Ethics in Corrections

The importance of ethics in the criminal justice field cannot be overemphasised. All participants must portray acceptable moral conduct for positive criminal justice outcomes to be achieved (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2008). This is particularly true for correctional institutions, a major component of the criminal justice system. Correctional authorities play a crucial role in rehabilitating offenders and facilitating their transition back to the society. The role places huge ethical demands on correctional personnel. This paper outlines ethical requirements for correctional officers. First, a comprehensive job description of correctional officers is offered, along with the key stakeholders they work together with in the fulfilment of their day to day duties and responsibilities. Next, a number of practical work scenarios where ethical decision making is required are highlighted, with an evaluation of the relevance of theoretical perspectives to the scenarios. Finally, a code of ethics and best-practices checklist relevant for correctional officers is presented, clearly demonstrating how the code will positively impact all the stakeholders, correctional officers work with.

Correctional authorities are generally involved in rehabilitating offenders. Correctional personnel play a crucial role in achieving this end. This role entails admitting inmates, delivering meals to inmates, maintaining law and order within correctional facilities, retaining the accepted standards within the facilities, supervising inmates and monitoring their conduct, enforcing sanctions against inmates, and assisting in the counselling of inmates. Correctional officers are also involved in scheduling work assignments and educational opportunities for inmates, monitoring mails sent to inmates and visitors coming to see them, as well as escorting inmates to courts, other correctional facilities, and medical facilities.

Correctional officers work with a number of stakeholders in the fulfilment of their everyday roles. In addition to other members of staff, they work with or alongside law enforcement officers and courts (Joyce, 2013). Correctional facilities are used to hold convicted individuals and those awaiting trial. These individuals may be involved in further deviance while still in custody or prison. They may coordinate criminal activities, be in possession of contraband objects, and/or assault fellow inmates and staff members. Law enforcement personnel and courts can rely on this information to convict individuals awaiting trial. Without the assistance of correctional officers, investigations and prosecution may not be successful.

Counsellors, educators, and the general public are also important stakeholders (Joyce, 2013). Counsellors are involved in providing behavioural therapy to inmates, and hence require the support of correctional officers to achieve this. By ensuring security within the facility in general and monitoring inmate behaviour, correctional officers provide a good working atmosphere for counsellors. Educators constitute crucial stakeholders as inmates may take part in educational programs. They require a great deal of assistance from correctional officers. The public is an important stakeholder as correctional work is a public service. Correctional authorities, in conjunction with other elements of the criminal justice system, ensure justice is served to victims of criminal behaviour. This means that public confidence in correctional authorities is vital. In essence, the work of correctional officers has important implications for both internal and external stakeholders.

The fulfilment of the above duties requires ethical decision making. One practical scenario where moral action is required on the part of correctional officers relates to the supervision and monitoring of inmates. Correctional officers constantly observe inmates to ensure they remain where they are supposed to be at any given time. Nonetheless, instances of inmates escaping from prison or custody are not uncommon. While escapes may often be ingenious works of the inmates themselves, sometimes they collaborate with correctional officers to plan them. Outsiders associated with an inmate may approach a correctional officer with the intention of compromising them with money. Allowing oneself to be compromised demonstrates utter disregard on the part of the correctional officer for the grave consequences an inmate who escapes can cause. Some inmates may be dangerous, meaning that an escape is a threat to public safety. Correctional officers may also be compromised to allow inmates to smuggle illegal objects such as drugs and weapons into the facility, endangering the safety of other inmates as well as corrections staff. Therefore, correctional officers must always act in the interest of public welfare (Pollock, 2014).

Another practical scenario for ethical decision making in corrections relates to equality. Racial divide in correctional facilities remains prevalent, with correctional officers often showing preferential treatment to inmates from their racial background (Carlson & Garrett, 2008). While enforcing discipline within the correctional facility, correctional officers may treat inmates unequally. For the same offense, a Caucasian officer may take or recommend disciplinary action on an African-American or Latin American inmate but allow a Caucasian inmate to go scot free. In other words, Caucasian officers may often ignore offenses committed by Caucasian inmates while in prison or custody as they may perceive inmates from minority backgrounds to be more deviant.

