The Importance of Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
The criminal justice system maintains its own system of values that is distinct from other fields
and occupations. Additionally, the criminal justice system in many aspects can be referred to as a
subculture that maintains a distinct set of rules and regulations, codes, and symbols (i.e.,
firearms, uniforms, badges) with rules that differ from those in mainstream society. Coser (1974)
expounds the notion of the criminal justice profession by comparing it to a “greedy institution,”
meaning that the institution itself does not literally intend to incarcerate every individual, but it
seeks the unmitigated commitment to the profession while navigating through a wider social
context. Additionally, it demands total allegiance to the institution yet mentally severs its
members’ ties from institutions that are in conflict with its function (i.e., family and community).
The criminal justice institutions must establish specific guidelines and must reinforce a myriad of
ideas that directly impact the legitimacy of the law enforcement apparatus in an ever-changing
society. Specific rules, regulations, and sanctions must be adhered to in order to maintain
structure and order among and between individuals whom the law enforcement community must
govern. Individuals who work within the legal community, especially law enforcement, are not
far displaced from the average individual. Humans by nature are imperfect. Possibly, then, great
value must be placed upon a strong ethical foundation to carry out the mission of law
enforcement. Philosophers such as Plato have made the argument that ethical behavior is a set of
ideas that cannot be taught but rather it is an essential element that is taught throughout an
individual’s upbringing. Even the most ethical person might argue that ethical behavior would be
difficult to measure because ethical decision making varies by the individual; in fact, each person
maintains a different set of values that they bring to their occupation. Moral reasoning is a key
element that is fundamental to understanding ethics.
Ethical socialization within the criminal justice organization derives from interpersonal ideology
and training. Criminal justice is broken down into two broad categories: law enforcement and
corrections. Ethics, however, is construed simplistically as those moral choices between right
and wrong behavior. Professionals who work within the criminal justice field are faced with
moral dilemmas on a daily basis. Training on ethics in criminal justice must often highlight the
dilemmas that are faced in this particular occupation. Plato eloquently explains such moral
dilemmas in the dialogue between Socrates and Cephalus when Socrates says, “But what about
this thing you mentioned, doing right? Shall we say it is, without qualification, truthfulness and
giving back anything that one has borrowed from someone? Or might the performance of
precisely these actions sometimes be right but sometimes wrong? This is the kind of thing that I
mean. I’m sure everyone would agree that if I borrowed weapons from a friend who was
perfectly sane, but he went insane and asked for the weapons back, and if you give them back
you wouldn’t be doing the right, and neither would someone who was ready to tell the whole
truth to someone like that” (Plato, 1993: 8). The dialogue between Socrates and Cephalus shifts
our attention to why moral choices are made with regard to absolute terms. Consequently, the
absolute terms can and will result in individuals contradicting themselves when making ethical
decisions.
For research to be effective it needs to be ethical.
Research serves an extremely important role in the criminal justice system. The collection of
data and it dissemination into information allows the criminal justice system to operate
effectively and efficiently. These benefits are the result of information that allows for criminal
justice leaders to build proper programs, allocate resources, and for policymaking. One of the
most important areas of research related with criminal justice is ethics.9
Types of Criminal Justice Research
To understand the importance of ethics in criminal justice research it is necessary to understand
the purpose of research in the field of criminal justice. Research in this field spans an enormous
area connecting many different subjects within the criminal justice field such as law, forensics,
and many other areas of criminal justice. Research serves the purpose of studying criminology
and its functioning. For example, studies are used to research the possible causes of crime and
methods for controlling it. Studies are also used to identify best practices for law enforcement to
increased effectiveness or to root out problems. For instance, studies into community policing
have revealed that law enforcement is more effective when there are close ties with the
communities they serve (Macionis, 2011). Other purposes in research extend into reducing crime
and recidivism rates. For instance, research has clearly linked prison overcrowding to zero
tolerance policies (Lauren and Glaze, 2013). Using research in this manner can provide criminal
justice with clear strategies, but in order for this research to be effective it needs to be ethical.
