Introduction
In everyday life, individuals, whether in business or personal, face the necessity to make decisions. These individuals usually have several alternatives available at their discretion when making these decisions. Consequently, a dilemma on which alternative to choose face them. Besides, the alternatives are often in conflict, and this still gives rise to a dilemma on which alternative to take. In this case, dilemmas which give rise to ethical dilemma have to do with whether a decision is good or bad, moral or immoral, or fair or unfair. Various types of ethical dilemmas exist and they require different type of strategies to be solved. Having said that decisions are necessary for every individual at a personal or professional level, it becomes evident that ethical dilemmas are unavoidable even in the criminal justice system of the U.S.
On this background, this paper discourses ethical dilemma in the system of criminal justice. The first part explains what ethical dilemma is while the second section presents an ethical dilemma in the correctional system. The next part will address an imaginary interview with a correctional officer while the fourth section presents a research, including a literature review to prove that the dilemma exists. The fifth section will propose a solution to the dilemma and finally, the paper will conclude with a paragraph.
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Ethical Dilemma Explanation
Ethics applies to every profession including law. In this context, ethics according to Figar and Đorđević (2016) refers to the science of moral/immoral, good/bad, just/unfair behavior. As moral is equated with good and right, ethics is then considered to be the science used to study morality, where three aspects are used to estimate morality: in terms of personal interest, the common good, and others’ interests. Thus, an individual’s or group’s behavior is assessed as ethical if it is good for the person as well as for most of the other people (Figar & Đorđević, 2016). Ethics is also defined as the science that deals with human rights, values, moral principles, and duties in their behavior, and as such, ethics essence in this context is determined by four fundamental elements: rights, values moral principles, and duties.
On this background, Figar and Đorđević (2016) denote that a dilemma may emerge whenever there is a choice between two or more alternatives. This dilemma presents the unpleasant condition in which an individual finds him/herself in. An individual in the dilemma is faced with the conflict of choosing which alternative is right, and within the many rights which one is best. However, not every condition that is unpleasant results in an ethical dilemma. As such, for a situation to be considered an ethical dilemma, certain conditions exist which must be present. First, the condition must involve a situation in which the agent (the person making the decision) must decide on which course is best. Second, there have to be several moral courses of action to select from, and third, no matter what action the agent takes, some ethical principles have to be compromised.
Kramer (2018) asserts that even in the system of criminal justice, determining the right thing to do is not an isolated case for police as well as others in the system. This is because ethics plays an important role in the system of criminal justice as it forms the foundation for which actions are taken. Kramer (2018) adds that it also gives a framework for citizens for the expectations they hold for their government. Therefore, maintaining standards of ethics in the system of criminal justice ensures that all individuals who pass through the system, whether guilty or not, are treated with same impartiality level as well as protecting the liberties and rights of citizens, and when it is essential for the government to compromise such rights in a certain way, then it is for the greater good of the people.
Ethical Dilemma in the Correctional System (prisons)
Lawrence (2017) asserts that prison guards, who are one of the correctional officers face several ethical dilemmas on their job. For instance, prisoners who are well-connected have many opportunities to bribe the guards for better treatment while other inmates may be abusive to these guards for no good reason. However, in either case, guards of the prison have to treat these prisoners equally and enforce rules of the prison consistently and firmly (Lawrence, 2017). This situation gives rise to an ethical dilemma because it poses some conflicts on the prison guards’ professional responsibility and values that they have to treat the inmates equally without discrimination despite being rude and not to accept bribes for better treatment.
If the prison guards decide to take the bribes to treat these well-connected inmates better than other inmates or if they decide to mistreat the abusive inmates because of their bad behavior, they will have to compromise on their duty and responsibility, which state that they must treat all inmates equally and by doing that they have to consistently and firmly. This case fulfills the conditions of an ethical dilemma because one, it is a situation in which the agent must decide on which action is best. Second, the situation presents various courses of action to choose from, that is, whether to take the bribe and treat the inmates better or to mistreat the abusive inmate because of their bad behavior, or whether to choose on executing their duties and responsibilities of fair and equal treatment of inmates without compromise. Third, whatever the decision the client has to take there are some ethical principles that will have to be compromised. For instance, if a guard, who is the agent, in this case, choose to execute his or her duty diligently to treat abusive prisoners equally and with respect, they will have to compromise their values for not punishing those inmates that abuse them.
Imaginary Interview with a Correctional Officer Addressing the Dilemma
To gather some fast hand information, I conducted an interview with a correctional officer addressing the dilemma. The interviewee was a female correctional officer. The interview proceeded for a period of one hour in which the officer was answering some of the questions that I prepared for the interview. Some of the questions the interview addressed include:
i. Have you ever experience any challenges with inmates in prison?
ii. Have you ever experience any kind of abuse or corruption from an inmate?
iii. What did you do when faced with such circumstances such as corruption or abuse?
iv. When such situations happen, did you experience any kind of ethical dilemma?
v. How did you address the dilemma the moment you realized it?
vi. What is your message to other correctional officers who find themselves in such situations of experiencing dilemma?