Practical ethical decision making further stretches to the lives of correctional officers outside the work environment. Like typical citizens, correctional officers are involved in ordinary activities such as visiting grocery stores, driving, and having fun. While off duty, an officer may check in to a bar for drinks. As the night advances, the officer may drive home drunk. If pulled over by the police, the officer may be found to have exceeded the required alcohol limit. In defence, however, the officer may identify himself as a correctional officer in an attempt to avoid arrest. A good police officer will arrest the drunken correctional officer because the law is the law. The arrest may lead to conviction and even dismissal from work. In essence, correctional officers must be ethically conscious, whether at work or not.

From the above scenarios, the notion of utilitarianism is evident. Utilitarianism essentially asserts that the right action is the one that results in the greatest benefit for everyone, irrespective of constraints such as the law (Birsch, 2014). For instance, killing a thief may be viewed as ethically right as it results in public wellbeing. From the perspective of correctional work, an officer should consider the associated consequences before committing a certain action. For example, allowing an inmate to escape from prison endangers public safety, and is therefore ethically wrong. A major disadvantage of utilitarianism is that there is little or no regard for the means used to achieve a certain outcome. As long the outcome maximises utility for everyone, then the mechanisms used to achieve it may not matter. For instance, using excessive force on a violent inmate may maximise safety for everyone in the facility. However, the law places limits on the extent to which correctional officers may use force on inmates.

The need to adhere to rules is espoused in the deontological perspective, which asserts that what is ethically right is what complies with the law (Birsch, 2014). This means that correctional officers are obliged to follow the law regardless of the underlying circumstances. A major demerit of this perspective, however, is that the law may not always result in maximum happiness for everyone.

Code of Ethics and Best-Practices Checklist for Correctional Officers Comment by babyliza: Where's the checklist?

The above scenarios underscore the importance of ethics in corrections. Correctional officers must always uphold moral conduct if public confidence in correctional authorities is to be maintained. The American Correctional Association (ACA), a nationwide organisation for correctional workers, provides valuable guidelines for the formulation of an ethical code of conduct for correctional officers. Based on ACA's guidelines, the following is the code of ethics for correctional officers:

Professionalism: Correctional officers must always portray diligence, fairness, integrity, respect, and honesty in their work. They must particularly uphold the rights of every inmate and avoid any kind of discrimination (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2008). Respecting the civil and legal rights of inmates is a particularly important point of consideration as far as the ethical conduct of correctional officers is concerned. Even though they constantly face the risk of assault from violent inmates, correctional officers must acknowledge that inmates have rights and liberties protected by the constitution. They must also demonstrate equality when enforcing prison rules and regulations, administering sanctions, and carrying out any other duty required for the achievement of their organisation's overall goals and objectives. The importance of fairness in correctional work is particularly stressed by widespread racial discrimination in correctional facilities, with minority communities being the most affected (Carlson & Garrett, 2008).

It is vital for correctional officers to respect not only the rights of inmates, but also their colleagues. How members of staff treat one another can be a powerful influence on inmates. Inmates are always watching and they know what colleagues say about one another, how they treat one another, and how juniors think of their superiors. Without respect amongst themselves, correctional officers may not effectively execute their roles and responsibilities. Inmates may not view them as models of the right behaviour given that correctional officers are generally held to a higher moral standard than the public.

The importance of professionalism further emanates from the fact that correctional institutions are public institutions. They play an essential role in protecting the public from perilous criminals, meaning that upholding public service values is important (Kleinig, 2008). Correctional officers must respect other elements of the criminal justice system, uphold the right of the public to information, and respect the confidentiality of information.

Transparency and accountability: Correctional facilities are public institutions, underscoring the importance of transparency and accountability. Correctional officers must not use their positions to gain personally. They must refrain from accepting favours or gifts that may oblige them to act unprofessionally. Transparency and accountability further requires correctional officers to report corrupt and unethical practices within correctional facilities to the relevant authorities (Souryal, 2011). Also, they must always report violations of prison rules and regulations on the part of inmates.

Limiting compassion: Reporting inmates' deviant behaviour is a particularly important ethical obligation for correctional officers. At times, correctional officers may turn a blind eye on thefts, assaults, smuggling of illegal objects, and other offenses committed by inmates. Inmates may plead with officers for forgiveness, compelling officers not to document such instances. Owing to the serious consequences of not reporting inmates' deviant behaviour, correctional officers must carefully balance between compassion and ethics (Banks, 2013). The actions of correctional officers should always be guided by the law and public safety, not compassion.