Ethical Dilemma Situation - CJAD 455 (2)
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Ethical Dilemma Situation
Ashley Burke
Criminal Justice, Franklin University
CJAD 455 H1WW: Ethics in the Criminal Justice System
Dr. Howard Jordan
November 13, 2022
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Ethics in the Criminal Justice System
When one encounters an ethical dilemma there are several factors in the decision-making process. Depending on how one evaluates the situation, there can be more than one “right” answer. After identifying the facts of the situation, one must identify relevant values and concepts as well as any moral dilemmas, questions, or issues arising from each perspective. By doing so, it in-depthly elaborates on various perceptions just as provides insight as to how one’s own moral or ethical dilemmas are caused by another(s) actions. Additionally, identifying the most immediate ethical issue to be faced differentiates between a behavioral choice and an opinion. To resolve the ethical dilemma and determine a decision, several ethical systems will be
analyzed before the decision is concluded. Identify the Facts
When reviewing the facts of the ethical dilemma situation in Pollock (2017) on page 53, Situation 3 poses the challenge of being honest because it is the right thing to do or lying for a friend because it is the right thing to do. If the decision is to lie, there is the unknown of if or when the truth will come to light. The circumstance surrounding the challenge is that you aspire to be a police officer at the same law enforcement agency where your friend is employed. You plan on submitting your application since you are graduating from a criminal justice department. However, the application form contains the question “Have you ever been arrested?” Truthfully, you and your friend were unjustly arrested for being caught with marijuana in your dorm room when you guys were freshmen. Since the search was illegal, the charges against you were dismissed. You ask your friend how he answered the question, and your friend told you that he answered no because he knew this agency did not use polygraphs as part of the hiring process. If
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you lie, you and/or your friend may face no consequence, and you could be hired at the agency. Contrary, if you don’t lie, you will be asked to explain the circumstances of the arrest, and your friend will be implicated as well. What should you do?
Identify Relevant Values and Concepts
When examining relevant values regarding this dilemma, legality, honesty, integrity, loyalty, friendship, and trust are essential to identify for they are important to resolving ethical dilemmas. Simultaneously, there are concepts that affect the ethical dilemma decision-making process. In this situation, concepts to consider are facing a lawsuit, being held responsible for repayment as well as being terminated from the agency if hired. Other concepts to consider are losing a friend, and/or my friend losing their job and possibly facing other consequences which leads to identifying possible moral dilemmas or issues from each perspective.
Identify All Possible Moral Dilemmas, Questions, or Issues for Each Party’s
Perspectives and Decide What is the Most Immediate Moral or Ethical Issue Facing The
Individual
Each friend will face at least one moral dilemma. For myself, the friend who is facing employment with the agency I must decide whether to conceal the truth from the agency in hopes
of never being exposed or hold the values of honesty and integrity by telling the truth even though it puts me at risk of not being hired, losing a friend, and/or my friend being terminated. If I conceal the truth, it could provide a greater possibility of employment and spare my friend consequences thus making unclear the right thing to do. As a prospective employee, I have no duty to the agency, but as a friend, I may feel entitled to base my morality on the duty of friendship and apply for a different position at a different agency, or I can show dishonesty. My dilemma was created by the unethical act of my friend who did not act morally without regard
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for consequences. This unforeseen circumstance has left me with the immediate dilemma of lying on the employment application or telling the truth resulting in my friend being implicated.
My ethical dilemma can be resolved by analyzing several ethical systems. Appropriate ethical systems that I can use to resolve my dilemma are ethics of virtue, religious ethics, and deontological ethics system.
