ETHICAL DILEMMAS AND DECISIONS
IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
CHAPTER 6:
ETHICS AND THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE PROFESSIONAL
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Justice, Law, and Policy
Discussion:
Who administers justice?
Who enforces the law?
How does policy affect
administration and
enforcement?
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Policy Making in Criminal Justice
Policies
Guidelines for action that dictate the priority of goals or
objectives.
Formal policy
Developed by executive/legislative branches, agencies in the
criminal justice system.
Informal policy
May be related to an individual’s view of justice or selfinterest.
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Ideology
• Set of abstract beliefs about what is right
• Especially concerned with moral order and
political arrangements
• Shapes positions on specific issues
Liberals and Conservatives
• Both operate using consensus paradigm
• Both accept basic definitions of crime
given by law
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The Liberal Perspective on Crime
Causation / Responsibility
•
Causes of criminality are psychological, social, or
biological.
•
Individuals are not completely culpable for crimes.
Policing
•
Police are a positive tool of social control.
•
Police should be involved in community (via
neighborhood policing, storefront police stations, etc.).
•
Police should make an effort to understand certain groups.
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The Liberal Perspective on Crime
Courts
•
Human behavior is complex; justice should be
individualized.
•
Courts should consider offender, not offense.
•
Courts should use discretion in punishment.
Corrections
•
Correctional programming should target biological, social,
psychological problems.
•
If the offender’s problem is corrected, crime will not be
repeated.
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The Liberal Perspective on Crime
What’s Unethical?
•
Ignoring the fact that a person was coerced into doing
something illegal.
•
Ignoring evidence that a person was mentally ill when
committing a crime.
•
Prosecuting a very young offender just like a more
culpable older offender.
•
Ignoring prisoners’ needs for special attention or medical
care.
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The Conservative Perspective on Crime
Causation / Responsibility
•
Offenders choose their actions.
•
Individuals must be held accountable.
Policing
•
Public safety is the most important goal of police.
•
Police are the enforcers of social morality.
•
Police should not be unduly restricted by courts.
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The Conservative Perspective on Crime
Courts
•
Criminals have too many rights.
•
Victims deserve more care and attention than offenders.
•
Courts that free criminals based on legal technicalities are
a threat to social order.
Corrections
•
Correctional facilities should concentrate on
incapacitation.
•
Correctional programs coddle/reward criminal behavior.
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The Conservative Perspective on Crime
What’s Unethical?
•
Letting criminals off because of courtroom
deals or procedural errors.
•
Ignoring/excusing wrongdoing, especially if
the person is likely to continue the
behavior.
•
Giving special privileges to certain
criminals because of status or money.
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Right and Left
Right (Conservative)
Most important value: Order
Basis of a just society: Binding morality
Greatest danger: Disorder—social, moral, and
political
Left (Liberal)
Most important value: Justice
Basis of a just society: Fair distribution of power,
wealth, privilege
Greatest danger: Injustice
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Myths that Influence
Criminal Justice Policy
The myth of crime waves
The myth of child abductions by strangers
The myth of the drug crisis
The myth of equal justice
The myth of the utility of punishment
The myth of a lenient criminal justice system
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Do Researchers Help Make Myths?
Reported findings may be inaccurate due to
–Personal bias
–Professional pressure
–Political pressure
–Incompetence
–Laziness
Other research dilemmas
–Confidentiality
–Side effects
–Need to deceive subjects
–Need to obtain informed, voluntary consent
–Withholding benefits or services for research purposes
–Misinterpretation/misuse of research findings
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Balancing Law and Justice
• Individual officers often administer street justice (justice
defined by the individual).
• Definitions of what is “just” varies from person to person.
• Most police corruption and graft is found in criminal “gray
areas” (prostitution, gambling, drugs).
• Officials are more likely to enforce laws that they strongly
support.
• Justice professionals are more likely to operate ethically
when they believe in the justness of the system.
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Spader’s Rule of Law
Versus
Rule of Man
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rule of Law
(Positives)
equal protection
evenhandedness
due process
Fairness
rationality
predictability
(Negatives)
inflexibility
harshness
rigidity
mandatory legalism
red tape
Rule of Man
(Positives)
individualization
flexibility
mercy
compassion
equity
informality
(Negatives)
disparity
inconsistency
arbitrary and capricious abuse
uncertainty
uncontrolled provincialism
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Following Orders
Is an individual excused from moral culpability when
following orders?
Should one disobey orders that he or she believes to be
illegal or immoral?
Does a criminal justice professional have a duty to use
personal moral judgment, or is obedience to
superiors mandatory?
Since it is difficult to challenge authority, few take an
individual stand against a law or practice (Milgram
Experiment).
Whistleblowers expose wrongdoing at risk to their careers
and sometimes their safety. Why?
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Ethical Issues for Criminal Justice
Professionals
•
The types of issues
that give rise to
ethical dilemmas:
1.
The limits of the
state's right to
control the individual
2.
The ethical use of
force
3.
The appropriate use
of discretion
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Ethical Choices for Criminal Justice
Professionals
Ethical Choices of the CJ Professional:
1. Friendship vs. institutional integrity/professionalism
2. Client (offender) needs vs. bureaucratic efficiency and
institutional goals
3. Personal goals or biases vs. fair and impartial treatment of
the public and the clients served
The inappropriate use of discretion occurs when the
professional uses unethical criteria to resolve decisions
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Gardner’s Cognitive Capacities
• Five Cognitive Capabilities for Ethical
Practice:
1. The “disciplined mind”—the ability to focus and learn a
field of study.
2. The “synthesizing mind”—the ability to integrate diverse
ideas into a coherent whole.
3. The “creating mind”—the ability to recognize and solve
problems.
4. The “respectful mind”—the ability to form and maintain
good relationships with other people.
5. The “ethical mind”—the ability to fulfil one’s
responsibilities as a citizen and to identify with fellow
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humans.
Leadership and Training
American Society for Public Administration
Standards for Leadership
Responsibility and accountability
Commitment
Responsiveness
Knowledge and skills
Sensitivity to conflicts of interest
Professional ethics
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How Leaders Can Foster Ethics (Metz)
1.
Establish realistic goals and objectives.
2.
Provide ethical leadership (set a moral tone by
actions).
3.
Establish formal written codes of ethics.
4.
Provide a whistleblowing mechanism.
5.
Discipline violators of ethical standards.
6.
Train all personnel in ethics.
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Ethical Leadership
•
Strong leadership involves caring and commitment
to the organization.
•
Idealistic realism: the ability of good leaders to
acknowledge and understand social realities while
avoiding the trap of cynicism.
•
Ethical leaders possess vision and moral
responsibility and engage in enlightened reasoning.
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Teaching Ethics (Sherman)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Stimulate the "moral imagination" by posing difficult moral
dilemmas.
Encourage the recognition of ethical issues beyond immediate
goals.
Help to develop analytical skills and the tools of ethical
analysis.
Elicit a sense of moral obligation and personal responsibility.
Tolerating and resisting disagreement and ambiguity.
Explore the morality of coercion, which is intrinsic to criminal
justice.
Help students recognize the difference between technical and
moral competence.
Address the full range of moral issues in criminology and
criminal justice.
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Avoiding Cynicism and Burnout
•
•
•
First, adopt realistic goals
before entering the
profession.
Second, find and nurture a
network of mentors and
colleagues that promotes
ethical values.
Third, seek self-fulfillment
and personal enrichment.
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