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Assigned Reading
Albanese Chapter 1 (1-9) and Chapter 2 (12-21)
Historical Overview
Written Assignment 1: Critique of Ethical Theories
Conduct library research on ethical theories. Prepare a one-page, point-form summary of each of
the following ethical theories or approaches. (Note: This means that you should have a total of 4
pages). Be sure to outline the theory’s main features, comment on its usefulness (or otherwise),
and evaluate its principal advantages and disadvantages.
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Utilitarianism
Virtue ethics
Divine command theory
Hedonism
Question 2: Scenario Analysis
Imagine this scenario. You are a city police officer. You have just finished up your lunch at a local
restaurant while on duty in uniform. As you approach the cashier to pay the bill, you notice a lot of
patrons in line to also pay their bill. After handing the cashier your money and the bill she replies, “I
can’t take this, the police don’t have to pay for their meals.” You explain that you would prefer to
pay. The cashier, now upset, accuses you of trying to be better than the other officers. She threatens
to tell your supervisor, who also stops by occasionally. What do you do? Which ethical theory do you
use to decide what to do and why?
Question 3: Social Contract Theory
Discussion Forum: Social Contract Theory
1. Provide an example in real life when the social contract has been breached.
2. Describe the social contract theory of ethics and discuss how it justifies the role of law enforcement
officers in society.
Make direct textbook and course material. Please provide a question or talking point for
your peers to address when they respond to your post.
Dating back to the Ancient Greeks and early philosophers, people and societies
have taught and discussed ethics and decision-making. Often, the debates centered
around and focused on the premise and determination of right and wrong.
Philosophers throughout the ages have espoused ethics and analyzed this concept
to provide us with a better understanding and definition to apply to contemporary
times. These theories fall into four categories – duty, virtue, divine command,
and hedonism. Understanding these different perspectives can help us speak
clearer about what we believe and why we believe it.
Duty
Plato (428-347 B.C.) argues that doing good is a rational response and duty
brought about by knowing good. If you know right, you will do right. Knowing
what is wise, what it means to be honest, and how to treat others with justice
promotes positive ethical behavior.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) emphasizes the importance of reason. People are not
naturally inclined to act benevolently based on a natural impulse. There must be
something within them that enables or compels them to make wise choices. He
describes this factor as a reason by which we can will to act differently than we
might otherwise act. We need no’ t succumb to our unnatural impulses. The
morality of our action begins with the rational will, out of duty, to act properly.
Virtue
A second perspective, espoused by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) argues that the source
of ethical behavior begins with people who have good virtues and character. He
believes that happiness is life’’ s highest goal, and we achieve that happiness and
its well being by being people who develop virtuous qualities in our personality.
He names these qualities as factors such as wisdom about the best course of
action, courage to do what is right, patience to think before acting, or the personal
strength to continue with a right course of action.
A modern philosopher who also promoted virtue as the source of ethical behavior
is a Notre Dame professor Alasdair McIntyre. He proposes that in addition to the
virtues identified by Aristotle, ethical behavior relies on faith, hope, charity, and
justice. Cultivating these qualities of spirit produces right action. He cautioned
against unbridled individualism and advocated promoted norms for behavior that
avoid extremes.
Divine Command
A third prominent group of philosophers connect ethical behavior with a divine
design provided by God. We must do right because it maintains harmony in our
relationship with God and others God has created. God teaches us wisdom so that
we know what is right to do. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), an Italian priest,
explains ethical behavior as “a natural law,” provided by God. Our greatest good
is to try to understand God’’ s law and how it might be normative for our
behaviors.
Augustine (354-430) views that happiness consists in the enjoyment of God, a
reward granted in the afterlife for virtue in this life. We are guided by reason,
which can know eternal truths. However, the mind can also be turned toward
temporal truths, truths distant from God, and these lead to evil and bad behavior.
He views “virtue” as treating others with love.
Hedonism
The fourth perspective is called hedonism. People do what is right because it
promotes greater happiness in their lives and avoids pain that they do n’ ot want.
An early Greek philosopher, Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) used a hedonistic
explanation to explain ethical decision making. He taught that happiness, our
highest good, involves freedom from pain. It involves living in friendship and
harmony with others, and our ethics should pursue these ends. He speaks of
reciprocity, which means that we should minimize the harm we might cause to
others to avoid harm to ourselves.
A modern philosopher who espoused a similar view was Thomas Hobbs (15881679). Hobbes believes that humans are guided by self-interest and survival.
There is no definitive good or evil. Thus, there is a need to establish “social
contracts” that serve as agreements about lawful or ethical behavior. If people are
going to live in society, they are duty bound to submit to its authority and laws. If
the government fails to provide adequate protection for the members of its
communities, the members have a right then to resist or disobey.
John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher, and economist, argues that our welfare is
dependent on moral and ethical behavior. Norms for justice and punishment of
violations serve to create the greatest good for the most people. Acts can be
judged as “utilitarian” by their effect on people. The acts either cultivate harmony
and happiness, or they inhibit it. Mill believes that our individual happiness is
connected to how well we contribute to the happiness and well-being of others.
