Category: Corruption

Texts have the ability to determine numerous human experiences, both individually and collective, in order to create unique understanding into human’s radical perspectives. Both ‘The Crucible’, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, and ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’, directed by Mark Herman in 2008, manage to represent the struggles and understanding of individual and collective human experiences. We gain clear realization of how these works manage to sculpt an image of human sensation, aspiration and drive which is apparent particularly on the human experience of corruption and power.

Corruption has the ability to determine one’s loss of innocence. Miller uses corruption in the book ‘The Crucible’ when Abigail Williams condemns and persecutes Tituba, a black slave from Barbados on practicing witchcraft. The first accusation Abigail made of Tituba is, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”; Abigail shows innocence through corruption. The use of exclamation emphasizes how Abigail, the antagonist, has authority to be in control of others actions with a loss of power to the opposing character. Furthermore, the use of descriptive language shown in the literacy device of authorial intrusion. “He is nearly drunk, and heavy-footed. He goes to a bench and nudges a bundle of rags lying on it”, is expressed in the beginning of Act 4, when Herrick removes Sarah good and Tituba from the jail cell so the court officials can hold a meeting there. Explaining through corrupted deception, the setting characterizes by the fear and mood of the character. The governments control over society is due to the corruption of the power the Germans hold collectively. Herman presents the experience of corruption in the film ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ as the protagonist Bruno is taught by his father that Jewish people are an inferior race and should not be socializing as they are not considered as people. The use of ellipsis “Those people… well, they’re not people at all, Bruno” establishes the use of silence that Bruno’s father displays before he shares a dishonest nature of human behavior and corruption. The medium shot with an eye level angle was appropriate during this scene as it shows the adventurous and curious of Bruno towards his father.

‘The Crucible’ and ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’, faithfully portray an individual that has the desire to do the right thing but collapses by noble pressure and the mob mentality. This challenge of paradox can depict on the inclination of an individual’s values and moral attitudes. Abigail’s desire to gain power in individuals fears the victim of their own safety. ‘The Crucible’ associates power when Elizabeth believes that the court hail Abigail as some sort of untouchable ‘saint’. “I thought she were a saint, to hear her”, the use of metaphor emphasizes the speech of ‘saint’ as she has the power over the court but the term isn’t actually literally applicable to theocracy. “Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd part like the sea for Israel”, the use of biblical allusion is reinforcing that the town is under Abigail’s control and they will conform to anything she does. Herman explores the human experience of power throughout the novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ by examining the relationships between characters and the adverse control of the government. Though the use of mis-en-scene, the costumes reveal the multiple platforms between characters. The Nazi soldiers including Bruno’s father involved in the corrupt government are always well dressed in their suits which therefore symbolize power and domination over the inferior population. The casual attire of striped pajamas worn by the Jews convey a miserable lifestyle of how the Nazi party have full force of control. “The soldiers. They took all our clothes away” implies the use of truncated sentences that create tension and power between both cultural crowds.

Power struggle of ‘The Crucible’ and ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ openly discovers an allegory within a society. We gain an image on human greed and control within a public society, and how there existed both inferior and superior race.

Ultimately both ‘The Crucible’ and ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ challenge how the audience see the world differently, within a way of individual and collective experience. These works depict the idea of corruption and power over the minority in their society.

Police corruption is the abuse of police authority for personal benefit. Police corruption is something that happens internationally for various reasons such as, lack of integrity, and protection from people with authority. Police corruption exists because police culture embraces and protects officers even when they intentionally kill an innocent person (Williams, 2002). The longer a policeman stays in an agency, the more connections he or she will have. Depending on this person’s integrity, they will either be a good apple or a bad one. In America there is more corruption than there should be. A study shows that roughly three officers are charged every day, that is about 1,100 police officers arrested a year. Most common forms of corruption include bribery, extortion and selling drugs.

Corruption: Historical Review

Although police corruption is something unacceptable, it was a key factor in the development of police. Towards the end of the 19th century machine-era, police were involved in political corruption. They provided services to political allies of the machines. Policeman were interfering with opponents’ machines, which is very illegal. Police also helped in widespread election fraud.

Another event that happened in the past regarding police corruption was during the Prohibition (1919-1933). This event created new opportunities for corruption to take place. Prohibition marked a change in how corruption was organized (Potter, 2013). Organized crime worked directly with the corrupt police during these times. There were a lot of cities where policemen became more than a watchman. This led to the corruption in American policing to be almost total.

