Utilitarianism In The Criminal Justice System

Utilitarianism is the philosophy that one’s morality is based on the result of the action. Regardless if the action is morally good or wrong, what matters is if the result was in favored of a good deed. Utilitarianism focus on the well-being of the people. If the result contributes to the betterment of one’s life, then there are no wrongdoings. For example, the death penalty is a justifiable act by the government because criminals have badly injured or killed a member of the community. Another example that is less severe is a person assaulting a bully. Deontological ethics is the concept of judging morality based on rules to govern actions. When faced with choices, these rules will dictate whether the action is required, forbidden or permitted …show more content…
Every day, police officers are forced to work long hours and hostile environments. They face moral and ethical dilemma daily due to factors of working on heinous cases, enforcing the law and seeking justice. In some cases, seeking justice or enforcing the law doesn’t happen due to lack of evidence or technicalities resulting in the release of the criminal. Therefore, some police officers would think the justice system isn’t on their sides and that criminals have more rights them others. Due to these belief, some police officers will develop an unethical sense of getting justice by any means necessary for future cases. They will start to use more aggressive or illegal actions to apprehend criminals. Actions such as planting evidence, forcing coerced confession and assaulting suspects to obtain information. In their minds, these are the only justifiable actions for the greater good. To ensure justice will always be served and criminals pay for their crimes with or without the criminal justice system help.

Work Cited:
Alexander, L. (2007, November 21). Deontological Ethics. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from