The Role of Ethics
Criminal justice is a field that is entrenched in ethics. At all levels of law enforcement, ethics
must be followed in order to ensure that individuals are treated in accordance with their rights
under the law. Criminal justice research is also bound by ethics. Researchers must be sure that
research is conducted in a manner that follows sound evidence-based practices and also abides
by research ethics. One of the most famous examples of criminal justice research gone wrong is
the Stanford Prison Experiment. Researcher Philip Zimbardo was conducting an experiment in
violent behavior and created a mock prison. Participants were chosen randomly and were
assigned the roles of guards or inmates.
The problem with this experiment was that it was poorly designed and while it concluded that
prisons and their environments can cause increased aggression in inmates and guards; its results
were also impossible to replicate since the experiment is not ethical and cannot be reproduced.
There were many flaws in this experiment which ultimately made it impossible to use for
policymaking or creating any form of prison program, “As well, the experiment was fraught with
ethical violations from the beginning such as exposing people to maltreatment and researchers
becoming too involved in the scenarios” (Macionis, 2011).
Ethical research in this area would have used more quantitative or qualified approaches for data
collection. Quantitative research utilizes factual data such as reviewing violent incidence reports
from prisons and attempting to show correlation between numbers of incidents and population
sizes (Loue, 2000). Qualitative research could also be used which might interview prison inmates
and guards to determine causes of aggression (Loue, 2000). These methods of research would
have provided substantially more data that was also more useful for understanding prison
violence.
The problem with criminal justice studies is that they are often expensive to conduct, and their
results are not readily beneficial to society. This is a problem understood from the difference
between pure and applied research. Most criminal justice research is pure in nature because it has
no market purpose and it is studying phenomena for the sake of knowledge (Loue, 2000). In
contrast to pure research, applied research is used to determine answers to specific problems or
situations such as market research to determine the trends in products (Loue, 2000). As such pure
research such as studying prison populations are costly and their benefit may not always be seen
directly. For example, reducing crime within prisons may not have a benefit in the short term,
but it may decrease recidivism in the long-term.
Criminal justice research is necessary and important. At all levels of the criminal justice system
research can be used to improved processes and efficiency. Ethics is one of the most important
elements pertaining to research because it provides a map for how this research can and should
be conducted. Unethical research leads to large issues such as making data unclear and providing
lack of benefit. Ethical research ultimately provides the proper data and information needed by
the criminal justice system in order to solve problems and improve the system.
When you have a career in the criminal justice system, ethical standards provide guidelines for
your conduct as an officer of the law. Without ethics, the law would have little meaning because
its application would be undependable. Depending on your specific occupation within the
criminal justice system, ethics will likely govern your interactions with law-breakers, influence
your decision-making processes and affect your interpretation of the law.
Defense Attorney Ethics
As a defense attorney, ethics is especially important if you're defending someone who might be
guilty of criminal activity. Your ethical standards are twofold: you must represent your client
fairly and you must ensure that your client doesn't offer false testimony. The goal is to place the
burden of proof on the prosecutor, while making every effort to provide accurate, truthful
statements. For example, defendants must correct false statements or they could be found guilty
of obstructing justice. Defense attorneys have an ethical responsibility to refrain from assisting
clients to offer false testimony and encourage defendants to rectify fraudulent statements.
Prosecuting Attorney Ethics
A prosecuting attorney also has ethical standards to maintain or a defendant might be punished
for a crime he didn't commit. As a prosecuting attorney, it's your ethical responsibility to provide
honest, accurate testimony and supportive evidence to justify your claims. If you know evidence
was tampered with, an expert witness has strong biases that might affect the case or an eye
witness account isn't error-free, you shouldn't present the information as proof against a
defendant. Ethically, it's your duty to present complete facts, not partial facts, fiction or biased
judgements as part of your case against a defendant.
Police Officer Ethics
The role of ethics is critically important to a police officer, who must respond quickly to criminal
activity, make life and death decisions and obtain correct legal evidence. For example, without
the legal and ethical administration of Miranda rights, informing and offender of his right to an
attorney and letting him know that anything he says can be used against him, an assailant's
confession might not hold up in court. It's unethical for a police officer to threaten, assault or
badger an offender to get a confession. A police officer has an ethical responsibility to make
non-biased, non-discriminatory, law-abiding and justifiable judgement calls to protect innocent
citizens.