Because of these events mentioned above and others, it was noticeable that a change was needed in American police force. Investigations took place and let to the believe that new strategies for reducing police corruption were needed. An example of one of these new strategies was the improvement of standards for recruitment and training, more investigation on misbehaviors and the creation of programs in integrity for recruits and in-service personnel. All these recommendations put more pressure on supervisors to be more responsible of the people under their charge. With that being said, history of corruption helped develop a stricter management of police.

Impact on Society

Police corruption has had a great impact on society. Because of police corruption there have been many cases where people are wrongfully convicted and lost their freedom. Central Park Five is a very famous case that shows impact of police corruption in society. In this case, five kids ages 14 to 16 were accused of a crime they did not commit. The police officers in charge of this case were trying very hard to put the blame on someone. They chose to abuse their authority and not follow rules and procedures. To achieve their goals, police officers falsified evidence, confessions, used excessive force on the kids, and neglected their rights. These actions were unethical because they were very illegal. Not only they changed the lives of those five kids, but they also change the lives of their family members and family friends. Today, everyone knows that these individuals were responsible for a gross miscarriage of justice, but while the Central Park Five have lost years behind bars, many of the people responsible for putting them there have gone on to live the good life (Gray, 2019).

What the Future Holds

Everyone in America would hope for corruption to not exist, but that is very unrealistic. With the amount of new policeman entering our system, the big quantities of money involved and new technology, it is very possible that corruption will increase with time. There will be new ways for corrupt policemen to plant evidence, steal, falsify police reports and not get caught.

Corruption in America will grow, and the public might not know about it. Authorities will have more power and those under will have no choice but to follow. The bigger they are, the more money they will help them shut mouths. Those with money will get away with crime and the poor people who cannot defend themselves will not have a choice but to take responsibility of the crimes.

Conclusion

Having knowledge about this topic is essential to stop it from growing. Noticing corruption led to new strategies that eventually led to better policing. Corruption has broken many families by taking those loved ones away and incarcerating them preventing them from their freedom. It has also been the reason for money lost in many cases. We hope for it to stop and with technology on our side we could help lower the numbers. Hopefully justice is brought to all those families that have been affected by police misconduct, those who have done wrong are caught and brought into justice, and those who are planning to do wrongful things, never get the chance to do it.

References

1. Gray, M. J. (2019) The Central Park Five Case: Where the Racist Cops and Prosecutors Are Now. The Grio.
2. Bayley D., Perito R. (2011). Police Corruption. United States Institute of Peace. Pages 2-8.
3. Potter, G. (2013). The History of Policing in the United States, Part 4. Police Studies Online.
4. Williams, H. (2002). Core Factors of Police Corruption Across the World.
5. Jackman, T. (2016). ‘Study Finds Police Officers Arrested 1,100 Times Per Year, or 3 Per Day, Nationwide’. The Washington Post.
6. Storey, K. (2019). ‘‘When They See Us’ Shows the Disturbing Truth About How False Confessions Happen’. Esquire.
7. Newsbeat. (2019). Central Park Five: The True Story Behind When They See Us. BBC News.

Police corruption can begin by innocent gestures like accepting free food which can prompt activities, for example, criminal behavior. As indicated by Pollock, a moral difficulty is the point at which a person must settle on what to do. Either the decision is unclear, or the correct decision will be troublesome in view of the cost included or the correct decision of activity conveys some negative outcomes (Pollock, p.3). Cops must settle on the correct decision in not accepting anything free. No law enforcement officer ought to ever assume that those working with them, underneath them or above them share a similar set of values. The prevention of taking free food will not only stop corruption but show how reliable police officers are.

As I would like to think, one of the moral difficulties in the field of criminal justice is police corruption. Corruption of a cop is a moral problem that isn’t discussed. It happens frequently and individuals don’t know about it. I will address this moral problem through a cop’s perspective. I will address the problem of police corruption dependent on the situation: “You are a rookie police officer on your first patrol. The older, experienced officer tells you that the restaurant on the corner likes to have you guys around, so it gives free meals. Your partner orders steak, potatoes, and all the trimmings. What are you going to do? What if it were just coffee at a convenience store? What if the owner refused to take your money at the cash register?” (Pollock, p.221). In order to fulfill the purpose of this paper, I will analyze the ethical dilemma of police corruption by looking at a useful solution for the dilemma, decision making, and consequences of taking anything free.

