Moral and Ethics

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Pollock_Ethics_10e_Ch04_PPT.pptx

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Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice

Tenth Edition

Chapter 4

Becoming an Ethical Professional

Learning Objectives

Describe biological influences on ethical behavior.

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

Describe research that addresses work group influences on behavior.

Explain organizational influences on behavior.

Explain the 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.

Modeling Theory

Reinforcement Theory

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory

Emotional, physical, and cognitive development happen in stages

LO 1: Describe biological influences on ethical behavior.

Biological Factors (1 of 2)

Links between brain and predisposition to certain behaviors.

Research focuses on hormones, including oxytocin, serotonin, and testosterone.

Phineas Gage.

Genetic influences continue to be denied.

Oxytocin as “moral molecule.”

Are women more “moral” than men?

LO 1: Describe biological influences on ethical behavior.

Biological Factors (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.

LO 1: Describe biological influences on ethical behavior.

Learning Theory

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

Modeling

Imitating the behavior of others

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

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)

LO 2: Describe psychological theories that attempt to explain individual differences in behavior.

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (1 of 3)

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

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.

LO 2: Describe psychological theories that attempt to explain individual differences in behavior.

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (2 of 3)

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

LO 2: Describe psychological theories that attempt to explain individual differences in behavior.

Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory (3 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

LO 2: Describe psychological theories that attempt to explain individual differences in behavior.

Workgroup and Organizational Influence (1 of 2)

Individuals sometimes behave in ways that are contrary to their belief systems when exposed to external influences.

Bandura’s mechanisms:

Moral justification

Euphemistic labeling

Advantageous comparison

Displacement of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility

Disregard or distortion of the consequences

Dehumanization

LO 3: Describe research that addresses work group influences on behavior.

Workgroup and Organizational Influence (2 of 2)

External conditions are not all powerful.

Bounded ethicality: cognitive structuring whereby decisions are interpreted using variables that do not include ethics.

LO 3: Describe research that addresses work group influences on behavior.

Ethical Climate and Organizational Justice

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

Leadership, reward structure, and organizational messages affect climate.

Three basic ethical orientations:

Egoism

Benevolence

Principle

LO 4: Explain organizational influences on behavior.

Ethics Training

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Most professional schools require at least one class in professional ethics

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

LO 4: Explain organizational influences on behavior.

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

LO 4: Explain organizational influences on behavior.

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).

LO 5: Explain the cultural and societal influences on ethical behavior.

Discussion Questions

Name as many biological factors that may affect ethics as you can. In what ways to these factors affect ethics?

Critique your own moral stage using Kohlberg.

Have you ever used moral justification for an action you knew was wrong? Did you ever tell someone else that you’d done so?

Moral and Ethics

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