Moral Relativism In Criminal Justice

Abstract Criminal justice professionals, whether they work in law enforcement, the courts, or corrections, encounter a multitude of situations in which they must make choices that affect people’s lives. The law, or accepted standards of behavior, imposes ethical rules and responsibilities on these professionals. This re-search paper shows reasons as to why ethics are crucial in the criminal justice system. Keywords: ethics, criminal justice   Ethics in the Criminal Justice System Why is ethics so important for the Criminal Justice System? Because ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct; which allows us to established a line between good and evil.

The course reading characterizes morals as an arrangement of standards of good and bad that can portray somebody who has the ability to make esteem judgments and observe right from off-base. Ethics is the control of deciding great and insidiousness and characterizing moral obligations. From what I can assemble from this, they can be utilized reciprocally, yet they are distinctive. They both identify with good and bad lead, however ethics alludes to guidelines gave by an outer source and morals alludes to an individual's own standards in regards to good and bad (Pollock, 2013, p. 6-8).

Assignment #1 Review questions Chap. 1 p. 26: 1. A single standard of ethics cannot be applied to all criminal justice agencies. The world is too complex to legislate morality and ethics. The cultures that make up each part of the world are not the same.

There are ethics and codes that officers themselves must abide by, set by the prison just like the convicts they oversee daily. Criminal Justice professionals make decisions every day and they have to be able to recognize when an issue involves ethical issues. Therefore, in order to recognize these issues and make appropriate and smart decisions, it is important that the criminal justice professional study ethics. In order to make a good ethical decision, the officers' will have the ability to apply knowledge of ethics, know the ethical terminology and the concepts needed in making a good

The chapter about law and legal professionals by Joycelyn Pollock focuses on the legal aspect of the criminal justice system and the ethicality of legal professionals. The first half of the chapter sets up how the law relates to ethics, and what its purpose is. The law is a good way to see a written form of society’s ethics, because laws are tools of behavior meant to prevent harm to individuals and the community as a whole. However, the law is not comprehensive in defining moral behavior, as we can see in the way certain actions become legal or illegal as society changes. There are different views of how the law works, and we see these through paradigms, or models of what the system is.

Philosophy 2200C Taylor Pearl Paper #1 The Cultural Differences Argument for Moral Relativism In this paper I will be discussing the theory of the Cultural Differences Argument for Moral Relativism and also the flaws this theory holds. First I will explain the general idea of Moral Relativism, followed by two examples of cultural differences that are often cited to further explain this theory. After that I will discuss what the Cultural Differences Argument is for Moral Relativism.

In this prompt the argument that Morality exists is irrelevant, contrary to our thoughts and beliefs. Everyone follows a set of moral rules. Ethical relativists disagree with this belief because, they believe that morals are distinctive from each individual culture. These relativists as described are mixing up moral and cultural distinctions, or are simply not willing to completely understanding the cultures they are standing up for. There are two different types of relativism Ethical, and Cultural, that rely upon the argument of cultural differences, which have flaws that make the argument unsound.

Every society has its own unique cultures in which people will have different ideas of moral codes. The diversity of these cultures cannot be said to be correct or incorrect. Every society has independent standards of ethic within their society and these standards are culture-bound. Cultural Relativism has a perception in which rightness or wrongness of an action depends entirely within the bounds of the culture. This theory opposes the belief in the objectivity of moral truth.

Sam Freeman Jr Introduction to Criminal Justice Ethics (CJUS261) Professor Umeki Ramsey Unit 1 – Discussion Board 2 November 18, 2015 Police officers sole purpose in the United States is to protect and serve the county, city municipality, and state government to ensure that the law is being upheld by everybody within them. Peace officers assume a focal part in the law authorization framework. They screen criminal movement, tune in group watches, react to crisis calls, issue tickets, make captures, examine violations and affirm in court as required. It is no secret that the United States inherited much of Great Britain governmental institutions. In the Bible, Jesus says “to whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

Discretion and discrimination are major ethical issues faced today in society. When people have discretion, their prejudices and perceptions of group of people, in this case, ex-convicts and minorities, make irradical and immoral decisions. Police officer’s discretion against a group of people is going to influence how they perform their job so if police are prejudiced toward a certain group of people, that group is not going to be treated or protected equally. This type of discrimination is shown through them enforcing the law different or even withholding the protections and benefits of the law from people. This unequal protection from the law is an ethical dilemma that should not be prevalent.

The ethics, values and diversity of law enforcement have always been tested. Law enforcement face many ethical challenges. Many challenges have presented themselves in the field of justice with racial profiling being the most rampant. Racial profiling is used by many police department for similar purposes. Police often use this method based on stereotypes of African Americans and supposed connections to drug and gang activity. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the ethical challenges face by law enforcement as the misuse of power, regardless of the reason that such power has been used is problematic as it is rather rampant in many law enforcement agencies. Looking at the history of law enforcement throughout the ages has shown

In other words, “right” or “wrong” are culture specific, what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality that exist, no one has the right to judge another societies custom (Ess, 2009). Cultural Relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What makes up right and wrong is determined solely by individual or the society (Ess, 2009). Since the truth is not object, there can be no standards which applies to all cultures.

The Strength and Vulnerability of Different Moral Views Over centuries of fervent discussion in the moral world, there is still nothing like a consensus on a set of moral views. This essay attempts to outline and critically evaluate two moral views, namely ethical objectivism and cultural relativism. It is crucial to understand that both moral theories cannot be true at the same time as it results in contradictions, contributing to false beliefs. Additionally, it is essential that we discuss these issues with an open-mind so as to gain deeper insights from them. First and foremost, we will be looking at the prominent view of ethical objectivism.

Cultural relativism has a variety of definitions, but the main idea is that a universal code of ethics does not exist--it varies culture to culture. Rachel’s examines cultural relativism in “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” and argues that there are commonalities of ethics throughout every culture. Rachels sections off his argument to better explain what they believe. In this piece, they argue that cultural relativism is not a proper theory. They argue that it has many major flaws, but they acknowledge that parts of theory have some truth to it.

‘’Most officers enter law enforcement with minimal experience in the field or in handling the moral dilemmas that officers typically encounter. They learn how to perform their jobs, as well as recognize the organizational norms, values, and culture, from their peers and supervisors. While supervisors provide direct, formal reinforcement, officers’ peers offer friendship and informal rewards that, in many cases, hold greater influence than official recognition from the agency’’ (Fitch, 2011). Officers who come across situations where they are unsure what is morally and ethically best to do often turn to their peers for assurance and guidance. Good ethical behavior can easily be influenced by officers and those in law enforcement.