Friendship Influencing Decisions When on Duty Research Paper

Identifying the ethical dilemma

Should we use friendships to influence our decisions while on duty or remain neutral?

Understanding the situation

From a social perspective, friendship should not influence decision-making in criminal justice because this situation leads to subjectivity and inadequate decision-making.

Stakeholders

The main stakeholders are the local community, the judge, and the offenders.

Rights and Duties

1. The stakeholder’s right. Right actions are defined by general individual rights and standards agreed upon by society. Outside what is agreed upon by society, the right is a matter of personal values and opinions. Basically, the social contract constitutes the basis of moral order. The right of the society is to receive objective and impartial treatment of its members. The right of the judge is to provide independent decision-making based on his professional knowledge and skills. The right of the offender is to be punished according to legislation rather than the subjective opinion of another person.
2. The authority by which the stakeholder has that right. Right is defined by the decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles of justice, equality, and dignity of human beings. Basically, ethics and principles constitute the basis of moral order. The community has its right granted by the Constitution. A judge has their right in accordance with current legislation and Codes of professional conduct. The offender is granted his right by the Constitution and the criminal law.
3. Other stakeholder(s) that have a duty to protect the right named in (1) above. In carrying out their responsibilities as professionals, members should exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities. In some cases, the government or the courts intervene to pinpoint the kinds of services expected. Due to this lack of identification of their role, police officers wind up serving various masters. One consequence has been the frequent use of footnotes to avoid making hard and fast, professional judgments. The criminal justice system is another stakeholder which guarantees that rights are preserved and not violated.
4. What the stakeholders named in (3) above have to do to perform and uphold their duties to the stakeholder with the right named in (1) above. Conducts that are enforceable through the Rules of Performance and Behavior and through the interpretation of the various senior-level committees. Members should accept the obligation to act in a way that will serve the public interest, honor the public trust, and demonstrate commitment to professionalism. The criminal justice system introduces strict laws and regulations, Codes of Ethics, and Codes of conduct for judges in order to preserve and control the issue of human rights.
5. Why the stakeholders with a duty named in (3) above accept responsibility for performing the duties described in (4) above. A member should maintain objectivity and be free of conflicts of interest in discharging professional responsibilities. A member in public practice should be independent in fact and appearance when providing criminal justice and other services. A member should observe the profession’s technical and ethical standards, strive continually to improve competence and the quality of services, and discharge professional responsibility to the best of the member’s ability. The criminal justice system is obliged to accept the duty mentioned above in order to ensure equal and fair treatment of all individuals and protect them from violation and unequal treatment.

Analyzing Alternative A

1. Restate Alternative A: Alternative A is to use friendship as a guide in decision-making.

2. Teleological Approaches (utilitarianism/consequentialism):

• If Alternative A is done, who, if anyone, will be harmed?
• If this alternative is done, it will have a negative impact on objectivity and criminal justice impartiality. The decision will be influenced by emotional issues rather than the rule of law.
• If Alternative A is done, who, if anyone, will benefit?
• If this alternative is done, anyone will benefit.
• Do the benefits of doing Alternative A outweigh the harms of doing Alternative A, and why?

The benefits of doing Alternative A do not outweigh the harms of doing Alternative A because it does not reflect the main principles and issues of criminal justice ethics.

3. Deontological Approaches (categorical imperative):

A categorical imperative is a value that is so important that it must be upheld in action in order for that action to be ethical.

In other words, behavior that violates a categorical imperative is, by definition, unethical. It is so important that it must be observed regardless of the consequences of doing so.

• Does Alternative A represent a categorical imperative for the decision-maker?

This alternative does not represent a categorical imperative for decision-making. The question is: Would the threat of punishment for wrongdoing be necessary to motivate practitioners to adhere to the high ideals of professionals? Can morality and good behavior be legislated?

• What is the priority for the decision-maker that will be upheld by adopting Alternative A?

The priority is to accept any decision-making, avoiding personal responsibility.

• Why is it so important?

The emphasis on “fairness” be removed. The essence of the responsibility is not to judge the fairness of the information that is presented but to determine whether the judgments made by management in the selection and application of criminal justice principles, appropriate or inappropriate.

4. Rights and Duties

• If Alternative A is adopted, whose rights will be preserved, and whose rights will be violated?

Nobody’s rights will be preserved. Thus, this alternative will violate the rights of an offender.

• If Alternative A is adopted, whose duties will be maintained, and whose duties will be neglected?

If Alternative A is adopted, the duties of a friend will be maintained, but the duties of a judge will be neglected.

Analyzing Alternative B

1. Restate Alternative B:

Alternative B is to restate neutral and impartial in decision-making.

2. Teleological Approaches (utilitarianism/consequentialism)

• If Alternative B is done, who, if anyone, will be harmed?
• If Alternative B is done, nobody will be harmed.
• If Alternative B is done, who, if anyone, will benefit?
• If Alternative B is done, the community, the criminal justice system, the offender, and the judge will benefit.
• Do the benefits of doing Alternative B outweigh the harms of doing Alternative B, and why?

The benefits of Alternative B outweigh the harms. The work of criminal justice carries real responsibilities. Their words and actions in rendering opinions relate not only to the technical competency but also to the moral standards and the code of ethics governing the profession.

