** Ethics Exam 1

Your partner comes into the station just before his shift and you realize he has been drinking. You tell him that you can cover for him, report him to your supervisor, or he can call in sick. He is convinced he is fit for duty and proceeds to roll call. This is an example of _____________.

A. an ethical dilemma

You are a police chief who is asked a question by a citizen in a press conference about decriminalization of marijuana in your community. This is an example of _________.

A. an ethical issue

One of the most controversial issues in the Trump administration that relates to ethics is his apparent violation of ____________.

A. the Emolument Clause of the Constitution

You are in a heated argument with a relative about taking of a life of another human being. She emphatically states "there are no gray areas, killing someone is always wrong, in all cases, regardless of what good might come from their death." This position is known as _______.

Absolutism

Explain the controversy between relativism and absolutism (or universalism).

Absolutist ethics allow no exceptions to moral rules for exceptional circumstances. Relativism seems to allow individuals to define anything as morally acceptable, even abhorrent acts like slavery. The compromise is situational ethics, which propose a very few absolute rules that will support different decisions in different circumstances.

Teleological Ethics

An ethical system that is concerned with the consequences or ends of an action to determine goodness.

The philosopher who believed that to be good one has to do good was _________.

Aristotle

Which of the following philosophers thought that bad behavior came from weak wills and that people did bad things knowing they were bad?

Aristotle

The Golden Mean

Aristotle's concept of moderation, in which one should not err toward excess or deficiency; this principle is associated with the ethics of virtue.

If a hermit living alone on a desert island pollutes the ocean, he has committed _________.

B. an immoral act

If you saw a person trapped in a burning building and decided to rush in to save them, this would be an example of ___________behavior.

B.supererogatory

Describe what behaviors might be subject to moral/ethical judgments.

Behaviors that can be adjudged under moral criteria are those that are acts (not thought) committed by humans (not animals) of free will (not by those judged as incompetent) and that affect others.

Relativism

Believes that what is right and ethical is determined by culture and the individual beliefs of the people involved.

Which of the following religions believes that good behavior is that which follows a middle path?

Buddhism

Which of the following is NOT an element in determining if a behavior is ethical or moral?

C. It is behavior not a belief.

Part of the reason legislators are not held in very high esteem in this country is _______.

C. the public believes their decision making is unethically influenced by lobbyists.

If someone from the U.S. were to be upset by a culture where borrowing someone's property for any reason was considered acceptable, as long as they returned it, this would be an example of ___________.

Cultural Relativism

Which of the following is not a decision that correctional officials have the discretion to make about an inmate?

Deny an inmate medical treatment.

You tried to make your sister's birthday special by buying her tickets to a Broadway play. However, when she arrived at the show, she was arrested for using a counterfeit ticket. You did not know that you had been given fake tickets when you purchased them. This scenario could be used to explain a____________ ethical system.

Deontological System

Ethical Issues

Difficult social or policy questions that include controversy over the "right" thing to do.

________is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices.

Discretion

Give examples of how discretion permeates every phase of the criminal justice system and creates ethical dilemmas for criminal justice professionals.

Discretion can be defined as the power and authority to choose one of two or more alternative behaviors. At each stage of the criminal justice system, professionals have such discretion: legislators make decisions regarding the creation of laws, police make decisions on the street in their enforcement of those laws, prosecutors make decisions about which arrests to formally prosecute, judges make decisions about which evidence to allow, and correctional professionals make decisions that affect the lives of offenders.

In making a decision about whether to buy a friend clothing for his children or buying your own son a new toy, your brother tells you "you should do what's best for you." Such thinking would be an example of ______________ as an ethical system.

Egoism

Discuss the argument as to whether egoism is an ethical system.

Egoism is not considered by many to be an ethical system because it is self-serving and logically inconsistent. It doesn't make sense to have a universal rule that everyone should pursue self-interest, because our self-interests will inevitably conflict. Proponents of ethical egoism also believe in psychological egoism, the idea that we are, by nature, purely self-interested. Under this view, we are egoists and, therefore, to pursue our self-interest is good.

Which of the following ethical systems is based on the notion of duty?

Ethical Formalism

In our effort to determine why a behavior is right or wrong, we typically use some type of ___________.

Ethical System

Explain the difference between ethical issues and ethical dilemmas.

Ethical issues are broad social or policy questions, while ethical dilemmas are situations in which one person must make a decision that can be judged as right or wrong, and where what is right is difficult to decide or is hard to do for some other reason.

The ethical system that argues the idea of morality is based more on emotion than rationality is called _________.

Ethics of Care

Explain why the study of ethics is important for criminal justice professionals.

First, we study ethics because criminal justice is uniquely involved in coercion, which means there are many and varied opportunities to abuse such power. Second, almost all criminal justice professionals are public servants and, thus, owe special duties to the public they serve. Finally, we study ethics to sensitize students to ethical issues and provide tools to help identify and resolve the ethical dilemmas they may face in their professional lives.

Natural Law

God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law

The idea of Karma is found in what religion?

Hinduism

Which of the following is NOT one of the pillars of character as outlined by the Josephson Institute?

Honor

Which of the following is not included in Plato's four virtues?

Integrity

An important question to ask in the use of critical thinking is:

Is there another way to interpret the information?

Values

Judgments of desirability, worth, or importance.

Which of the following of Plato's virtues is accomplished by doing your duty?

Justice

Which of the following philosophers is known for ethical formalism?

Kant

At the top of the ethical pyramid are _______.

Moral Judgments

Imperfect Duties

Moral duties that are not fully explicated or detailed.

