Assignment: Police Militarization

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Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice

Joycelyn M. Pollock

9th EDITION

Chapter 4

Becoming an Ethical Professional

Chapter Objectives

Be able to describe biological influences on the ethical behavior of criminal justice professionals, including major research findings.

Describe psychological theories that attempt to explain individual differences in behavior.

Describe research that addresses work group influences on behavior.

Become familiar with organizational influences on behavior.

Become familiar with cultural and societal influences on ethical behavior.

Individual Influences

Biological Factors

Behavior depends on an individual’s biological predispositions.

Learning Theories

Behavior depends on the rewards an individual has received.

Developmental Theories

Behavior depends on an individual’s intellectual and emotional stage of development, which in turn depends on their environment.

“blank slate” (tabula rasa)

Humans are sponges, born with no instincts

“the noble savage”

Humans are naturally peaceful and altruistic

“the ghost in the machine”

Body is separate from the mind; consciousness

Phineas Gage

Physical trauma to his brain changed his personality

Genetic influences continue to be denied

Twin studies

Genetic influences on personality

Oxytocin as “moral molecule”

Brain chemicals influencing personality

Are women more “moral” than men?

Biological Factors (slide 1 of 2)

Biological Factors (slide 2 of 2)

Frontal lobes of the brain implicated in:

Feelings of empathy

Shame

Moral reasoning

Individuals with frontal-lobe damage may display characteristics related to unethical behaviors

Research shows moral decision making seems to take place in different areas of brain

Learning Theory

Modeling

Imitating the behavior of others

Parents and other adults provide role models for children through their behavior

Premise: All human behavior is learned; therefore, ethics is a function of learning rather than reasoning.

Reinforcement

A behavior that is rewarded will be repeated

After enough reinforcement, the behavior becomes permanent

The individual develops values consistent with the behavior (cognitive dissonance)

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (slide 1 of 3)

They involve qualitative differences in modes of thinking, as opposed to quantitative differences.

Each stage forms a structured whole; cognitive development and moral growth are integrated.

Stages form an invariant sequence; no one bypasses any stage, and not all people develop to the higher stages.

Stages are hierarchical integrations.

Premise: Moral development, like physical growth, occurs in stages.

• Pre-Conventional Level

Approach to moral issues motivated purely by personal interests

Stage 1: Punishment/Obedience Orientation

Stage 2: Instrument/Relativity Orientation

• Conventional Level

Approach to moral issues motivated by socialization

Stage 3: Interpersonal Concordance Orientation

Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (slide 2 of 3)

• Post-Conventional Level

Approach to moral issues motivated by desire to discover universal good beyond own self or own society.

Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation

Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (slide 3 of 3)

Workgroup and Organizational Influence

Individuals sometimes behave in ways that are contrary to their belief systems when exposed to external influences (pg 97)

Bandura’s mechanisms:

Moral justification

Euphemistic labeling

Advantageous comparison

Displacement of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility

Disregard or distortion of the consequences

Dehumanization

See In the News: Jon Burge and the Midnight Crew of Area 2 box

Ethical Climate and Organizational Justice

Research explores the ability to measure the “ethical climate” of an organization

Ethical Climate Questionnaire

Leadership, reward structure, and organizational messages affect climate

3 basic ethical orientations:

Egoism

Benevolence

Principle

Ethics Training

Most professional schools require at least 1 class in professional ethics

Differences between ethics courses in college environment and training courses offered at organizations

Leadership

Ethical leaders should:

Create environment conducive to dignified treatment on the job

Increase ethical awareness

Avoid deception and manipulation

Allow for openness and free flow of unclassified information

Foster sense of shared values

Demonstrate obligation to honesty, fairness, and decency

Discuss issue of corruption publicly

See In the News: Not So Secret Scandal box

Societal and Cultural Influences

Organizational culture is subject to external influences.

External influences are both objective (e.g., laws and regulations that constrain the organization), and normative (public belief systems).

Practice

Ethical Dilemmas

Pages 111-112