FOR MICHAEL.SMITH - Read the following scenarios and answer the questions listed at the end of each scenario

Type: Individual Project

Unit:  Default

Due Date:  Mon, 10/10/16

Deliverable Length:  2 - 3 pages

Ethical Dilemmas: Read the following scenarios and answer the questions listed at the end of each scenario. 

Situation 1

A rich businessman’s daughter, Patty, had the best of everything all her life. Her future

would have included college, a good marriage to a successful young man, and a life of

comparative luxury—except that she was kidnapped by a small band of radical extremists

who sought to overthrow the government by terror, intimidation, and robbery. After being

raped, beaten, and locked in a small, dark closet for many days, continually taunted and threatened, she was told that she must participate with the terrorist gang in a bank robbery;

otherwise, she and her family would be killed. During the course of the robbery, a bank

guard was shot. Was her action immoral? What if she had killed the guard? What if the terrorists had kidnapped her mother or father, too, and told her if she didn’t cooperate, they would kill

her parents immediately? What would you have done in her place?

Situation 2

You are taking an essay exam in a college classroom. The test is closed-book and closed notes,

yet you look up and see that the person sitting next to you has hidden under his

blue book a piece of paper filled with notes, which he is using to answer some questions.

What would you do? Would your answer change if the test was graded on a curve? What if

the student were a friend? What would you do if the student was flunking the course and

was going to lose the scholarship he needed to stay in school? What about a situation of

plagiarism? Would you turn in a student if you knew they turned in a plagiarized paper?

Why or why not? If someone cheats in school, isn’t it likely that they will be less honest as

a criminal justice professional?

Situation 3

You are selected for a jury in a trial of a 64-year-old mother who killed her two adult sons. The two men had Huntington’s disease, a degenerative brain disease, and were institutionalized. They were certain to die and would endure much pain and suffering before they expired. The defendant’s husband had died from this same disease, and she had nursed him throughout his illness until his death. The defendant took a gun into the nursing home, kissed her sons good-bye, and then shot them both through the head. She was arrested for first-degree murder. The prosecutor informs you that there is no “mercy killing” defense in the law as it is written. If you were on the jury, how would you decide this case? What punishment does she deserve?

Situation 4

You are completing an internship with a juvenile probation agency and truly have enjoyed the experience. Although working with the kids is challenging, you see many rewards in the job, especially when you sense that you are reaching a client and making a difference. Mr. Childers, the probation officer with whom you work, is less optimistic about the kids and operates in a strictly by-the-book legalistic manner. He is burned out and basically does his job without getting too involved. Although you respect him, you know you would approach the clients differently if you were to be hired full-time. One weekend, you are out with friends in a downtown bar frequented by college students. To your surprise, you see Sarah, a 16-year-old probationer, dancing. In watching her, you realize that she is drunk and, in fact, is holding a beer and drinking it while she is dancing with a man who is obviously much older than she is. You go over to her, and she angrily tells you to mind your own business and immediately leaves with the man. Later she comes back into the bar and pleads with you to keep quiet. She is tearfully apologetic and tells you that she already has had several violations of her probation and at the last hearing was told that if she has one more violation, she will be sent to a juvenile detention center. You know that Sarah has been doing much better in school and plans to graduate and even go to college. On Monday morning, you sit in Mr. Childers’s office. What should you tell him?

Situation 5

All your life you have played by the rules. When you went to college, you studied hard and didn’t party to the extent that it hurt your grades. During your senior year, you began to make plans to graduate and begin your career. One Friday night, you were in a car with four other students heading home from a bar. Before you knew what happened, the car was hit head on, and all of you were injured seriously. You now are paralyzed and face the rest of your life in a wheelchair. The car that hit you was driven by a drunken student who, coincidentally, was in several of your classes. Several days after you return home from the hospital, he wants to see you. Despite your anger, you do see him, and he begs for your forgiveness. He breaks down and cries and tells you that he had never done anything like that before and wishes he were dead. Can you forgive him? When he is prosecuted, what would your sentence recommendation be? Would your answers be different if someone had died? What if he had prior drunk-driving incidents? What if he also had committed other crimes and was not a fellow college student?