Ethics in justice administration

Ethics in Justice Administration

Introductory device

Supporting sentences

Early studies on police ethics

Prior studies on justice administration

Christian Worldview

Bible verses

Sin's effect

Sinful nature of man

Adam and Eve

A Christians Walk in Law Enforcement

Incorporation of Christianity in solving dilemmas

Morals and Ethics

Code of Silence

Ethical Dilemmas

Choosing the Code of Silence

Choosing the Code of Ethics

Approaching Ethical Dilemmas

The bell, the book and the candle

Grey lines

Discretion

Ethics in Law Enforcement Management

Ethics in Justice Administration

Ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong, and how humans should live. Ethics incorporates making moral judgments on what is right or wrong, good or bad. Ethics provide ways on how to make right choices in case of dilemmas involving moral issues (Felkenes, 1987). The incorporation of ethics in the justice system reveals that there are challenges in the departments that serve people with law. Professionals such as police officers, judges, magistrates and others, who take part in the administration of justice, will require ethics in order to conduct themselves in a proper way (Singer, 2004). In addition, in prescribing the levels of conduct, gives these professionals a chance to make decisions is situations of uncertainties. Although some scholars express the challenge in creating a single standard because of different societies, the set of ethical standards apply across all societies.

Ethics increase the probability that people will behave in expected ways. The professionals involved in justice administration do this partially by focusing on characters of their actions. In addition, ethical codes will help justice administration professionals in doing the right things for the correct motives (Singer, 2004). Far from justice administration, ethical deeds allow administrators and elected representatives' test their actions against expected standards. Law enforcement professionals have an obligation in the administration of justice. They have a responsibility to portray and maintain the ethical codes of a given justice and police department (Felkenes, 1987). However, the public perceives police officers unethical because of the compromise on their morals. Law enforcement is a critical aspect in endeavors for effective justice administration (Kopko, 2011). For instance, law enforcement officers in the criminal justice system struggle with ethical issues. Police officers face new issues daily, and it is up to that officer to handle the issue appropriately.

Many organizations attempt to address the public's concerns to increase professionalism and verify changes necessary for quality law enforcement. Because of these concerns, members of the Justice Administration proposed that efficient policing greatly relies on the education requirements for its law enforcement officers. Therefore, this called for global requirement of a four-year degree. In addition, the justice administration established law enforcement standards, training and required morally upright officers (Carter and Wilson, 2006). In addition, the criminal justice administration established police standards; however, the organization had the responsibility to remove certification of unethical law enforcement officers. For the commission to avoid hiring unethical officers, a background research qualified officers for hiring. The background investigation concluded the hiring process for most departments because it forecasts an employee's future behavior (Carter and Wilson, 2006).

Literature Review

There are several academic studies and publications on the issue of ethics in justice administration, in general, police ethics. Some of these early studies are mainly field researches conducted by scholars in collaboration with justice administrators such as police practitioners in several countries of the globe. Other prior researchers made investigations based on publications in the area of police occupational socialization, law enforcement ethics and associated fields. In reviewing previous studies, in the field of police ethics, some police organizations have developed code of ethics for their members (Carter and Wilson, 2006). The main aim of the code of ethics established is to help in managing these police officers guided by a set standard of work. In addition, the code of ethics established by these police officials is a step against corruption.

In addition, other studies suggest that fostering ethical policing is a global challenge. Ethical policing should protect the dignity of despised people; however, some police departments ignore human dimension by focusing on what they do instead of focusing on how they perform their duties. Another study suggests that police officials impose ethical standards and efficient policing through policy proscription and punishment. However, this approach has several challenges such as police actions are unreviewable. In order to impose ethical standards to lower ranking police officers, frontline law enforcers, officials and justice administrators should embrace ethics (Carter and Wilson, 2006).

Christian worldview

The actual definition of "Christian Worldview" varies but breaking down the word makes it easy to understand its meaning. A worldview represents the perception of an individual's views of the world. Another suggested definition is an internal belief system about the factual world, what it is, why it is the way it is and how it operates. However, "worldview," is not a specific list of beliefs but rather, it is the orientation of the heart. A person's worldview represents the sum of feelings, beliefs, and memories, knowledge and experiences used to explain events and make decisions (Kopko, 2011). An officer's worldview will influence the way one handles ethical dilemmas in their line of duty. People are able to disguise into another's worldview; however, ethics involves one's honor revealed in their actions when no one else is present.

