Summary Of Ethical Dilemmas By Maya Garcia

The researcher, Maya Garcia, in her attempt to understand and thus resolve the tensions growing between the
African-American community and the police force, organized a focus interview with four high school seniors.
As most researchers do, she found herself in a number of situations that posed an ethical dilemma that were difficult to overcome. Since she was working with high school students, half of whom were not “officially” adults, she had to get a consent form signed from their parents, before she could interview them. However, on the decided interview day, one of the teenagers forgets to bring the signed form. This is the first ethical dilemma that Maya faces. On one hand, she could have ignored this minor problem under the pretext …show more content…
They accuse him of profiling, harassing, and wrongfully arresting young black men. One of them even goes on to narrate a personal incident when he was victim to Officer Brookley’s unjustified behavior. After hearing all the accusations and the incident in addition to all the similar rumors she had already heard, Maya is horrified. She is again put in the middle of an ethical dilemma- what “feels” like the right to do, and what she “should” do as a police officer. If she is carried away by emotions and decides to report the matter, she would be making a breach of the confidentiality that she had assured the boys of, and might put the boys in trouble if Officer Brookley came to know about the matter. Meanwhile, if she does not take any action and decides to honor the confidentiality agreement, she would be disappointed in herself for not being able to bring to justice the wrongdoings of a person despite being a police officer. This conflict between emotions and duty makes this situation a serious ethical concern for …show more content…
One of them, Elijah, tells her about the happenings at home- how his stepfather yells at his siblings when he is drunk; how he becomes violent at that time, to the extent that his sister suffered a concussion because of him; how he even hit his mom sometimes. He further tells her, that he wishes that his mom leaves his stepfather, but she won’t because of their financial problems. Maya is shocked at the revelation. She obviously suspects a case of child abuse taking place at Elijah’s house. This situation presents a major crisis for her. She has to make a decision whether or not she would report this case to the concerned authorities. If she does not report the matter, but only guides the boy to report such a dangerous matter, she will be within the boundaries of the confidentiality assurance that she had given to the boys at the beginning of the interview, but then she would be falling short in fulfilling her moral obligations as a responsible citizen of the country whereby she should under any situation report a suspected abuse immediately to the authorities. If, on the other hand, she does tell the authorities, she would find herself in a major breach of the confidentiality assurance that she had so confidently provided the boys at the beginning of the interview. This mental battle between moral and ethics, which this situation