From the interview, the officer opened up and responded to each question adequately. Regarding the first question of the challenges they experience, the officer confirmed that they experience many challenges from prison inmates. The challenges range from rowdy inmates abusing correctional officers for no good reason. The abuse takes the form of insults, harassing officers to do their demands, and some even go to the extent of beating officers especially when they attack them when the officers are not aware. Additionally, some officers of who are well connected try to bribe officers for better treatment, sexual favors, to smuggle drugs, weapons, or mobile phones to inmates, or provide the inmates with other benefits. The officer added that these cases of corruption and abuse are rampant in the U.S. prisons.
The officer also explained that she had experienced some of these kinds of abuse and corruption mentioned above. She gave one instance when two male inmates wanted to beat her for refusing to do their favors, while another instance when one inmate wanted to abuse her sexually. Besides, the officer also mentioned many instances when inmates tried to bribe her in exchange for some benefits such as drug and weapon smuggling.
Concerning the third question, the officer responded that she did not succumb to any of the instances mentioned above because they are against her values as well as they conflict with the professional responsibility of protecting inmates and treating them equally. Consequently, an ethical dilemma arises whether to do the right thing of not compromising the professional values and duties. In such cases of a dilemma, the interview said that she looks for alternatives to resolve the dilemma but most importantly by doing the right thing. However, she said that officers do not normally report such cases for various reasons. Her message to other correctional officers who find themselves in this situation of ethical dilemma is always to remember to do the right thing by ensuring that they execute their duties and not compromising their professional responsibilities to satisfy the desires of inmates.
Literature Review to Prove the Existence of the Dilemma
Many literatures points out the existence of corruption and abuse in US prisons. Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity (2016) confirms that corruption takes place in prisons in America for various reasons. In versions that are most basic, inmates bribe correction officers to smuggle drugs, weapons, or telephones to inmates, or to give them some other benefits like better treatment within the prison. This corruption in prisons often causes issues such as smuggled weapons injuring correction officers as well as other inmates. As such, this corruption creates a dangerous and violent environment within the prisons which affects every correction officer as Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity (2016) reports. For instance, administration officials from New York City attributed the increasing Rikers Island prisons violence to activities of a gang as well as a rising number of smuggled blades within the walls of the prison. Besides, studies such as the United Nations report of 2013 have determined that corruption in the US prisons leads to abuses resulting in prominence of a particular group of inmates at the expense of groups that are vulnerable. Additionally, Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity (2016) assert that other criminals and gang leaders have used the cellphones they have smuggled to maintain eternal networks of criminal and orchestrate crimes from inside the prison.
Fair Observer (2017) agrees with the UN 2013 report and accentuate that corruption in the U.S. prisons is a long-standing and deeply rooted issue. According to Fair Observer (2017), a concerned guard reported to the state authorities who in turn gave the information to the federal prosecutors regarding a system in which other guards warned inmates of imminent searches. The investigation was then launched and the charging documents revealed that prison guards profited generously from smuggling contraband into the jails (Fair Observer, 2017). From this discussion, it is evident that corruption and abuse in prisons exist in prisons. However, from the research that I conducted, no real situation of a dilemma from these acts have been documented but is certain that they exist. This can be hypothesized with the fact that those experiencing dilemma under such circumstances may fail to report or expose their situations just as it was revealed in the interview with the correction officer.
A Solution to the Dilemma
The first step to resolving or finding a solution to an ethical dilemma is by recognizing it and thoroughly analyzing it. By analysis, one has to think through the consequences of the action he or she is considering to take and also determine the consequences of those consequences which result from the action. When thinking or making an analysis, the goal should always be to minimize the harm the decision taken can cause as much as possible. In this particular case, the Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity (2016) recommends some potential solutions.
First, to thwart inappropriate relationships between inmates and prison officers, strict rules should be introduced to govern the conduct standards between civilian employees of prison and inmates. In this context, the assignment and placement of prison officers should be evaluated regularly; random inspections of stations of work inmates; annual revision of inmate work assignments; documentation of all the movements of inmates; and installation of cameras to monitor the activities of inmate and employees in the shops (Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity, 2016). Additionally, meetings of correction officers, prison officials of higher level and civilians should take place regularly and employees who are civilian should put on standard attire. In the case of correction officers who face the dilemma, they can resolve the dilemma by applying theories of ethics utilitarian theory. The aim should always to do the right thing and maintain the professional ethics and obligations.
Conclusion
From the discussion, it is evident that ethical dilemma exists even in the correctional system though it may not be reported by these individuals who experience them. Corruption is known to be the rampant case of ethical dilemma in prisons. Therefore, it is the work of the government in cooperation with the correctional officers to enforce laws to help solve the dilemma, and this calls for the implementation of the above-suggested solutions.
References
Center for the Advancement of Public Policy Integrity (2016). Prison corruption: The problem and some potential solution. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/public-integrity/files/prison_corruption_-_capi_community_contribution_-_september_2016.pdf
Fair Observer (2017, November 2). Prison Corruption is Rife in America. fairobserver . Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/prison-america-corruption-usa-news-latest-world-news-today-43504/
Figar, N., & Đorđević, B. (2016). Managing an Ethical Dilemma. Economic Themes , 54 (3), 345-362.
Lawrence, N. (2017, June 19). Ethical Issues in Correctional Systems. Legal Beagle. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://legalbeagle.com/8161457-ethical-issues-correctional-systems.html
Kramer, L. (2018, March 19). Ethical dilemmas of justice. Legal Beagle . Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://legalbeagle.com/7255673-ethical-dilemmas-justice.html