A Christian worldview belongs to people seeking to live like Christ. Therefore, for such a person, they should maintain a biblical worldview, which is to have the qualities or rather a mind of Christ (Autio, 2005). In addition, such people who claim to have a Christian worldview, should show consistency with their claim and act accordingly. Although a Christian worldview does not automatically prevent ethical challenges, people with Christian worldviews are not prone to giving in into unethical decisions in dilemmas (Kopko, 2011). For instance, in Romans 12: 2 Paul states: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to assess and accept what God's will is (NIV)." I addition, Colossians 2:8 says: "See to it that no one takes you captive through deep and deceptive idea, which depends on human tradition and the fundamental principles of this world rather than on Christ (NIV)."

The verses from the scriptures emphasize the significance of staying in God's will. In addition, they warn Christians of the danger of falling into a "deceptive philosophy" that the world tries to impose on Christ believers. It is simple for Christian officers to obey the scriptures, but many challenges may cause them to stumble (DeWitt, 2007). However, if a Christian police officer maintains their Christian faith in the face of dilemmas, they will have an easy time in their decision making. The law enforcement profession comes with circumstances that challenge police officers. For instance, a police officer searching a room may spot cash in one of the drawers. The officer being alone could take the money, and no one would find out. Officers with a Christian worldview recognize that stealing is wrong and cannot justify the act because the money belongs to a drug dealer or a felon.

Sin's Effect

Some of the ethical dilemmas faced by law enforcement officers are not new, but not much changed in approaching the dilemmas because of the sinful nature of man. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, human beings do not study how to learn because they are born with the sinful nature. However, human beings know what is right or wrong, and it is their decision to choose the right or wrong that makes the difference. In general, police officers have the answer on what to do in most given cases, and it is their decision that makes the difference. In the decision making process of an ethical, officers with Christian worldviews should have an easy time to solve a situation because the Holy Spirit guides them (Jones and Carlson, 2004).

A Christian's Walk in Law Enforcement

In law enforcement, there are times when an officer has to choose between the ethical codes and the police subculture of dealing with ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas exist and can challenge any individual in any profession in every unimaginable ways. Police officers who pray through a given dilemma, he or she stands a chance compared to an officer who feels alone in their dilemma. Psalms 46:1 says, "God is our refuge, an ever-present help in trouble (NIV)." The passage encourages believers to never forget that God's omnipotence and how foolish it is for Christians to rely on themselves through trials (Kopko, 2011). A Christian walk is challenging and has a lot of hardships. The temptation to compromise an officer's faith is a struggle if the officer is the only Christian within the department.

Morals and Ethics

Police officers are consistently having their ethical stands put to the test. The officers encounter new issues and the officer has an obligation to handle the challenge. Not only do the officers have to accomplish their duties professionally, but the job requires each scenario handled ethically and morally. Although ethics and morals are two different subject matters, they have a correlation and supplement each other interchangeably. An individual's morals concentrate on the actual behavior while ethics is a study of those morals. Ethics refers to the system of moral values based on the principle of right and wrong. Police officers play an important role in the administration of justice; therefore, they should view themselves as retrospective and abide by the law.

The term ethics has many definitions, but a review reveals that most of the definitions apply the same concept. For instance, ethics are "principles of accepted rules of conduct for a particular individual or group as mandated by law, policy, or procedure." The uniqueness of law enforcement occupations causes some challenges in abiding completely by the rules and procedures (DeWitt, 2007). In addition, there is no single police officer capable of policing by the set rules, and they violate rules included in their code of ethics (Pogrebin, 2003). Such jobs that aim to deliver efficient administration of justice to people entail a great deal of discretion and decision making that come with no warning or instruction. The concern is that morality in the globe is corrupted, and ethical considerations involve discretion, force and processes that entail enlightened moral judgments.