Ethical Dilemma: Police Corruption

Corruption is a critical justice issue. Therefore, the criminal equity framework ought to plan for advancing changes and enhancements in reducing police corruption. It is fundamental to discover an answer for corruption by the police. Schafer (2002) proposed mandatory ethics and aspirational ethics to determine the moral quandary of corruption among cops. Mandatory ethics can be characterized as building up moral codes that depend either on the standard of law or definitive understandings. Mandatory ethics are essentially practice measures dependent on associations ‘ various methodologies. Mandatory ethics exist in associations. It is foreseen that the numerous staff and laborers will hold fast to the mandatory morals guidelines while serving customers. This additionally ensures the validity of the association. Adopting mandatory morality in criminal justice would guarantee police respect citizens, opportunities and advance decency and equity in court procedures. From a persuasive point of view, aspirational ethics are built up. Aspirational ethics encourages best and alluring moral practices that inspire individuals to a specific social course.

Creative thoughts and new philosophies ought to be set up to address corruption. This fundamentally identifies with the creativity to address corruption which can be put in place. In the modern world, the establishment for creativity is the utilization of trend setting innovation. To diminish corruption cases, contemporary and most recent mechanical offices and capabilities should be effectively fused into law authorization. Innovative thoughts, for example, body cameras can be extremely proficient when embracing degenerate activities in giving a genuine record of events at a wrongdoing scene or other police job.

The philosophies of controlling police corruption ought to be founded on rationale making antagonistic and undesirable impression of such practices. This would then be fused into law requirement perspectives and strategies. Consequently, most law authorization officials would pass on corruption exercises because of the essential rationale that creates an observation that corruption in the public eye is improper and undesirable. This will be a huge philosophical way to deal with decrease corruption issues.

Professional Missions

The two law enforcement missions are the fight against crime and the public servant. Police officers fight crime against criminals and are regarded as those serving the need of the public under government servant police officers. Police officers serve all individuals and have a civil and legal duty for everyone. If police officers are involved in corruption, they are opposed to be a public servant. This misconduct, however, is due to the hiring of the incorrect people, and this is known as the rotten apple. Screening, training and education, integrity testing, and early warning or audit systems should be enhanced. Improving individual screening such as background checks, interviews, loan checks, polygraphs, drug tests, and other screening instruments are used to remove unsuitable people from the pool of prospective hires. The screening range differs from department to department, but is usually more advanced, particularly when using psychological testing and interviews.

Education was advanced as a required part for improving police morals. In any career choice, education is important to have. It is fundamental for cops to utilize what they realize when they are out on the field as a cop during their tutoring. Training is ethics in the foundation and in-administration courses is recommended today for all police organizations. There are ventures to turn into a cop. To achieve the target of being a cop, one must have instruction and pass all the important preparing. As indicated by Pollock, respectability testing otherwise called ‘Sting’ exercises is proposed to evaluate whether cops are going to settle on legit decisions (Pollock, p.210). I concur with this since it’s fundamental to perceive how an individual thinks and chooses their decisions.

Old Vs New

The rookie policeman may decide not to order anything after entering the restaurant, but the issue is what if he’s hungry and this break is the only break they can have before the shift is over? He may decide to order food, but what can he do if the proprietor refuses to take the money from the cash register? Can he tell the senior and experienced policeman not to go to the restaurant? Or can he report the problem? Wright says that “an ethical dilemma is an issue that forces a choice between two ethical principles” (Wright, 2008) Technically, if one choice is correct and one alternative is incorrect, there can be no dilemma. Going with the correct decision is ethical. The ethical dilemma of the above situation is that the fresh inexperienced officer could determine his professional life as a law enforcement officer by deciding what to do and whatever decision he makes at that stage. The officer’s most immediate dilemma is whether to discuss the information with the police department.

Police Culture

Police subculture can be a belief, attitude, or behavior that only police officers adhere to. The code of silence is a belief among police officers. It’s the concept not to give up another unethical policeman. I’m saying this because police officers stick up for each other and don’t say when they commit misconduct. This is contrary to their obligation to uphold the law. If the rookie reports this problem, his professional life or other officers’ social sanction is in jeopardy, which may destabilize him for the remainder of his career. If the rookie applies the silence code to the scenario, it could affect his moral life. The rookie was trained to apply ethics and professional ethics while at the police academy. Applied ethics is the study of what is correct and wrong regarding a job or topic, whereas professional ethics applies principles of right and wrong regarding a particular profession or occupation.