There are several ways that authority can be established. One of the most famous
sayings of Josef Stalin was the answer he gave when asked his reaction to
criticism of him by the Roman Catholic Church. “How many divisions does the
Pope have?” he replied. In other words, he indicated that he was not scared of the
Pope because the Pope did not have any army.
The Catholic Church and many of the leaders and positions of power have
historically relied on divine authority. Although there are still some forms of this
kind of authority in contemporary times, the United States of America and the
authority that we see exercised each day is developed around our democratic
system and the authority that the people of the United States grant to specific
entities and individuals through the U.S. Constitution. These positions of power
and authority that we associate most readily are police officers, federal law
enforcement officials, judges, corrections officials, and other actors in the fields
and profession of criminology.
The influential sociologist Max Weber proposed a theory of authority that
included three types: traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational.
Traditional authority is legitimated by the sanctity of tradition. The ability and
right to rule are passed down, often through heredity. It does not change over
time, does not facilitate social change, tends to be irrational and inconsistent, and
perpetuates the status quo. Traditional authority is typically embodied in
feudalism or patrimonialism. For example, Queen is Head of State in Britain, a
position she inherited on the basis of traditional rules of succession for the
monarchy.
Charismatic authority is found in a leader whose mission and vision inspire
others. It is based upon the perceived extraordinary characteristics of an
individual. Well-known charismatic figures include Jesus Christ, Hitler, and
Chairman Mao.
Legal-rational authority is empowered by a formalistic belief in the content of
the law (legal) or natural law (rationality). Obedience is not given to a specific
individual leader but a set of uniform principles. Weber thought the best example
of legal-rational authority was a bureaucracy (political or economic). This form of
authority is frequently found in the criminal justice system.
Read: Social Contract Theory http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/soc-cont.htm
Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that a
person’s moral and political obligations are dependent upon a contract or
agreement between them and society. Thus, government is needed to enforce the
basic rules of social living (e.g. do not rob people, do not break agreements),
while morality may encompass some rules that are important for social living but
are outside the scope of the state (e.g. do not insult people for no reason).
To help you understand the concept of social contract theory, check out this
classic game the Prisoner’s Dilemma
at https://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2013/papers/0466/paper0466.pdf
In the Prisoner’s Dilemma you and your partner act as prisoners who have been
jointly charged with a crime (which you did commit) but questioned separately.
The police only have enough evidence to be sure of a conviction for a minor
offense, but not enough for the more serious crime. You and your partner made a
pact that if you were caught you would not confess or turn witness on each other.
If both of you hold true to your word, you will only be convicted of the lesser
offense. But the dilemma occurs when the police offer you a reduced prison term
if you confess to the serious offense and give evidence against your partner. This
sounds like a good deal, confess and you get the minimum possible term in jail
although your partner will get the maximum. But then you realize that if both you
and your partner confess then both will be given the maximum term in prison. So
the dilemma is whether you trust your partner to keep quiet and if you do, should
you “stitch them up” to get out of jail quicker?
Players in the field of criminology are typically made up of the court system,
(bailiffs, lawyers, judges and other employees) corrections, (wardens, parole and
probation officers, and correction officers) and law enforcement officers (police,
game wardens, school police, transit police, and federal agents to name a few).
The power and authority of these positions are the result of Constitutional Power
that has been given to them in the democratic process and is accepted and deemed
necessary for the protection, safety, and security of the American public. This
agreement or Social Contract is consistent with Locke and other early
philosophers that were instrumental in the United States government system and
the Founding Father’s early ideas about the democracy we live in today.
The most basic and most visible form of government
power is a marked police vehicle and a uniformed officer. By law, police are
given the power to deprive citizens of their freedom by arresting them and the
right to use force in the performance of their policing function, including lethal
force in certain situations. The police are therefore given great authority under the
law, and that authority is to be employed ideally in enforcing the law and
protecting the public. As well as authority conferred by law, police have another
kind of authority derived from their role as police officers and represented by
their physical uniformed presence on the street.
In the correction system, guards are vested with power and authority over the
prisoners and exercise that power to control them in accordance with prison rules
and regulations. There are five forms of power in prisons. With legitimate power,
guards are invested with authority to command as a result of their position as a
guard of prisoners. Coercive power is based on inmate perceptions that guards
have the capacity to punish prisoner disobedience. Reward power describes
situations where prisoners perceive that guards are able to issue rewards, for
example, through making recommendations to committees dealing with matters
such as work assignments, participation in programs, and release on
furlough. Expert power derives from the prisoners’ perception that guards have
some special skills or expertise. Finally, referent power is the power a guard
exercises as a result of gaining the respect and admiration of prisoners.
Throughout American and world history, professionals in the criminal justice
system have been an instrumental part of ethical dilemmas. Examples range from
slavery, the labor movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and many other aspects
of social change. Day to day, ethics play an important role in these positions, and
there are many examples of unethical decisions and behavior seen in the media
from politicians, judges, law enforcement officials, and correctional workers. The
next few topics in this course will focus more on ethics and values in criminal
justice organizations.
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