Judicial Ethics
Ethics might be more important to judges than any other criminal justice practitioner because a
judge must interpret the law fairly and independently without personal feelings, religious values,
past experiences or self-promoting agendas that interfere with that responsibility. For example,
judges who serve in Nevada must honor and obey five rules of ethics, including impartiality, no
deviance from the law, non-biased decision making, no involvement with special interest groups
in or out of the courtroom and participation in approved campaigning strategies. U.S. judges are
expected to uphold the laws of the land and protect principles of conduct defined by the
Constitution.
Attorney Fiduciary Duty to Client
Fiduciary duty means that you are legally bound to act in the best interest of your client, not
yourself or another party, advises the University of Texas at Austin. As an attorney, this means
you have a number of responsibilities. Attorneys fill a number of roles, whether that be
representing a client in a civil or criminal court, negotiating during arbitration or mediation, or
developing contracts and legal documents, and you must fill the role competently.
One key aspect of an attorney's fiduciary duty is the duty of loyalty, advises Berkeley Law. Since
your client doesn't have the experience or knowledge of the law that you do, they rely on your to
act in good faith to represent their interests. Attorneys may not conduct their duties in a way that
benefits themselves or a third party; they must act to get the best possible outcome for their
client. This means that you must ensure you don't have any conflicts of interest when
representing a client.
Furthermore, attorneys must maintain confidentiality and keep their client's information private.
You may only disclose this information when required to do so by law. You must also
communicate candidly with your client about their case and the law so that they can make
appropriate decisions for themselves.
Fiduciary Duty Considerations
It is important to note the difference between confidentiality, which is a part of your fiduciary
duties, and attorney-client privilege. While both require you to protect your client's private
information, confidentiality is an ethical and professional duty, notes Columbo Law. Attorney-
client privilege, on the other hand, is a legal protection that prevents attorneys from being forced
to disclose privileged information. Of course, this privilege is not absolute, and a judge may
order you to reveal evidence or information in certain circumstances.
Attorneys also have financial duties to their clients. This means that they should not charge for
services that weren't completed and that the fees charged should be fair and reasonable, advises
Ross Law.
There is another major duty you have as an attorney, which is the duty of care. While this seems
related to your fiduciary duties, it is a separate thing. This is the responsibility to act carefully
when performing work for your clients to avoid mistakes. While you always want to do your best
work for your client, this duty can easily be violated if you are overextended, careless or
debilitated. A violation of fiduciary duty, on the other hand, is the result of a lack of loyalty and
acting in your own interests rather than your client's.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
There are consequences to a breach of attorney fiduciary duty to a client and clients can sue for
this breach. While state law can vary, in general, a client can take action for a breach of fiduciary
duty if they suffered damages as a result of the breach in duty, advises Ross Law.
The amount a client can be awarded if they win their suit for breach of fiduciary duty depends on
the state. In California, they can receive an amount that will compensate for the damages, and
they can pursue punitive damages as well, advises Bloomberg Law.
However, clients cannot get a reimbursement in attorney's fees unless that option was agreed-to
in the attorney-client contract. In other states, recovery of fees paid may be a part of the relief
awarded to a client.
The Role of Judges in Criminal Cases
American judges are often caricatured as sarcastic, silent or sleeping. The reality, in state and
federal courts across the country, is that thousands of men and women work long hours for less
money than they might make practicing law to interpret and administer the rights and limitations
woven into over 200 years of American law. American criminal court judges bear a particularly
demanding duty to serve as guarantors of justice.
Manager
Article III of the United States Constitution charges the judicial system with interpreting the law.
Criminal judges administer that function; they manage cases, set schedules, hear motions and
empanel juries. Criminal cases may begin in one court for arraignment, move to another for
motions before trial and end up in another for the trial itself. Although clerks and court staff may
issue notices and maintain calendars, judges are responsible for making the decisions implicit in
moving numbers of individual, occasionally complex, emotional or notorious, cases along on a
timely basis.