Learning theorists think that kids learn what they are taught, including ethics and values and conduct (Pollock, p.90) Viewing this from the perspective of a police officer, their beliefs about right or wrong originated from their childhood based on their rewards and penalties. Modeling is a concept of the learning theory that are values and moral beliefs that emerge from those with whom one admires and aspires to identify. I believe this theory of modeling is a little crazy. For instance: we have an individual looking up to a serial killer, is that individual expected to commit wrongful acts of killing just because he/she admires and aspires to identify with the serial killer? This only demonstrates how individuals from a young era can get corrupt. I don’t think anyone is perfect and individuals should want to be themselves to avoid corrupting themselves.

Professional Codes

After conducting an interview with Lt. Michael Holton, he said: “Officers are not only guided by the Code of Conduct, they are also driven by the Code of Ethics”. Police officers must comprehend that the identification is an indication of open confidence and recognize it as an open reality to be kept inasmuch as they are consistent with the morals of police administration. They should never act impertinently or permit individual emotions, biases, hostilities or kinships impact their choices. They should implement the law affably and properly without dread or support, noxiousness, never tolerating tips, and failing to use superfluous power.

To promote both the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics, each official gets a duplicate of each upon graduation from the police foundation. Furthermore, they are given a duplicate of each during their yearly execution assessment. This is done to help officials to remember each code and to fortify that the office consolidates the codes into its Core Values. Departmental initiative has made it very evident that the Code of Conduct, the Code of Ethics, and Core Values are held in high respect and officials are liable to teach, up to end, should they disregard any of them.

In the Code of Conduct there is a specific section that states no police officer should accept gratuities. If I was the rookie police officer, I would always follow the code of conduct because failing to do so would require consequences. Pollock states that “police are professionals, and professionals don’t take gratuities” (Pollock, p.187) There are organizations which have prohibited officials from tolerating any sort of endowments and even free suppers. Cop must answer to the organization of these experiences. Fitch expresses that “great basic leadership abilities are among the most significant properties law authorization officials can have” (Fitch, 2010). While it might be difficult to dispose of inclination and other thinking blunders from the basic leadership process by and large, it is feasible for sworn staff to altogether improve the nature of their decisions. With a little exertion and mindfulness, they can figure out how to consider how they outline issues, any sentiments of pomposity, the manners in which they select and assess data, how that data is handled, and the impact of forceful feelings. What’s more, thusly, officials not exclusively can improve the nature of their decisions yet in addition their trust in the choices they make.

Conclusion

As I expressed before police corruption can begin with a gesture of accepting free food. It is imperative to comprehend moral situations in the criminal equity framework. Police corruption has been a continuous circumstance that isn’t discussed as much as police brutality. police officials should be public servants. Police corruption conflicts with what a public servant is. There are constantly two decisions in every moral situation. The good and bad decision however an individual should consistently go with the correct decision. There are a few components in a police subculture. They have certain beliefs, an attitude and explicit practices they pass by. In any case, there are explicit codes they should completely pursue. Set of principles and code of morals are critical in such a case that they pursue these codes, they are making the best choice in avoiding police corruption.

Based on my analysis and knowledge of the ethical dilemma of police corruption, I recommend that there should be consequences for police officers who are corrupt. The consequences for police officers who commit police corruption in taking free food can be charged and prosecuted, and termination from police services. Any activity that is considered corrupt for the law enforcement officers can results in them being charged in the court of law. This occurs when it is confirmed that the acts of the officers in taking free food was done to attract some favor from the police. Depending on the evidence collected, the officer can face various forms of punishment if found guilty such as incarceration, fines or penalties. Termination due to the corrupt practices. The dismissal can be done when the investigations are going on to evaluate the corrupt behavior of the officer. This is done to prevent possible interference from the ongoing investigations. This means that the police officer would risk his or her job if they are linked to certain corrupt practice.