Resolve the Ethical Dilemma by Using an Ethical System
Beginning with the Ethics of Virtue, Pollock (2017) defines this ethical system as “The ethical system that bases ethics largely upon character and possession of virtues (p.28).” Under the Ethics of Virtue ethical system, it is believed that to be good, one must perform with good actions and intentions. Since virtues are acquired through habits and teaching, moral virtue is said to be a state of character (Pollock, 2017). To do good in this situation under the Ethics of Virtue ethical system, I would have had to develop a lifelong history of being good. In using good to resolve this ethical dilemma, I must consider being honest on the application else wise the theory would not apply. By being dishonest, I would be misleading the agency which would not portray good in my character even though I would be doing good by my friend, that would be
doing good for a reason which contradicts the values of the ethics of virtue ethical system. Under
the ethics of virtue ethical system, I would need to walk away from the immoral path and not lie. By doing so, I must prepare myself for several possible unfavorable outcomes: I could be denied employment with the agency, my friend could be terminated, my friend could face other legal consequences, and I could lose a friendship. On the other hand, the agency may still employ me given the timing and outcome of the arrest and/or current state laws. After all, the search was illegal, and the case was dismissed, so if I was arrested illegally, the million-dollar question is does it lawfully count as an arrest, and can it be used against me in the hiring process?
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To be able to legally deny an arrest, one must have had their case sealed or expunged. Having one’s record sealed or expunged ensures that the arrest does not show up in background checks, and it is withdrawn from being viewed by the public. This abolishment gives legal authority to deny the arrest associated with the case. Additionally, some states have made it illegal to ask applicants about arrests that did not lead to convictions in addition to other states have made it illegal to disqualify applicants based on their criminal record, so depending on me and my friend’s home of record, we may be protected under several laws. When I was unlawfully arrested during the illegal search in my dorm room, my fourth amendment was constitutionally violated resulting in a dismissed case, so I should have my case expunged or sealed, but I would still face the ethical dilemma of whether to lie on the application because the question is still asked. If my record is expunged or sealed, legally I can answer no. If my record has not been expunged or sealed, but I live in a state where it is illegal to ask about an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, I will contact human resources (HR) and suggest that they reword the question to fit current state laws. The reworded question could look as such “Have you ever been arrested, and it led to a conviction?” or “Have you ever been arrested? If the arrest did not lead to a conviction DO NOT ANSWER, and please SKIP to the next question.” The question could be as simple as “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Even though there are states that cannot use one’s criminal record against them in the hiring process, the employer can legally
infer about the arrest. If the applicant is not selected for the position, it leaves one to wonder if the employer used the criminal record unlawfully in the decision process and if the employer is aware that the decision was illegal. However, even if an employer illegally inquires about an arrest, under the ethics of virtue ethical system, one must answer the question honestly despite
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possible outcomes; No matter the situation, lying is unethical, especially when referencing ethics
of virtue. The ethics of virtue presents challenges when one is faced with choosing between honesty and loyalty. In this case, do I remain loyal to my friend, or do I sacrifice my loyalty for honesty? If I choose honesty, I gain trust within the company but lose the trust of my friend. Do I
treat my friend as I would want to be treated? Would I want my friend to lie for me? If I lie, have
I disrespected the company? Am I going to be accountable for being arrested and fulfill the pillar
of responsibility or will I uphold this pillar as fulfilling a moral duty to my friend remaining accountable for our friendship? Will I practice fairness? In this case, lying is never fair for it is unethical. Will I practice the concept of good citizenship and obey the law by answering the question honestly? These are all things to consider when concluding a decision in this ethical dilemma. Under this system, one must not dwell on the outcome instead the act must be based on
what the right choice is, which is telling the truth, and God would agree.
This ethical dilemma can be resolved using the religious ethics ethical system. According
to Pollock (2017), the religious ethical system is established on the grounds of the good and evil beliefs within a religion (p.32). Under religious ethics, the only good is that which is favored by God. Additionally, in religion, to lie is to sin. In Christianity, lying is one of the actions that is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The religious ethics ethical system is able to exist since there is a God or god-figure governing right and wrong allowing one to enact God’s will in 3 ways (Pollock, 2017) (p.33). Firstly, one can use their conscience’s feeling of comfort to decide if the action to be committed is wrong in God’s view. Secondly, one can seek guidance from religious authorities who will decipher religious views of right and wrong in addition to
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ascertaining confusion relating to actions. Thirdly, God’s law is written in holy scriptures, and this written word of God is to hold answers to moral dilemmas as well as the way of life.