1. The Code of Silence

Police officers have nicknames for officers who violate the code of silence. Some of the nicknames are bad names such as "rat," "narc," or "fink." Being accepted by a subculture can put a strain on a police officer who tries to practice ethics. This code of silence is informal but known by all officers. In addition, the code has a strong influence on the behavior of officers (Hess and Wrobleski, 2006). In addition, ethics is complicated and presents adverse challenges to officers seeking to behave ethically (John and Carlson, 2004). However, when confronted with an ethical concern that may endanger a colleague officer, some officers may opt doing the right thing, but the same time they desire to maintain their loyalty toward their colleagues. For instance, when an officer makes a decision to act rightfully, consequences vary from shunned by colleagues to threats of destruction of property.

Ethical Dilemmas

Case study 1: Choosing the Code of Silence

Three officers received a call reporting a burglary. As the three arrived on the scene, they could see boys stripping parts from a car. One boy ran and one of the officers shot the boy, the two officers were not on the vicinity; therefore, they responded on hearing the shot. In the process, one officer kicked a gate that struck the other officer in the head. They gathered and discussed what to report or rather describe the scene of the crime. Later on, a sergeant arrived, and the officers opted to use the incident where the officer was hit on the head as the reason for firing. Their claim was, the officer got hit and yelled (Progrebin, 2003). Therefore, the officers opened fire on the escaping boy. The shot boy was not found, so they assumed he was not hit with the bullets.

This case is an example of how police cover for their colleagues as a reflection of loyalty for each other. In this case, it is clear that the officers neglected their code of ethics. In addition, they opted to honor their subculture and the code of silence. Ethical behavior within a police department is the responsibility of every officer within the department. The case involving three officers elaborates where the police officers discussed a report before the arrival of the sergeant showing that each had a choice, either to say what was right or wrong. However, they decided to construct a report basing their story in favor to protect their colleague against disciplinary action and justifying the shooting on self-defense.

Case study 2: Choosing the Code of Ethics

A female correctional officer working on a night shift continued to find a few of her colleagues asleep on the job. She felt threatened when the guards fell asleep during their shift; therefore, she approached the guards and requested them to stay awake for safety reasons. The officer warned them if they continued sleeping on the job she would report them to higher authorities. However, on another shift, the officer still found her colleagues sleeping on the job and she decided to report the incidence to her supervisor (Jones and Carlson, 2004). In response, the female officer faced harassment that included threatening phone calls and destruction of her car. The officer had an option either live according to the code of ethics, or choose the way provided in the code of silence. This case makes it clear that ethics is a choice, not a fancy, but the officer lived up to the code of ethics.

The officer could have chosen letting the other officers sleep, but the consequences were fatal; such as prisoners escaping then all the guards fall at risk. Choices made by officers in ethical dilemmas may result negatively no matter the decisions they make. The case studies provided reveal that a police officer's worldview is pertinent in case of ethical dilemmas. In other cases, some officers may depend on their colleagues to disobey or obey instead of taking a stand. Taking a stand can also cause rise to adverse consequences. Such complicated dilemmas require officers asking for God's guidance to make ethical decisions (Jones and Carlson, 2004).

Approaching Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas become difficult because of the spontaneous manner in which they occur. This makes justice administrators make improper decisions. However, for law enforcers who play a role in justice administration, there are exercises they should undertake to prepare for any unethical dilemma that might arise in their line of duty (Tillman, 1998). In the justice administration realm, professionals should take part in sessions, seminars, practicing and planning on how to approach various dilemmas that may arise. This section provides some dilemma exercises that can help officers prepare ahead of time for a given dilemma.

The bell, the book and the candle

These three tools have a design to retell law enforcers facing an ethical dilemma that they are not proposing to do is not morally and socially acceptable. "The bell" represents the conscience that should sound when an officer is on the edge of making a decision. In addition, it acts as a warning that the decision made comes with adverse results and calls for keen consideration before making the final decision (Kopko, 2011). "The book" represents to the principles and laws previously taught. In the police academies, recruits go over laws and regulations, and each individual law enforcer should know the standards set by the justice administration in collaboration with the police department. This book acts as a reference for the officer and abides to the code of ethics provided. "The candle" symbolizes the decision made through the public; therefore, an officer should consider the implication of his or her decision on the eyes of the public (Jones and Carlson, 2004).