References

1. Fitch, B. (2010, June 01). Good Decisions: Tips and Strategies for Avoiding Psychological Traps. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/good-decisions
2. Pollock, J. Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781305856585/
3. Schafer, J. R. (2002). Making Ethical Decisions A Practical Model. FBI Law Enforcement. Bulletin, 71(5), 14.
4. Wright, H. (2008). Law Enforcement Ethics 101. Sheriff, 60(1), 11–14. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.links.franklin.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=28333801&site=eds-live

Police corruption is one of the most serious offenses in the police service. This kind of behavior has drawn great attention from the public over a long period of time. Police agencies in all cities of the United States, including New York, face criticisms and condemnation for rampant cases of corruption across all ranks. The problem is of great concern because it causes misuse of public resources and exposes citizens to increased risks of crime. This report highlights when, how, and why police corruption started and evolved over time. Using scholarly articles and reliable online databases, this research has found out that police corruption in the United States has evolved from lack of discipline, use of force and political motivation to a systematic and organized form of corruption involving drug trafficking and assault.

Introduction

Police corruption refers to the criminal, civil and procedural violations and abuse of police authority for personal gain. It occurs when a police officer gains material and financial benefits from the use of his or her authority. Common forms of police corruption and misconduct include: extortion, receiving or protecting stolen items, participating in drug trade and human trafficking, and taking bribes (Ivkovic, 2003). In most cases, police corruption involves a whole department, unit, or agency. The organized nature of corruption involving all chains of command makes the vice difficult to correct. The law in Section 18 of the United States Constitution prohibits the use of police authority to violate or conspire to deprive citizens their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution (Ivkovic, 2003). Despite these efforts to reduce corruption in the police force, the problem has persisted over the years. To control corruption effectively, it is necessary to understand its origin, evolution and nature. The purpose of this paper is to examine police corruption from back then until now.

Origin of Police Corruption: The Use of Force in the Colonial Era

Police corruption is as old as policing itself. During the colonial period, America had a watch system made up volunteers who provided social services such as lighting streets, looking for lost children and runaway animals, and other activities. Policing was significantly ineffective at this time because it sporadic, disorganized and dependent on volunteers. The watch system then evolved to a watch group of men within communities. During the colonial period in America, the night and day watch groups were also ineffective because members of these watch groups would socialize or sleep while on duty. This showed the beginning of corruption as people abused their authority for their own pleasure. The watch groups also lacked proper equipment to deal with social unrests that started to increase in the late 1700s.

Due to immigration from European countries, populations of major cities of the colonial America increased significantly. The population growth caused social disorder and violence. An influx of various racial and ethnic communities created social tension, leading to conflicts and crime. The watch groups could no longer deal with the changing social climate, leading to more formalized policing. In the southern part of the country, the first attempt at policing was the establishment of slave patrols who exercised excessive force to manage racial conflicts and exercise control over slave communities (Reichel, 1988). Modern policing, however, started with the unification of the New York City Police Department in 1845, followed by several other police departments in metropolitan cities such as St. Louis and Los Angeles. The newly created police departments were characterized by significant corruption and misconduct due to political influence and poor supervision. Without proper communication and control of the police service, many police officers abused their authorities for personal gains. Police officers would work with slave masters and politicians to control the slave populations and use excessive force to subdue slaves and gain favor from the ruling class.

Police Corruption During in Post-Colonial America

Although the abuse of power by the police began during the colonial era, systemic and chronic levels of corruption started to take shape after independence. During the 1800s, local politics were highly integrated into the American policing system. There was a mutual relationship between the police and local politicians. An entire metropolitan police department was aligned to a local political group which offered resources and job security to the police officers in exchange for the protection of their political power (Archbold, 2013). The role of the police officers shifted from being custodians of the citizens to being chief political campaigners. Therefore, police corruption in this era took the form of bribes and abuse of authority as the police use their authority to promote the interests of politicians in exchange for personal gains.

Political control over police agencies was possible in the 1800s because politicians were responsible for appointing the heads of police agencies. According to Archbold (2013), “the appointment to the position of police chief came with a price”. Therefore, corruption in this period was encouraged by political groups through unfair hiring processes. The police had to make decisions that reflected the interests of politicians so that they could be hired as chiefs. Political corruption was characterized by activities such as rigging in elections, influencing voting patterns during elections, and excessive use of force (Kelling and Moore, 1988, p.3). The first commission to investigate allegations of police corruption was the Lexow Commission of 1896 which probed a claim that police officers collected bribes from brothel and gambling business owners (The New York Times, 1986). The police allowed prostitution and gambling to operate illegally in exchange for a share of profits. The Commission’s report led to the dismissal of several police officers from duty. Therefore, economic profits became a key motivation of corruption alongside political influence at the turn of the 20th century.