If I were to lie on the application, then I would be going against religious ethics, so I must
tell the truth or else be punished by God. Contrariwise, an action is said to be in line with God’s will if the action brings happiness and is acted on through faith and goodwill. So, to be honest on
the application out of true faith that my friend’s employment will be spared, I would be exercising the religious ethics point of view. In applying religious concepts to this ethical dilemma, I would be doing unto my friend as I would want done unto me. As noted by Banks (2004), The Divine Command theory expresses the view that religious officials are capable of interpreting ethical standards of conduct, and it argues that whatever God directs is morally right and whatever God forbids is morally wrong (p.10). Seeing that God proscribes lying, it would be
unethical of me to lie on the application. Contrary to religious beliefs, utilitarianism judges the result of an act rather than the act itself to determine if the act was morally/ethically correct.
Utilitarianism is defined in Pollock (2017) as a teleological ethical system that determines
if an act is good by assessing the result of the act (p. 38). If an act is bad but yields a good consequence, the result of the act has justified the bad act thus making it ethical under the utilitarianism ethical system. When practicing utilitarianism, each act committed must contribute
to the greater good despite any wrongdoing involved. Under utilitarianism, it is okay for me to lie on the application if the lie is never exposed. Since the result of the lie will ensure that my friend remains employed, it is acceptable for a greater good has been achieved. In the same sense, the lie will higher the probability of me gaining employment with the agency resulting in another positive outcome although I may feel deceitful inside. In this circumstance, the need to lie is profitable and legitimate since it will engender favorable benefits and provide triumph.
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Society and the agency will benefit from the lie because they will have added another law enforcement personnel to help serve and protect while keeping the one it could have lost if I would have decided to be honest. Furthermore, lying on the application would prevent my friend from undue consequences and suffering; Not only will my friend be implicated and face termination with this agency if I answer truthfully, but it could negatively affect future employment opportunities for my friend. Moreover, the agency could come under fire for not enacting a more efficient system and screening process that would have identified a dishonest applicant. Being that utilitarianism indicates that the actions which produce the most good are that which is justifiably and ethically correct, it makes utilitarianism one of the most vigorous and influential methods of the ethical system (Driver, 2014). By lying on the application, happiness ensues.
Utilitarianism differs from the ethics of virtue ethical system and the religious ethical system because it is a teleological system while the other two are deontological. Under the deontological ethical system, actions are based on characteristics and rules rather than results, so if an act was committed out of good character such as honesty, but resulted in an unfavorable outcome, the act is still considered ethically correct which is the opposite of a teleological system.
Decisions
Based upon the above analysis of the ethical systems, I choose to tell the truth based on the ethics of virtue ethical system. I choose this behavioral choice based on character. Despite how big, how small, or how beneficial a lie is, it is unethical. All 3 systems lead to a different choice because the analytic research for each ethical system opened more possibilities including one in which my friend could come forth to the agency or we could file for expungement and the
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sealing of our records. However, when applying for a law enforcement agency, expunged records
are accessible. The greater ethical choice would be for me to tell the truth. By me telling the truth, my friend will be implicated, but the agency could decide to keep my friend employed. Personally, I feel as if utilitarianism should never be used to guide ethical choices in criminal justice because it supports unlawful behaviors if it results in a greater good. For example, utilitarianism would support an innocent life being sentenced for a crime that one did not commit
as long as the sentencing deterred future crime or served as an example. For this example of utilitarianism to be effective, the public must never know that the life used as an example was an innocent one. Though rational, utilitarianism should not be as commonly used as it is.
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References
Banks, C. (2004). The importance of ethics in Criminal Justice
. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/4031_Banks_Chapter_1_Proof.p
df
Driver, J. (2014, September 22). The History of Utilitarianism
. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/
Pollock, J. M. (2016). Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice
(9th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://reader2.yuzu.com/books/9781305856585