Racial Profiling Nowadays - Assignment Example

? Racial profiling In society, various perceptional tendencies may encourage the introduction of socially limiting behaviors. Among these is racial profiling. In this study, racial profiling is defined as various measures that are undertaken to enhance security based on stereotypes within society. This study also explains how moral and ethical aspects of this technique within the society. In addition, this study incorporates ethical theories on normative ethics, consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics to develop an educative argument on societal stereotypes and law enforcement in the society (Muffler, 2006). This study also reveals the role of ethical and moral concepts in suitable decision-making hence showing the importance of making suitable judgment on individual appearances in the society. Introduction A number of modern techniques have been formulated to enhance security within society. Among these methods is racial profiling. This method utilizes various stereotypes in formulating security measures that are utilized in various law enforcing agencies in the country. This method has received acceptance among many developed societies despite raising a number of moral and ethical issues within society. In this study, focus is placed on the interaction between morals, ethics, and law within society. Question one Racial profiling is a matter of both discretion and ethics. First, racial profiling is a product of freedom among individuals. This freedom enables individuals to undertake any activity they deem right. For instance, in some European countries Chinese tenants are ejected from apartments since the proprietors fear that they may infect other individuals with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Tator & Henry, 2006).This freedom of choice may be misused thus resulting to reintroduction of crimes such as racism in society. Secondly, racial profiling is an ethical issue since it employs various ethical concepts during its decision making stage. For instance, consequential theories in ethics suggest that an action is moral if the number of benefits it generates exceeds the number of shortcomings. Therefore, application of racial profiling techniques in averting crimes such as terrorism is moral (Zack, 2011). Question two According to Boss (2008), racial profiling has a number of ethical and moral dimensions. These dimensions are negative and positive dimensions. Outcomes from racial profiling help to determine whether its dimensions are positive or negative. These dimensions are evaluated using normative, consequential, and deontological and virtue ethics. According to normative ethics, an action is right or wrong based on the nature of the characters involved. For illustration, a bartender may refuse to sell alcohol to an individual of aboriginal origin based on their rude behavior when drunk. This explains the positive dimension of racial profiling. Muffler (2006) contends that racial profiling has a positive or negative dimension based on the resultant ratio of wrong and rights. Deontological ethics also argue that various choices made when executing racial profiling determine the dimensions of the technique. For instance, undertaking racial profiling to satisfy personal greed is forbidden in deontological ethics since it may result to increased crimes of hate within any society. Question three Harris (2003) contends that individuals in society place judgment on each other based on a number of reasons. These reasons include societal stereotypes, past experiences, personal behavior, and individual appearances. Societal concepts are a major determinant of people’s judgment within any setting. Among these concepts, societal stereotypes influence individual choices when passing judgments. For instance, in some societies individuals of color are viewed as inferior to the Europeans. This may influence the choices made during judgment hence creating a widespread view that individuals with a colored skin are inferior (Tator& Henry, 2006).Personal behavior and past experiences are other factors that influence individual judgments on race. This is because these factors create various forms of memory in an individual’s subconscious mind. For instance, in a case where Italian men rob Europeans, the latter may develop distrust towards Italians thus greatly influencing their judgments. Individual appearance is another factor that informs personal judgment on other people. For instance, individuals may judge poorly groomed individuals as criminals or drug addicts due to the association of this state with crime. However, this judgment may not be true since an individual may have a disease condition that causes the improper appearance. Question four Zack (2011) contends that individuals judge others based on presentability, personal behavior and their general appearance. This is due to a number of reasons. First, individuals judge others based on their presentability because appearance gives a brief definition of the individual. This trait enables the individual undertaking judgment to answer questions such as what kind of employment the individual is engaged in and how do they associate within their societies. Personal behavior is another factor that informs individual judgment. For instance, individuals involved in drug trade are associated with crime hence any individual who consumes drugs may be judged as a criminal due to previous behavioral tendencies in society (Boss, 2008). Question five Pollock (2012) contends that the culture of law enforcers entails using of force and discretion to enhance security within society. The aspect of discretion entails utilizing freedom in choosing what activities to undertake. For instance, law-enforcing agents have the freedom to utilize various societal stereotypes during racial profiling procedures. This freedom of choice may be abused hence resulting to moral issues. For instance, freedom of choice in raw enforcing departments may result to prejudiced racial profiling hence