understand why they did what they
did?
3. Do we think they have a better understanding of themselves
(moral reasoning)?
4. Do they understand why honor is so important in the fleet?
5.
Do we think they will work to improve their character in the
future?
We can sense sincerity fairly accurately
You need to make a judgment
I will talk to them if you want me to- (results last year)
Asking for more time
Remediation failures
• If, after your best efforts, you cannot
“sign off” on their completion, tell CD&T
staff
• Mini-boards
• Honor staff, Capt Rubel
• Some people don’t want to look inside
themselves
The Keys of Success,
The Factors of Failure
Real success….. And real failure
What are the keys?
• There are Levels of Contrition
– “Contrition”: Sincere remorse for wrongdoing;
repentance
• “Repentance” is a change of thought and action
to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness.
Sincerity and Rehabilitation
• Sincerity and contrition are clearly linked
• We know when they are telling us what we want
to hear
• They have to “Want” to improve themselves
Levels (range) of Contrition
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
“Sir, I’m really sorry I did this, and really want to know
why I did this, so I will never even think about doing it
again.” (sincere- wants self improvement)
“I know what I did was wrong…..” (accepts responsibility)
“I know what I did was wrong…. but…..” (gray area)
“I just got caught, everyone else was doing it too.” (denial)
“I’m sure this will help me….” (I’ll tell you whatever you
want to hear) (smooth talker)
“If I hadn’t gotten caught, I probably would not have
thought about it.” (lacks moral conscience)
“I grew up, where ‘right’ is what you get away with, and
wrong is what you get caught doing.” (cultural change)
“I didn’t do anything wrong. The honor board is wrong.”
(complete denial- accepts no responsibility)
1. “Sir, I really want to know why I did this, so I will never, even think about doing it
again.”
2. “I know what I did was wrong…..”
3. “I know what I did was wrong…. but…..”
4. “I just got caught, everyone else was doing it too.”
5. “I’ll tell whatever you want to hear”
6. “If I hadn’t gotten caught, I probably would not
have thought about it.”
7. “I grew up, where ‘right’ is what you get
away with, and wrong is what you
get caught doing.”
8. “I didn’t do anything wrong.
The honor board is wrong.”
Sincere 1-3
Contrition
minimal 4-6
moral conscience
PROBABLE SUCCESS
COULD GO EITHER
WAY—
HOW DO WE APPROACH
THESE CATEGORIES?
SHOULD RESPOND
TO REMEDIATION
7-8
lack remorse
WILL PROBABLY
FAIL REMEDIATION
CAT 8 SHOULD NOT
BE REMEDIATED
• Backup slides
Why do good people do the wrong thing?
Unethical Command climate. It starts from the top. But they are watching what you do, and what you
say.
Ends justify means Justification. When you believe that something is truly important, then the ends
can justify the means, and any (immoral) means are permissible. (The ‘slippery slope rule’ is in
effect.)
Trivialization. When we are mission oriented, we can trivialize anything that gets in the way.
One time Exceptions. By our nature and our moral reasoning we sometimes make “one time
exceptions” for ourselves. “I know its wrong, but… just this once…”
Group think and peer pressure. When others are going along with the wrong thing, we all know the
huge effect of peer pressure and group think. “Everyone is doing it, it must be okay.”
Self-preservation. When the boss orders someone to do something (wrong or not) there is a clear
tendency to preserve your career and follow the order. No one wants to be the ‘whistle-blower’.
Miss-placed loyalty. We are expected to be loyal to the organization and its cause.
Lack of moral courage. Again, when everyone is doing something wrong, it takes a great of moral
courage to stand up and say, “I won’t do this. It’s just wrong!”
What can we change?
• Personality- cannot be changed easily
– Intense, prolonged counseling
– A life changing event
• Morals- cannot modify/change moral behavior
without known consequences
• Character- can be developed (experientially and
cognitively)
– can map our character to self-identify faults
– can begin to see actions in the context of our
virtues
– can iteratively correct our virtues with feedback (I
need to be more ______)
Reject answers like:
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•
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“I just don’t know what I was thinking”
“I guess I really goofed.”
“It’s not like me to do something like this…”
“My biggest mistake was thinking I wouldn’t
get caught.”
• “Everyone else is doing it, I just got
caught.”
Nine: How can I be trusted again?
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A discussion of how people go about re-building trust
Can trust be rebuilt, or once destroyed, is it gone?
What kind of actions can rebuild trust/ honor
How do you convey this?
Does one lie wipe out a thousand truths?
Who do they need to regain trust from? (List all)
An action list of what they will do to regain trust
Ten: How does honor and integrity translate in the fleet?
• A chance to interview other senior officers in the yard with
specific questions about their character, and honor in the fleet.
Remediation Workshop
– What class is your Midshipmen violator
– What was his/her offense?
– Did they take responsibility for actions?
– How far through remediation are you?
– What’s working well?
– What’s not working well?
– Lessons learned for others
– Need any help?
Levels (range) of Contrition
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
“Sir, I’m really sorry I did this, and really want to know why I did this, so I will
never even think about doing it again.” (sincere- wants self improvement)
“I know what I did was wrong…..” (accepts responsibility)
“I know what I did was wrong…. but…..” (gray area)
“I just got caught, everyone else was doing it too.” (denial)
“I’m sure this will help me….” (I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear) (smooth
talker)
“If I hadn’t gotten caught, I probably would not have thought about it.” (lacks
moral conscience)
“I grew up, where ‘right’ is what you get away with, and wrong is what you get
caught doing.” (cultural change)
“I didn’t do anything wrong. The honor board is wrong.” (complete denialaccepts no responsibility)
What class is your Midshipmen violator
What was his/her offense?
Did they take responsibility for actions?
How far through remediation are you?
What’s working well?
What’s not working well?
Lessons learned for others
Need any help?
Thinking about Honor
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Surveys: Between 64%-74% of High school students cheat
Premise: Most young people come to USNA because they want to be held to
a higher moral standard
All studies have shown: Moral Behavior cannot be changed without known
consequences
– This is how we raise our children
– This is how we shape our character
– Have to remove the trivialization: “It was just a little lie..”
Should probably be a distinction between lower and upper class
Repeat offenders (harder to remediate)
Cynicism is high (Brigade, staff, faculty)
Developing Character
Character
∑ Virtues
Actions
Habituate
Good action
Corrective
Action
Bad action
Evaluate
Good or Bad
Levels (range) of Contrition
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
“Sir, I’m really sorry I did this, and really want to know why I did this, so I will
never even think about doing it again.” (sincere- wants self improvement)
“I know what I did was wrong…..” (accepts responsibility)
“I know what I did was wrong…. but…..” (gray area)
“I just got caught, everyone else was doing it too.” (denial)
“I’m sure this will help me….” (I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear) (smooth
talker)
“If I hadn’t gotten caught, I probably would not have thought about it.” (lacks
moral conscience)
“I grew up, where ‘right’ is what you get away with, and wrong is what you get
caught doing.” (cultural change)
“I didn’t do anything wrong. The honor board is wrong.” (complete denialaccepts no responsibility)
What class is your Midshipmen violator
What was his/her offense?
Did they take responsibility for actions?
How far through remediation are you?
What’s working well?
What’s not working well?
Lessons learned for others
Need any help?