Referee
When a judge dons a plain black robe, she becomes the personification of the law. In criminal
cases, where penalties will alter or perhaps even end the defendant’s life, an objective referee is a
vital necessity to ensure civil rights and due process guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and those
enumerated in state constitutions. She must rule on motions, settle disputes between advocates,
maintain objective order between opposing attorneys, support frightened witnesses and control
sometimes contentious spectators. Appeals often arise from refereeing errors made by judges
during trial.
Fact Finder
Because the level of proof is so high in a criminal trial -- beyond a doubt by a reasonable person
-- the establishment of facts that relate to the law at issue assume vital importance. When a jury
is present in a criminal case, it is the ultimate trier of fact -- it decides whether the defendant is
guilty or not guilty -- but in a “bench” trial, a judge makes this decision. During either type of
trial, the judge must rule on the validity and applicability of information introduced as evidence
-- and the credibility of witnesses introduced as experts.
Jurist
The judge and jury must work together to guarantee a fair and unbiased hearing and
determination of guilt in criminal trials. Judges must supervise examinations, called “”voir dire,”
by attorneys and control divergent interests to empanel an unbiased jury. Judges must protect the
jury from hearing overly prejudicial information, hearsay or propaganda. If such information is
presented, they must order the jury to ignore it. The judge instructs the jury regarding its job; he
assists the jury by explaining court procedure and the meaning of the laws it must use to make its
final determinations.
Sentencer
A finding of guilt triggers the sentencing phase in a criminal case. The judge pronounces
penalties based upon opposing attorney arguments and jury recommendations. In a bench trial,
the judge determines and announces penalties. In cases settled by stipulation, judges must
approve any proposed dispositions.
Criminal defense attorneys have a variety of legal duties. Generally, they are obligated to keep
communications between themselves and their clients confidential. They owe their clients
zealous defenses, but also have separate duties to courts to present all defenses in an honest
manner. Criminal defenses also must avoid conflicts of interest, which generally means they
cannot represent multiple parties in the same criminal matter.
Privileged Communications
Criminal defense attorneys generally must maintain privilege, or privacy, regarding attorney-
client communications. Privilege allows clients to safely speak to their attorneys without fears of
reprisals, but there are exceptions. Privilege does not apply if clients use their attorneys' advice to
commit crimes. Generally, attorneys may break privilege pursuant to court orders or to prevent
deaths or bodily injuries. Clients also may waive their right to privilege. And, when clients die,
prior attorney-client communications generally lose privileged status.
Zealous Representation
A criminal defense attorney has a duty to zealously represent her client by taking all reasonable
steps to prepare a viable defense. She must gather facts, interview witnesses, review police
reports, subpoena documents, and research case precedents and statutes. Attorneys may also
request courts to consider new and novel interpretations of existing law to support their client's
interests. Attorneys should be prepared to examine witnesses at trial and to prepare compelling
arguments for judges and juries.
Conflicts or Interests
Criminal defense attorneys have a duty to avoid conflicts of interests when representing their
clients. For example, if several accountants are accused of criminal fraud their defenses may
include shifting blame to one another. Attorneys cannot implicate one client to help another.
Attorneys must also ensure that past clients do not create conflicts in current cases. For instance,
an attorney may not be able to adequately attack a witness if the two of them previously shared
an attorney-client relationship.
Honesty to Courts
A criminal defense attorney, like all lawyers, is an officer of the court and owes a duty of candor
to judges and juries. He may not knowingly make representations to courts that are untruthful.
He is required to be as honest as possible when communicating with courts. He cannot support
clients who commit perjury. Attorneys must take reasonable steps to remedy known perjury by
clients, which may include lawfully breaking attorney-client privilege to report it.
References
Lauren E. Glaze, E. J. (2013). Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012. Bureau of
Prisons volume 1.
Loue, Sana (2000). Textbook of research ethics: theory and practice. Springer. New Jersey
Macionis, J. (2011). Society: The Basics, Eleventh Edition, by. Published by Prentice Hall. by
Pearson Education, Inc.
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash9