creating racial suspicion in the society. This may increase race related crimes thus affecting the societal good. According to utilitarian ethics, these actions are immoral since they result to a larger proportion of negative consequences. The use of force is another defining attribute to the police force. In many situations, law-enforcing organizations utilize differing levels of force based on the racial profile of the criminal. This selective approach of restoring sanity in society may have numerous side effects since it encourages development of extremist behaviors (Muffler, 2006).The use of force is immoral since they contravene the provisions of virtue and consequential ethics. Law enforcing agents also employ different forms of forms when trying to extract information from suspected criminals. This violates the individual’s right to freedom, which is entrenched in the constitution of the respective country. These actions may set a suitable platform for future violation of the law on issues regarding to racial ranking. Question six Ethics forms the basis for various codes of conduct within the society. In the police force, these guidelines influence the manner in which various units interact with members of the society. For instance, many guidelines on police operations require that officers should not disclose information that is gathered during service. According to ethics, adhering to the law is a moral activity since it upholds various provisions of consequential and deontological ethics. In addition, virtue ethics requires that government systems should create adequate systems that enable officers to adhere to codes of ethics. For instance, in cases involving different races a number of techniques can be utilized to ensure fairness is enforced. For instance, the government should develop suitable checks to enhance the utilization of racial profiling in a fair manner while enforcing various requirements in the code of ethics. Codes of ethics are also essential in determining how law enforcers interact despite their differences in race. Moreover, application of concepts on racial profiling while enforcing codes of ethics on professional behavior is essential in improving the results of teamwork in the force. For instance, law enforcers can utilize information on racial profiling in determining suitable behavior towards each other hence averting conflicts based on racial differences (Tator & Henry, 2006) Question seven Decision making within society requires adherence to moral and ethical concepts. Moral and ethical concepts involved in development of suitable decisions include theories on virtue ethics, consequential ethics, and ethical relativism. First, ethical relativism argues that morality in an individual’s behavior is relative to the norms in their respective culture. For instance, in the past some societies upheld racial segregation hence making decisions based on concepts such as racism were moral. However, these decisions are immoral in other countries (Pollock, 2012).Secondly, the theory of consequentialism is essential in determining decisions made within society. This is because the theory argues that a decision is moral if it results to a large number of positive benefits in society. For instance, the decision to use racial profiling in preventing terrorism may result to a large number of benefits thus making the decision moral. Virtue ethics is also an important concept in determining the morality of decision making in criminal investigations. According to this theory, an action is moral if it upholds certain desirable traits. For instance, application of virtues such as kindness in the process of making decisions may be viewed as morally right since it may facilitate respect for human dignity irrespective of the individual’s race (Boss, 2008). Question eight Various ethical concepts form the basis on decision-making within society. These concepts include normative ethics, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. Tator and Henry (2006) contend that virtues form the basis of decision making among various individuals. In the process of racial profiling, a number of decisions are made; however, the morality of these decisions can only be determined through the application of virtues ethics. Consequentialism is also another concept utilized racial profiling. According to Zack (2011), the theory of consequentialism considers the outcome of an action when determining its morality. For example, if the application of racial profiling generates more benefits to the society then the process is moral. In addition, normative ethics is a key determinant in the use of racial profiling. According to normative ethics, an action is moral if it upholds certain ideal standards within society. Therefore, the use of racial profiling may be evaluated based on its ability to uphold ethical ideals in society. For instance, in a society where security for all is an ideal the use of this technique in enhancing the general security is moral. Conclusion Racial profiling refers to utilization of societal stereotypes to determine the reason why individuals behave in a certain way. This technique has been employed successfully in enhancing security within various nations. However, this technique has been misused in a number of ways thus raising ethical and moral concerns on its application in society. References Boss, J. A. (2008). Analyzing moral issues. New York: McGraw-Hill. Harris, D. A. (2003). Profiles in injustice. New York: The New Press. Muffler, S. J. (2006). Racial profiling: Issues, data, and analyses. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Pollock, J. M. (2012). Ethical Dilemmas & Decisions in Criminal Justice (7th .ed.).  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.  Tator, C., & Henry, F. (2006). Racial profiling in Canada: Challenging the myth of "a few bad apples". Toronto [u.a.: Univ. of Toronto Press. Zack, N. (2011). The ethics and mores of race: Equality after the history of philosophy. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Read More