Criminal justice is closely related to ethics. As per the social contract theory, the natives to a country delegate some freedom to the government to be protected. Criminal justice practitioners are government agents. (McCarthy, King, & Pealer, 2017). They, therefore, are required to have high moral standards so that the typical person can have confidence in the government agents offering protection to them. Criminal justice practitioners at one point or the other, will have to exercise discretion in the course of their careers.
This is more so when the officers are faced with an ethical dilemma, unlike in matters that involve general ethical issues. When the decision making in discretionary situations is done ethically, the decisions could be assumed to be fair and just, since some cases have higher moral obligations compared to others.
There is increasing knowledge on the relevance of ethics in criminal justice. The reason being, just like in any other professional, criminal justice agents do also engage in unethical behavior.
Each year, several law enforcement officers end their careers shamefully for engaging in unethical behavior. This is inclusive of behavior labeled as illegal, and that which does not have a criminal label. It is, therefore, essential to note that not all unethical behavior is prohibited. Actually, in most instances, practitioners engage in unethical behavior that is not regulated by law or the courts. In this research paper, we get an in-depth insight into the ethical framework in criminal justice and some of the ethical issues that affect the criminal justice professionals in their line of work.
Policing occurs in two common ways. The first is the traditional crime fighter role, and the second is the current public service or community policing. The most common policing system in the US is the traditional crime fighter role, although both systems are present. (Miller, & Blackler, 2017). In the public service or community policing, police identify with society and are friends with the people. The aim is conferring with regulations of police ethics and protect the people. This is in line with the social contract theory. This way, police don’t view one as being criminal or belonging to a particular group, but rather a member of the community who has lost track of what is right or gone astray.
Contrary to the public service paradigm, which is objected towards service to human rights and duty of police, crime control method is more informal and lowly inclined to public service. Under this method of policing, the police aim at fighting crime and arrest offenders by whatever necessary. For instance, after the attack on September 11th in 2001, the crime control system was very popular. Criminals were seen as enemies, while police considered themselves distinct from the people whom they were supposed to protect. This allows police to use excessive force. Police subculture prompts officers to act unethically at the individual level (Pollock 2007).
Police subcultures are rampant in one way or the other in at least all police agencies in the world, from America to Asia. It should be noted that police subcultures may have a direct contribution to unethical behavior among the police. Different from probation and parole officers whose work is independent, police officers’ work is largely dependent on their counterparts. (Rose & Unnithan, 2015) Police subculture gives officers the rationale and motivation to engage in unethical behavior.
There is a possibility that police subculture allows police officers to participate in unethical acts even in the before fellow officers. For instance, police officers are less likely to investigate fellow officers who have been suspected of corruption or other crimes. Police officers who also have different ranks also have little cooperation. This may, therefore, prompt officers who have the lower position to be united and isolate themselves from those that re of a higher rank and cover the mistakes of each other. Other than these police subculture has resulted in the discrimination of certain types or groups of police officers such as women and homosexuals by other officers (Miller et al, 2003). All these are unethical behavior resulting from police subcultures. Police subculture is predominant in some officers more than in others.
There are other ways in which police officers engage in unethical behavior. This includes corruption. This is very common among most police officers. Corrupt officers are categorized into two, “grass-eaters” and” meat-eaters”. “Grass eaters” are those officers that take incentives in exchange for their services, but they do not ask for them. “Meat-eaters,” however, are those demand bribes to grant favors. (Caldero, Dailey, Withrow, 2018). Bribery is just one of the ways through which police engage in unethical behavior about corruption.
Even though some law enforcement officers engage in unethical behavior, personnel who work in the court system can engage or act in unethical or unprofessional behavior just as much as law enforcement officers. The main reason being that, court officials such as defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges, enjoy the power of discretion.
Some prosecutors do act in an unethical way. There is a lot of discretionary powers bestowed upon prosecutors since they determine which cases proceed to trial and those that should be dismissed. Theoretically, the prosecutor aims to get justice but not getting a conviction. In some instances, prosecutors may be guided by self-interests and not serving justice. At times prosecutors take their jobs as ladders to get to other bigger and luxurious jobs (Pollock 2007). Their service to people could be affected as result and not act in the best interests of the people.
In the same way as prosecutors, a defense attorney can engage in unethical behavior. A defense attorney ought to ensure that the rights of the accused are not violated during the trial process. A defense attorney is loyal to the client only and not the public. In some instances, however, they may become overzealous in pursuance of proving that their clients are not guilty. In cases such as this, they should be careful not to support the accused to commit perjury. One very crucial aspect in representing clients is the attorney-client privilege. This ensures a confidential and loyal agreement between the client and the lawyer and ensures that the accused is represented well; this can only be achieved only when the lawyer aware of what happened. There are only four conditions through which the attorney-client privilege can be broken. They are when the accused waives this privilege, through a court order, when the accused shows intent to engage in a crime in future and lastly when the accused tries to incriminate the defense attorney (Pollock, 2007.