Police Reforms: 1900-1980

In the 1900s, efforts were made to implement policing reforms in America with an aim of reducing political involvement and increasing professionalism in the police department. Citizens, activist groups and police reformers pushed for changes in policing. These efforts were successful as they reduced political involvement and corruption in the process of hiring police officers. The police department was also professionalized through training, setting quality policing standards, and implementing new technologies to help in daily police operations (Archbold, 2013). These standards and technologies improved policing efficacy and sealed loopholes for corruption in the policing system. The Wickersham Commission report of 1931 recommended that the police should be more involved in crime control than social services which had encouraged political influence and corruption in the police service (Wright, 2013). However, these reforms increased tensions between the police and the public as the police started to use excessive force and demand bribes from private entities and members of the public.

Corruption in the police service started to become a profiteering mechanism in the middle of the 20th century, as officers collected bribes from gambling and prostitution businesses. For instance, Seabury report of 1930 revealed that 28 police officers solicited money from prostitutes to protect their business (The New York Times, 1986). During the civil rights movement in 1950s and 1960s, police raids intensified, causing clashes between the police and members of the public. This era of social disorder gave room for corrupt officers to collect bribes in exchange for the protection of private businesses. Harry Gross, an American bookmaker, paid police officers over $1 million every year to protect his gambling business in 1954 (The New York Times, 1986). In 1968, a report by Manhattan’s District Attorney Frank Hogan revealed a pattern of police corruption in which police officers were bribed with cash to warn gamblers of impending police searches.

Systemic and Drug-Related Police Corruption – 1970 to the Present

After 1970, corruption shifted to bribery in drug businesses and became more organized and systematic. According to Bayley and Perito (2011) most of the corruption scandals witnessed in this period are related to drugs. Drug-related corruption cases increased immensely since the late 1900s. Kelly and Nischols (2019) suggests that over 85,000 police officers have been engaged in various scandals over the past decade, and most of them were investigated for drug-related corruption and misconduct. It is clear that the current issues of police corruption in the United States are primarily motivated by drugs and alcohol, assaults, and violence. Police officers engage in systemic corruption to get profits through drug trafficking, often involving violence and burglary.

New York City is one of the most notorious in terms of police corruption and scandals due to its visibility and high crime rates. According to Baer & Armao (1995), drug-related corruption scandals in New York between 1970 and 1990s involved police officers trafficking drugs, seizing and reselling trafficked drugs, and stealing from drug dens. Most often, these corrupt deals involve systematic and organized crime. A good example of an organized drug-related corruption in New York City is the Buddy Boys case of 1986 which involved 11 NYPD members who were indicted for raiding a drug store, stealing and reselling drugs.

Conclusion

Police corruption has been common in the United States since the beginning of security patrol and policing in the 18th century. Before 1970, police corruption was characterized by lack of discipline in the police service as officers abused their authorities and failed to do what they were hired to do. It was an issue of a close connection between the police and politicians in the 19th century and straining relations between the police and citizens in the 20th century. In the 18th century, watch groups and slave patrols used excessive force to combat crime. As the policing system became more organized, police corruption took a more political dimension as politicians hired and bribed police officers who supported their political cause. During the police reforms of the 20th century, politically motivated corruption was followed briberies involving private gambling and prostitution businesses. Recently, corruption has become more systematic and organized, involving drug trafficking and violence.

References

1. Archbold, C. A. (2013). Policing: A Text/Reader (pp. 2–44). SAGE.
2. Baer, Jr., H., & Armao, J. P. (1995). Police Integrity Lost: A Study of Law Enforcement Officers Arrested. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice.
3. Bayley, D. and Perito, R. (2011). Police Corruption: What Past Scandals Teach About Current Challenges, Special Report. Washington: United States Institute of Peace.
4. Ivkovic, S.K. (2003). To Serve and Collect: Measuring Police Corruption. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 93(2), 593-650.
5. Kelling, G.L. and Moore, M.H. (1988). The Evolving Strategy of Policing. Perspectives on Policing, 4, 1-15.
6. Kelly, J. and Nichols, M. (2019). ‘USA TODAY Is Leading a National Effort to Obtain and Publish Disciplinary and Misconduct Records for Thousands of Police Officers. USA Today, Accessed from https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2019/04/24/usa-today-revealing-misconduct-records-police-cops/3223984002
7. Reichel, P.L. (1988). Southern Slave Patrols as a Transitional Police Type. American Journal of Police, 7(2), 51-77.
8. The New York Times (September 24, 1986). Police Corruption: A Look at History. The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/24/nyregion/police-corruption-a-look-at-history.html
9. Wright, R.F. (2013). The Wickersham Commission and Local Control of Criminal Prosecution. Marquette Law Review, 96(4), 1199-1219.

