Ethical Dilemmas In A Correctional Officer

Superior Essays
Ethical Corrections Officers The Webster dictionary defines corruption as “dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers)” (Websters Dictionary, 2015). Corruption is not only dishonest or illegal activity it is also unethical. Each day, correction officers face many ethical dilemmas; dilemmas such as introducing contraband into the facility, sexual relationships with inmates, misuse of funds or equipment, inmate labor, discrimination and/excessive force (Module 4: The Ethics of Corrections, 2015). This paper will analyze ethical dilemmas that correction officers face each day, and examine these dilemmas using the deontology and utilitarian theories. Corrections officers are …show more content…
I am not a corrections officer; however, I facilitate a weekly Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) group with inmates in the local community correction center. During this group, I have had inmates attempt to bribe me, in exchange for passing them through the program. The program is a twelve step program focusing on moral and ethical issues of the individual. The attempted bribes not only lead to a write up for the inmate, but it also regresses them in the program. Using the two theories, the greater good of the community would not benefit from the inmate being passed through the group as he/she has not learned what is morally and ethically right. In turn, he/she is learning that bribes are morally and ethically right as the facilitator is allowing it to …show more content…
(2016, January 28). Correctional Officer Faces Sex Charge. Retrieved from Maddison Courier : http://madisoncourier.com/Content/News/News/Article/Correctional-officer-faces-sex-charge/178/961/95149
Horgan, G. (2013, January 21). The Overlooked Challenges that Correction Officers Face Anonymously . Retrieved from Corrections.com: http://www.corrections.com/news/article/32350-the-overlooked-challenges-that-correction-officers-face-anonymously
Katersky, A., & Margolin, J. (2015, June 24). NY Prison Escape: Female Employee May Have Had Sex With Other Inmates, Investigators Say. Retrieved from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/US/ny-prison-escape-female-employee-sex-inmates-investigators/story?id=31992416
Module 4: The Ethics of Corrections. (2015, December 18). Retrieved from CSU Global Campus: https://app.schoology.com/assignment/457105499/info
Santorasept, M. (28, September 2015). Joyce Mitchell, Ex-Prison Employee, Is Sentenced. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/nyregion/joyce-mitchell-ex-prison-employee-is-sentenced.html?_r=0
Sexual Misconduct in Prisons: Laws, Remidies and Incidence. (2000). Special Issues in Corrections, 1-14.
Wagner, P. (2016, January 14). State of Colorado Judicial Ethics. (M. Hall,

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