Paper Topic:

Ethics in Criminal Justice

Running Head : Ethics in criminal justice

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Ethics in criminal justice

Introduction

Ethics are moral philosophies involving the study of questions of right and wrong . Ethics , therefore involves the ability to make moral judgments about what is perceived to be wrong , good or bad . Ethics provide an individual with means and ways of making moral choices when they are not sure about what action to take in a situation involving moral issues . Ethics in criminal justice should be studied and understood because

it increases individuals sensitivity towards issues that are right or wrong and also assists one is identifying actions that have a moral content . The study of ethics in criminal justice are assist in decisions that involve discretion , due process and force that require officers to make informed moral judgments

In the criminal justice system , ethical decision making must involve normative ethics . The normative ethics provide that an individual 's actions must account for moral issues involved . This means that one must use reason to decide the proper way of conducting one self so as to act morally . Ethics and natural law correlate in the sense that some people argue , natural law is the origin of ethics . Natural law is laws that are put in place to govern human behaviour and also define the right way of living . These laws are said to be natural simply because they incorporate human behaviour and the goals that humans aim to attain . Ethical standards represent the ideas of a society as it seeks to regulate the behaviours of members of that society . Although ethical standards are not written down as laws or rules , it does not affect their validity . Ethics is the standards of behaviour that govern how human beings should act in many situations that they find themselves either as law keepers , citizens , friends and professionals . Philosophers have suggestion several different sources of ethical standards . One of these approaches is the utilitarian approach which states that an ethical action is one which provides the most good and cause the least harm . In this approach , an ethical action is one which provides the greatest good and causes less harm for the affected individuals . The rights ethical approach provides that an ethical action is one that protects and respects the moral rights of the affected individuals Human beings have dignity and the right to be treated as ends and not as means that make other ends meet (Banks , 2004

Ethical dilemmas arise in the criminal justice system due to the fact that criminal justice professionals are usually faced with the challenge to make decisions that involve ethical issues . Ethical dilemmas occur when a decision must be made which involves conflicts at the societal level , or one that raises matters of rights and moral characters . The process of making an ethical decision involves factors such as an individual 's personal values , personal priorities and how the decision might affect friends and others involved . When resolving an ethical dilemma , one is...

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