3. Deontological Approaches (categorical imperative):

A categorical imperative is a value that is so important that it must be upheld in action in order for that action to be ethical.

In other words, behavior that violates a categorical imperative is, by definition, unethical. It is so important that it must be observed regardless of the consequences of doing so.

• Does Alternative B represent a categorical imperative for the decision-maker?

This alternative represents a categorical imperative. It is within such frameworks that the ethical issues and dilemmas are considered and resolved by each profession. Examples of some of the ethical problems and complexities that exist in criminal justice are then reviewed. Next, a discussion of ethics committees and ethics consultants is presented. The implications of the medical profession’s experience with ethics committees and consultants are then considered in relation to the profession.

• What is the priority for the decision-maker that will be upheld by adopting Alternative B?

In contrast, a new and complex ethical issue and dilemma may require a written request to the ethics committee for an opinion, perhaps a meeting or meetings of the ethics committee, and then a formal response from the committee. In such a situation, especially if time is an important factor, requesting an opinion about the issue from a professional association may not always be a feasible alternative.

• Why is it so important?

An exhaustive listing of all possible ethical issues and dilemmas that may affect criminal justice would be difficult to complete. New issues and dilemmas are constantly arising, and some issues and dilemmas are closely related and difficult to place in a mutually exclusive category. An example of the latter is the issues of independence and scope of services. Some of the ethical issues and dilemmas that arise in criminal justice may be handled routinely by following the policies that criminal justice has established for dealing with such matters.

4. Rights and Duties

• If Alternative B is adopted, whose rights will be preserved, and whose rights will be violated?

The rights of the community, the offender, and the judge will be preserved. Nobody’s rights will be violated.

• If Alternative B is adopted, whose duties will be maintained, and whose duties will be neglected?

If Alternative B is adopted, the duty of a judge will be maintained. Nobody’s duties will be neglected.

Making a Decision

1. Teleological Perspective

Which Alternative results in the lesser harm or, the greater benefit?

Alternatively, notwithstanding criminal justice, existing policies, ethical issues, and dilemmas may arise in practice that requires careful thought and decision-making on the part of the affected individuals. Several major ethical issues and dilemmas mentioned earlier in this paper that individuals in criminal justice practice may encounter are discussed above.

Is this sufficient ground for deciding that this alternative is the ethical course of action? Why or why not?

Independence is one of the more unique ethical issues facing criminal justice. The value of an external opinion on the statements of an entity is to a large measure a function of independence. Standards relating to independence are constantly evolving.

2. Deontological Perspective (Refer to your answers to Question #3 in Sections V and VI)

Does ethical behavior in this issue rest upon a categorical imperative?

If so, what is it?

Functions that the ethics committee might perform include: (1) helping develop and periodically reviewing a formal ethical philosophy; (2) coordinating ethics education (3) proposing policies relating to ethics; and (4) responding in a timely manner to ethical issues and dilemmas that are brought to the ethics committee by a partner and members of the professional staff. These functions are based on and are parallel to some of the functions that were mentioned earlier that a hospital ethics committee might perform.

If you have identified a categorical imperative that must be upheld in order for the decision-maker named in Section I to make an ethical decision, which course of action (Alternative A or Alternative B) best supports that categorical imperative?

Why?

The second cause of action is the best one for the dilemma mentioned in section 1.

Ethics could serve as a facilitating mechanism within criminal justice to coordinate ethics-related continuing education and to provide assurance that such continuing education is consistent with the criminal justice ethical philosophy.

3. Rights and Duties

Which Alternative preserves the most important rights and duties, and whose rights or duties will be sacrificed to accomplish this?

Ethics could propose criminal justice policies relating to specific ethical issues and dilemmas. As suggested earlier, not all matters relating to ethics that occur in criminal justice have clear answers or solutions.

4. Based on your analysis, answer the question in Section I.

Additionally, ethics could, on a timely basis, assist partner or professional staff in recognition of and solution of ethical issues and dilemmas that might arise in practice.

5. If the interests of certain stakeholders (see your answer to Section III) are sacrificed to the interests of other stakeholders as a result of your decision, explain why that is justified or necessary.

This may be especially important given the limited training in ethics currently provided by the most college or university criminal justice programs.

6. What should or should not have been done in the first place to avoid this dilemma?

In the complexity of the current business environment, criminal justice may benefit from a committee with which they can discuss and confirm the ethical nature of an issue and dilemma.

7. What other longer-term changes (such as political, legal, scientific, technical, societal, or organizational changes) would help prevent such problems in the future?

Moral principles of the profession could suggest alternative solutions that are within the ethical philosophy or ethical policies that the criminal justice had set in conjunction with its ethics committee. Thus, ethics could facilitate the solution to an ethical issue and dilemma without referring the matter to an individual or group outside the criminal justice. Additionally, ethics could assist in determining when an issue and dilemma should be referred to an individual or group outside the criminal justice.

References

1. Pollock, J. M. (2003). Ethics, Issues in Crime and Justice Series Wadsworth Publishing; 4 edition.
2. Pollock, J. M. (2006). Ethical Dilemmas and Decision Making in Criminal Justice. Wadsworth Publishing; 5 edition.