Adam Curtis once said, “Nobody trusts anyone in authority today. It is one of the main features of our age. Wherever you look, there are lying politicians, crooked bankers, corrupt police officers, cheating journalists and double-dealing media barons, sinister children’s entertainers, rotten and greedy energy companies, and out-of-control security services”. What is police corruption? According to Ivkovic, police corruption is a form of police misconduct or police deviance typically defined through the motivation to achieve personal gain. The question asked was: ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree, that high levels of police corruption are usually associated with low levels of police responsiveness to the public and ineffectiveness in detecting the crime?’. Therefore, my focus will be on to what extent do I personally agree that high levels of police corruption are usually associated with low levels of police responsiveness to the public, theories to substantiate my response and also, what can be done to prevent police corruption.

Jamaicans may say that the one thing preventing Jamaica from realizing its potential is corruption. Corruption is the least reported crime and the most talked about crime that is mainly conducted in secrecy by the persons involved. Corrupt activities are enjoyed by the persons who engage in it while, it undermines the society at large. Police corruption involves the misuse of authority for personal gain, any activity in which the police employee compromises their ability to enforce the law, and also the protection of illicit activities from police enforcement. According to Hon Robert Montague, “corruption in the police force remains a significant challenge, noting, however, that the vast majority of the members are law abiding patriotic Jamaicans who work diligently in the service of their fellow citizens”. He also stated that, “as we have seen time and time again, the actions of a corrupt few often cast a long shadow over the good works of the force”. E.R. Stoddard linked police corruption to a ladder however, there are four main types that stands out in the Jamaican society. These are favoritism, shopping, extortion and bribery. Favoritism is basically, granting immunity from traffic prosecutions to some group because of their status while, shopping is taking small items from unlocked buildings during rounds. A recent example of shopping in Jamaica was in St. Elizabeth where as a police officer was accused of stealing cash from a premises during a raid. Extortion is using undue influence to get money, gifts or favors for self or the department. Bribery however, is the payment of cash or gifts for past or future help to avoid prosecution.

There are three main theories for police corruption. They are the rotten apple theory, the deviant subculture theory and the opportunity theory. The rotten apple theory states that the word rotten apple refers to weak individual’s whose presence corrupts everyone else. The rotten apple theory is dominant with officers because it blames the whole affair on one highly unethical person, hence a bad apple. The deviant subculture theory states that the police officers’ subculture is a deviant one and causes corruption. A police officer deals with violence and potential violence every day. Police work is not your average job; police work is shift work, which means they do not always have time for their family and friends. Police officers create a police subculture, whereas they can relate to each other, being police officers. The basis of the deviant subculture is that the police subculture itself causes corruption. The opportunity theory however, is based on the idea that police work in general, causes corruption. Police work is unsupervised. A police officer can seize alcohol or drugs from juveniles and not arrest them and not write a report but keep the seized items for himself/herself. Not only are police seizing alcohol and drugs, police also seize money from drugs. The opportunity theory best explains police corruption because officers are unsupervised with drugs, alcohol, and money each day of their job.