Some judges, also act in an unprofessional way just like lawyers and or prosecutors. The greatest significant and essential ethical obligation of a judge is to maintain impartiality. This is hard because judges can move up to the Supreme Court level if appointed by a President, and this is when their own platforms come into play.
Judicial independence and integrity are therefore necessary for this. Judicial independence means that the judiciary is not independent of the arms of the government, and the judges are independent of other people or situations in their role as judges. Judges are also held accountable for their acts by judicial accountability. In situations or cases in which the impartiality of a judge is questionable, they should exempt themselves from such incidents. These are cases such as those that stand to gain financially. For instance, judges could receive travel and food benefits or gifts from an individual to obtain a favorable judgment. Judges, too, like prosecutors, exercise discretion in their line of work. Two areas in which judges exercise discretion is in the interpretation of the law and during sentencing (Pollock, 2007). In interpreting the law, a judge could be caught in a technical issue or a contradicting issue at the expense of equity and fairness. During sentencing, judges are supposed to remain impartial and should exercise integrity. A judge should always be neutral. However, there are instances in which judges have abused their discretionary powers and passed sentences in a biased and discriminatory way based on race, gender, and ethnicity. Corruption has also been reported among judges, which affects their impartiality and integrity in sentencing.
There are very few studies that explore unethical behavior among correctional officers. There, however, are a few studies that address ways in which they engage in unethical behavior. Amongst the most common field where unethical behavior has been reported is the use of unnecessary force in correctional facilities. This is among the primary reasons that resulted to the deadly prison riots in American history. Other than this, sexual harassment where male and female prison warders sexually assault the inmates they are supposed to keep safe. Female warders may sexually assault male warders, or male wardens may sexually assault male inmates or female inmates. In addition, correctional officers may aid inmates in sneaking and possessing contrabands and illegal items.
Recent studies have revealed inappropriate relationships in prisons between prisoners and members of staff. This includes friendships to engage in illegal activities in jail, such as possession of contrabands, drugs, and other items not allowed in prison. Others develop intimate relationships and sexual relationships (Bryan, 2016). The majority of inappropriate relationships occur between male inmates and female correctional officers (Worley & Cheeseman, 2006). These relationships are not just at the lower level ranks of the prison system. They also include shift sergeant and even administrators.
Just like law enforcement officers within the criminal justice system, parole and probation officers are not immune to engaging in unethical behavior. This includes attending to personal roles and duties while at work. Some officers also lie that they made field visits while they did not. Other ways in which they engage in unethical behavior is through discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, and age. They may also participate in sexual deviance, for instance, in places of work, engaging in sexual acts with clients or members of their family.
According to the social contract theory, those working within the criminal justice system are bestowed with authority by the government to act on its behalf in protecting the occupants of a specified jurisdiction in return for a few liberties that the occupants give up. This distinguishes them from the general population. They are therefore supposed to portray high moral standards for people to entrust them with the power to protect them. In some instances, they may overstep and dishonor this trust and authority and get distracted and abuse their discretion to their benefit as outlined in this research paper. However, there are instances where unethical behavior could be overlooked when it is for the greater good and not personal gain. For example, a police officer may use excessive force to arrest a capital offender who poses much harm when free. Just mentioned, ethical behavior is dependent on one’s morality and personality.
Bryan, A. (2016). Ethical dilemmas in the prison setting. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 32(2), 256-273.
Caldero, M. A., Dailey, J. D., & Withrow, B. L. (2018). Police ethics: The corruption of noble cause. Routledge.
McCarthy, B. R., King, R. J., & Pealer, J. A. (2017). Ethics and Criminal Justice Research. In Justice, Crime, and Ethics (pp. 432-462). Routledge.
Miller, S., & Blackler, J. (2017). Ethical issues in policing. Routledge.
Miller, S. L., Forest, K. B., & Jurik, N. C. (2003). Diversity in blue: Lesbian and gay police officers in a masculine operation. Men and Masculinities, 5, 355–385.
Pollock, J. M. (2007). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
Rose, T., & Unnithan, P. (2015). In or out of the group? Police subculture and occupational stress. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(2), 279-294.
Sullivan, T. P., & Possley, M. (2015). The chronic failure to discipline prosecutors for misconduct: proposals for reform. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 105, 881.
Worley, R. M., & Cheeseman, K. A. (2006). Guards as embezzlers: The consequences of “non-shareable” problems in prison settings. Devian
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