Ethics In The Criminal Justice System

What is Ethics? One cannot really decide and conduct oneself in an ethical or unethical manner without examining ethics. Ethics is rooted from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “character.” In its simpler form, ethics indicate the beliefs of what is right and wrong (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010, p.59). However, the enormous challenge is defining what is “right.” Every human being, religion, and culture have contrasting views and interpretations of ethics. Many individuals misconstrue ethics with moral behavior, even though they are not the same. Ethics is based on a set of moral principles guiding the individual’s behavior. An individual’s morals are formed by social norms and/or logical coherent philosophical principles, while morality is based on specific beliefs, religious and cultural values, including principles that may or may not be logically coherent. Morality, however, has the potential to become the basic structure for an ethical system (Hammersley & Traianou, 2012, p. 2-4). It is important to point out that having, encouraging, and applying good ethics are built from prior and existing behaviors imposing positive characteristics that promote trust. It is equally important to point out that although everyone has ethics, not everybody has the …show more content…
Law enforcement professionals are mandated to use ethics and to conduct in an ethical manner everyday. Because of this, law enforcement officials are given a great deal of responsibility as officers are entrusted to represent and uphold the standards of the entire police department. Ethics is therefore, a law enforcement’s highest form of integrity and as such are held to a much higher ethical standard, in both their work and personal life. Thus, understanding and expressing the importance of ethics within the organization will show personnel, leaders, and members of the community that ethics is not only helpful but also