___________ refers to an ethical system that holds that there is a universal set of rights and wrongs that are like religious beliefs, but without reference to a specific supernatural figure.

Natural Law

Adam Smith, the father of free enterprise, promoted ________ egoism.

Practical

Which of the following did Aristotle say people need for the "good life"?

Practical Reason

As a general rule of thumb, the ________ says that all decisions should be made assuming that the decision would be applied to everyone else in similar circumstances.

Principle Pleasure

Under the ___________ if an offender breaks into someone's home and that homeowner shoots them, generally speaking the offender cannot claim the homeowner violated his rights.

Principle of Forfeiture

Morals

Principles of right and wrong.

An ethics of care approach in criminal justice would likely fall under the _______ philosophy of punishment.

Rehabilitation

___________ believes that what is right and ethical is determined by culture and the individual beliefs of the people involved.

Relativism

Duties

Required behaviors or actions, that is, the responsibilities that are attached to a specific role.

The idea that there can be universal truths but some exceptions based on the circumstances is called ________.

Situational Ethics

Ethical Dilemmas

Situations in which it is difficult for an individual to decide, either because the right course of action is not clear or because the right course of action carries some negative consequences.

Which of the following philosophers believed that bad acts are performed through ignorance?

Socrates

If your philosophy professor tells you that courage is the balance between cowardice and foolhardiness, he is talking about the _____________.

The Golden Mean

Discretion

The authority to make a decision between two or more choices.

Categorical Imperative

The concept that some things just must be, with no need for further justification, explanation, or rationalization for why they exist (Kant's categorical imperative refers to the imperative that you should do your duty, act in a way you want everyone else to act, and don't use people).

Ethics

The discipline of determining good and evil and defining moral duties.

Which of the following is defined as a teleological statement?

The end justifies the means.

Ethical Formalism

The ethical system espoused by Kant that focuses on duty; holds that the only thing truly good is a good will, and that what is good is that which conforms to the categorical imperative.

Ethics of Virtue

The ethical system that bases ethics largely upon character and possession of virtues

Utilitarianism

The ethical system that claims that the greatest good is that which results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number; major proponents are Bentham and Mill.

Ethics of Care

The ethical system that defines good as meeting the needs of others and preserving and enriching relationships.

Egoism

The ethical system that defines the pursuit of self-interest as a moral good.

Religious Ethics

The ethical system that is based on religious beliefs of good and evil; what is good is that which is God's will.

Situational Ethics

The philosophical position that although there are a few universal truths, different situations call for different responses; therefore, some action can be right or wrong depending on situational factors.

Deontological Ethics

The study of duty or moral obligation emphasizing the intent of the actor as the element of morality, without regard to the consequences of acts.

Learn the definitions of the terms morals, ethics, duties, supererogatories, and values.

The terms morals and ethics come from Greek and Latin words referring to custom or behavioral practices. Morals refer to what is judged as good conduct. Ethics refers to the study and analysis of what constitutes good or bad conduct. Duties are obligatory acts (by law, practice, or morals). Supererogatories are those acts that go above and beyond duties. Values are statements of worth or importance.

Identify what is good according to each of the ethical systems discussed in the chapter.

Under ethics of virtue, what is good is that which conforms to the principles of Golden Mean. Under natural law, what is good is that which conforms to the natural laws of the universe. Under religion, what is good is that which conforms to God's will. Under ethical formalism, what is good is that which conforms to the categorical imperative. Under utilitarianism, what is good is that which results in the greatest utility for the greatest number. Under ethics of care, what is good is that which meets the needs of those concerned. Under egoism, what is good is that which benefits me.

Describe how other ethical systems define what is moral—specifically, ethics of virtue, natural law, religion, and the ethics of care.

Under the ethics of virtue, goodness is determined by the virtues. Those who possess such virtues will make the right decision when faced with a moral dilemma. Under natural law, good is determined by what is natural. Moral rules are like other natural laws, such as gravity. Even if humans have not discovered these moral rules, or disagree about what they are, they still exist. Under Judeo-Christian religion, what is good is determined by God's will. One can know God's will through one's religious leaders or the Bible. The ethics of care is based on the emotions of relationships. Caring is the basis of this morality.

_______ is the ethical system that claims the greatest good is that which results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

Utilitarianism

When faced with a situation where there are two or more appropriate or acceptable courses of action, it is often referred to as ___________.

an ethical dilemma

One of the reasons the study of ethics is so important in criminal justice is due to the fact that _______.

criminal justice involves some level of coercion.

One of the criticisms of prosecutors in their use of discretion is that _________.

decisions are often more influenced by politics than justice

As the Josephson Institute outlines in their training for public servants, ________is an important element of what should be provided.

democratic leadership

One of the main reasons for studying ethics is due to the __________by government authorities.

discretion used

Which of the following involves determining good and evil and defining moral duties?

ethics

As a general rule of thumb, something is unethical if ________.

it is illegal

Akrasia

lack of self control, weakness of will, making a choice knowing that it is the wrong choice.

Aristotle's Golden Mean refers to ______.

moderation between two extremes

Values are most often revealed by a person when_________.

one has to choose between competing virtues.

Which of the following classes of people does Plato attribute the virtue of wisdom?

rulers

The case involving Aramis Ayala, a Florida prosecutor who refused to purse the death penalty against a cop killer, is a good illustration of ___________in the criminal justice system.

the interplay between one's personal ethics and the ethics of an office

Which of the following is defined as a judgment of worth, desirability, or importance?

values