Ethics Training in Criminal Justice Professionals - Essay Example

Ethics Training in Criminal Justice Professionals Introduction Ethics is referred to the study and analysis of what constitutes good and bad. In the professional sphere, it is known to be the behavior relating to a certain profession and the importance of that particular behavior to a certain profession. These ethics vary from one profession to another and involve taking of oaths to dictate the appropriate behavior and goals. Restriction is usually on both the professional and private life of an individual as there is considered to be a very thin line between the public and private life of a professional. Ignoring of the ethics learnt through training can be consequential resulting in either loss of one’s job or dignity. Although these criminal justice professionals are human and are bound to make mistakes that might end up threatening their career and personal well being, they still are expected to make the right decisions in their duties and behave humanely; as even if they are not discovered when committing a crime, their conscience will forever pinch them. In this essay therefore, the value and essence of studying ethics in criminal justice professionals will be made clear, together with the importance of applying the ethics learnt in carrying out their functions. Being that criminal justice professionals are public servants who owe special duties to the public they serve, they are expected to use their knowledge on ethics in carrying out their judgment and do it in a fair manner. Judges, for instance through their knowledge on ethics are expected to interpret the law fairly and independently without any personal feelings, religious value, past experiences or self prompting agendas attached. The judges in their training are taught to be impartial, with no deviance, they should never be biased in making of decisions and avoid involvement with special interest groups in and out of the courtroom. The police officers on the other hand are able to make appropriate life and death decisions as well as obtain legal evidence as a result of the ethics obtained during training that they have to fight very hard to adhere to. They learn to never threaten assault or badger an offender in order for them to confess even in circumstances where the person is innocent (Banks, 2009). They also know that their judgment is supposed to be non-discriminatory, non-biased and justifiable for an innocent citizen to be protected. The prosecuting attorney equally learns to never allow punishment for crimes not committed and to provide honest as well as accurate testimonies also provide justification for any claims made through supportive evidence and presentation of complete facts. All these can only be possible with the power of ethics. In most management and policy decisions relating to punishment, knowledge on ethics is quite mandatory and the rationale used in making decisions on rehabilitation, determent and imposing just punishment within the criminal justice system. The training enables them to know whether or not it is ethical to force someone to attend a treatment program against their will and in cases where the punishment system is based on rehabilitation to discover if it is ethical to send the offender to jail and not offer treatment programs that are to help them undergo behavior change and regain their freedom Ethical training also helps in the identification and resolving of ethical dilemmas that they are bound to face in their line of duty. These dilemmas could be in terms of the laws to pass, what sentences to be attached to certain crimes, whether to abolish a death penalty and whether more prisons should be built or settle for the community correctional alternatives. The ethical issues that might come along with this are quite difficult and of tremendous effects to the lives of people. Being that having control over these issues is quite difficult, one is left with the option of applying the ethics learnt through training, for them to be able to struggle and come up with the right decisions that everyone would be pleased with (Souryal, 2007). There is a dilemma in this as the criminal justice professional is not sure of what choice to go by and making that decision might end up being very costly. In dealing with a dilemma therefore, the criminal justice professional is able to make an identification of the facts required, relevant values and concepts, possible moral dilemma for either party involved, make a decision on the most immediate moral and ethical issue facing the individual and finally resolve the dilemma using other means of decision making. The fact that these professionals make decisions in all professional situations, one is expected to behave ethically as their decisions have an influence on legal outcomes. They therefore through their training learn a set of rules and principles necessary in difficult decision making. In areas where these ethics are not applied, the professionals will end up relying on emotions, instincts and their personal values which are quite inadequate in providing of answers to moral dilemmas. It helps the criminal justice professionals in the maintaining of both social and crime control. In instances where ethics are absent in the criminal justice system, the fruits in most cases end up being corruption thereby causing the law to lose its meaning due to its undependable application. The criminal justice system undoubtedly impacts greatly on the way people treat one another and is therefore not only mandatory to the law but the society too. Ethics enable the criminal justice professionals in the developing of courage, confidentiality, honesty and law abiding behavior approach which is important in creating of a stable criminal justice system (Cox & Allen, 2005). It is through the knowledge of ethics learnt by these criminal justice professionals that they are able to protect the public from brutal acts and racism. The training equally enables them to get educated on citizens rights dealing with matters based on gender, race and any forms of discrimination. The work of criminal justice professionals come with a lot of temptations in their line of duty as there are many varied opportunities for abuse of the power that they hold. However, they are expected to put the society’s well being into consideration while making any decisions concerning various issues that affect the masses. In the criminal justice system for instance, there are professionals who might be tempted to exercise their power and authority over others and in some cases authorized to use force as well as physical coercion against them, which is against and unacceptable by the law. The professionals in this case are expected to exercise the knowledge of ethics learnt from training in carrying out of their functions so as to end up not hurting any member of the society through their actions in the name of power. Ethics therefore become crucial in such circumstances that involve much of discretion, as these professionals are human and anyone in power can be tempted to abuse their powers. With the ethics right at their disposal, the professionals are able to make the right choices while carrying out their functions as proper application of ethics is really important for any competent criminal justice professional. If they are not trained on ethics therefore, they may not be in a position to make reliable decisions and this can have a negative impact by opening doors for unethical, unprofessional, as well as improper actions. We have in this essay discussed and explained the study of ethics and its importance to criminal justice professionals. Human beings who are professionals in this field are expected to encounter ethical dilemmas at their work place and without this knowledge of ethics; it becomes a difficult issue to deal with. We have also seen the importance of ethics in various situations of applying the law and dealing with issues concerning human beings as well as the need to make the right decisions that are to be for the good of those involved and the society at large. The move towards increased awareness has become an important aspect as it is such a healthy direction for law enforcement. References Banks, C. (2009). Criminal Justice Ethics. Los Angeles: Sage Publishing. Cox, S., & Allen, J. (2005). Encouraging Ethical Practices in Policing. Law Enforcement Executive Forum , 35-40. Souryal, S. (2007). Ethics in Criminal Justice (4th ed.). Newark: Anderson publishing. Read More