Ethics and Governance in the Criminal Justice System - Essay Example

ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DEONTOLOGICAL VERSES IN TELEOLOGICAL THEORY IN POLICING Deontological theory refers to an ethical theory or perspective that is based on duty or obligation.Normally, the specific moral or duties or the obligation are seen as self evident having fundamental value and that they need no further justification. (Glen, 2011).The moral actions are usually evaluated on the foundations of inherent rightness or wrongness. The deolontological theory is featured by focusing on the adherence to the independent moral rules or duties.Therefore, this theory involves the understanding of the moral duties and the correct rules that exists to regulate the duties. (Anonymous, 2009). Ordinarilly, the strength of this theory is that it stresses on the reason why some certain decisions are made. The theory also scrutinizes on the correct motivation of the decision and not just the moral rules that have been set (Blackler, 1997). For example, one of my friend who served as a peer student counselor was in a dilemma.Normally, the school does not allow the usage of cigarettes and that any incidence of its presence should be reported. One of the students at that school who was addicted and was using it approached him for help. The student claimed that he was willing to change if counseled. The duty and the obligation of my friend was to counsel the student with the help of one teacher. However the student did not want his secrets to be revealed. Because the school was obliged to such disclosures the student felt that it was not to be disclosed since it may bring some troubles to him. This was a dilemma because the motivation and duty of my friend was doing the counseling and that according to the theory he was to make independent decision that would help the student. My friend decided to follow his independent decision to help the student without the disclosure therefore violating the school rule of not disclosing the incident. He thought that helping the fellow student was more fundamental because it brought goodness to his colligue. This theory is subjected to weaknesses as it provides no clear way to resolve conflicts that may arise between moral duties. The theory also does not allow for grey areas where the morality of an action is questionable. A police could find a person violating a rule to which according to the person he/she does not see it is wrong maybe because of the culture that he comes from. (Maguire, 2002) According to Glen, teleology describes an ethical perspective that contends the rightness or wrongness of an action is based solely on the goodness or badness of their consequences. The actions are morally neutral when considered apart from their consequences .Therefore, this is a theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved. Police have the moral obligation and duty to scrutinize the consequences before acting. As deontological approaches looks at the action to decide whether it is right or wrong, teleological theory looks at the consequences of an action to see if it is at least as good as any available resources (Glen, 2011).This can be further explained in the egoism and the utilitarian approaches. Normally, police persons can make decisions that are best represented by the ethical egoist reasoning as a way of understanding the common error of ethical reasoning. The ethical egoist will makes this fundamental claim that all the moral decisions should be made on the basis of a consideration of what serves their interests. (Matthwews, 2003)The proper basis for moral judgment is therefore as that one ought to do whatever is in ones own best interests. In policing decisions are usually made basing on the interest of the police making the decision and not a representation of the entire police body. This usually happens especially when the lives of other citizens are threatened by a particular robber. Oftenly police will fear their security and decides to eliminate the robber instead of taking him fir trial. (Silverman, 2001) Utilitarian on the other hand, will answer the charge that ends do not justify the means. Normally, the problem arises in this theory because they tend to separate the achieved ends from the action by which these ends were produced. One of the major implications of utilitarianism is that the decision made in performing an act may include all of its foreseen consequences. For example a suspected terrorist may be gunned down with a fear that he may fire before the police do. (Silverman, 2001) The goodness of the decision will reflects the balance of the good and bad of these consequences. This oftenly involves no limits imposed upon it by the nature of the act itself. Therefore utilitarianism will state that one ought to seek in producing the greatest possible balance of good over bad, or seeking the least possible balance of bad over good, for all who will be affected by ones actions. The decision that is made should seek to yield good and not bad. (Thiroux, 2012) This theory however has been used as it has a major strength of highlighting the consequences of a particular decisions before it causes problems in the long run, this is especially where a wanted thug is required.However, as stipulated above, has a potential of bringing more harm than good. (Torre, 2010) Though, teleological ethics which value proactivity encourages people to take responsibility for their actions, this should be monitored. Proactivity is usually a powerful deterrent to unnecessary hardship. Because consequentialism often pits logic against conscience it always encourages the person taking action to consider both angles before proceeding. This involves the strength of the teleological theory. (Torre, 2010) The best theory to use in policing and security institutions is therefore deolontological theory. This is because decisions are made based on right or wrong. This means that a thug will only be gunned down when there is evidence and not just police decision. The decisions are self evident. There is also the understanding and comprehension of the moral duties before the decisions is set. (Blackler, 1997) Normally, these decisions are scrutinized on their correct motivation. This is in comparison to teleological theory that looks at the consequences of an action to make decision. Before an action is taken, one must scrutinize based on the laws if the action is right or not. One should not take an action based on thinking of how the consequence will bear fruits. (Glen, 2011) This is because one can be wrong and that decisions are not always right and that they should be subjected to law before action, failure to which police will be taking actions in their hands. Therefore I advocate more organization to use deolontological theory. Works Cited Anonymous. (2009). The deontological ethics. Retrieved 2014, from http://atheism.about.com/od/ethicalsystems/a/Deontological.htm Blackler, M. (1997). Police ethics. Sidney. Glen, M. (2011). Deontological theory. Retrieved 2014, from http://rhchp.regis.edu/hce/ethicsataglance/DeontologicalTeleological/DeontologicalTeleological_01.html Maguire, M. (2002). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Oxford university press. Matthwews, R. (2003). The New Politics of Crime and Punishment. UK: Willan Publishing. Silverman, E. (2001). NYPD Battle Crime. Boston: Northerneastern university. Thiroux, J. (2012). Ethics Theory and practicing and practice. Torre, C. (2010). The strenght of teleological theory. Retrieved December 2014,from http://www.ehow.com/info_8488268_strengths-teleological-ethical-theories.html Read More