Preventing corruption completely is a difficult task at hand. However, steps can be taken to reduce it significantly. There are a few important ideas that can be implemented which will help to curb corruption. The three areas that need attention are officer training, personal characters, and the incentives program. The first step is to hire police officers of good character, which is difficult for a number of reasons. Officers are human. Giving a person the kind of power that a policeman has can overwhelm one. It is predictable what can happen, as history illustrates so well. What is unpredictable with any kind of reliability is what will happen to a given individual. That is the problem, because that is ideal information to know. It is predictable that some officers will be corrupt. It is also predictable that a large majority will do the job they were hired to do, and do it honestly. Stricter screening methods need to be implemented to decrease the chance that a potential hire will become corrupt. If he can successfully complete all the integrity obstacles, then it becomes more likely that he will be honest. Unfortunately, because policemen are human, no department has been successful in creating test that will reliably predict officer conduct. However, the department can reinforce ethical behavior by example, just like it can reinforce the idea that the Academy does not know what it is like on the streets. Once an officer is hired, the department should do all it can to promote ethics on the job. Officer safety is extremely important. If police are incapacitated, who will be left to protect the citizenry in the future? Along with such indoctrination, ethical indoctrination is paramount. The department must understand that the citizens trust the police to be ethical, and a breach of that trust is unjust. Further, it is not practical to act unethically. People eye the police and their behavior constantly. Corruption in the force makes it easier for a citizen to rationalize acting unlawfully, which just creates more work for the police. If a police officer, who is allegedly the pillar of the law, can deny it, why cannot the citizens who pay for the police services? The credibility of the police vanishes. A corrupt police officer cannot very well express effectively why citizens should obey the law, for he has no consistency and thus no credibility.

The situation of police corruption, specifically policemen planting evidence, stealing contraband for their own personal accounts, and falsifying police reports, is tremendous. I have outlined a few methods to curb the problem and firmly believe if these five officers had been trained differently in the Academy and the field, screened more strictly, undergone ethics indoctrination, and were not faced with the incentive program the likelihood of them facing the situation they did, decreases tremendously. Since corruption of this kind has existed in the police force since ad infinitum, it is conceivable that some or all of these methods have been attempted in some capacity. Another answer, but one that I cannot construct, might be to change the entire ideology and system of policing and punishment. That, I leave to prosperity.

References

1. Curtis, A. (n.d.). Police Quotes. Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/police-quotes
2. Ivković, S. K. (1970, January 1). Police Corruption. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_362
3. Linton, L. (2018, January 25). Scheme to Get Rid of Corrupt Cops. Retrieved from https://jis.gov.jm/scheme-get-rid-corrupt-cops
4. Matthews, K. (2019, July 6). Cop, Accused of Stealing $95,000 During Raid, Arrested. Retrieved from http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/cop-accused-stealing-95000-during-raid-arrested
5. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/19129.html

What is corruption? This is a question strolling through many people’s minds. Corruption has come to be termed as the use of energy for personal gain. Corruption has been to speak of the century from again in the late 90s till date. Corruption has affected many aspects of the society. This has consequently led to the degradation of the society’s morals and values. Corruption has come in many varieties such as bribery, fraud and country seize. However, human beings still ask has corruption been affecting the democracy of the society. Is corruption absolutely affecting the electricity held by the humans or is it a hoax that we easily let go of and overlook about it. No, corruption is the largest destroyer of democracy in the society extra than even tribalism or racism ever will in a lifetime. Corruption has affected democracy to the point that people do not have confidence in the device anymore.

First, loss of trust in the government with the aid of the citizens. In many of corrupt governments, the citizens have come to the conclusion that the government is vain and cannot come to their aid. Corrupt leaders are now not simply worried with the rest of the population, or even their country. The elevated corruption leads to declining trust in a device and the state. In the USA with high corruption levels, the typical public has no confidence in their politicians and civil servants. The public turns into cynical to the speech and deeds of all the political leaders and public officials, whether or now not they are corrupt. With suspicion and even fears, the population can’t make investments itself in voting, being concerned in the civil society or taking part in public debates. As a result, the subculture of democracy begins to crumble.

Second, rule of elites there is no strength in the hand of people. As the be counted of fact, the common structure of corruption ‘state capture’ comes into existence in any device of governance when the kingdom institutions, legislatures and even governing parties are owned through a political faction, small elites, a small number of companies or businessmen and women. These entities systemically channel country wide public assets for their very own self-enrichment. They manipulate policies, laws and guidelines to their personal advantage. Democratic institutions, laws and policies are manipulated in such a way that although corruption is taking place, it seems on the floor that outcomes were reached thru ‘normal’ rules, procedures and processes. Hence, this kind of corruption undermines the power of ordinary citizens to impact choice and policy-making as choices and policies have been bought by using small elites. It undermines the legitimacy of governments and democratic values such as have confidence and tolerance.

Third, when corruption takes its roots into the democratic system, corrupt leaders may seek to stop democratic exams and balances so that they can continue to continue to be in electricity unpunished. They regularly skip formal establishments which are meant to enable transparency in government spending and different decisions, whilst oversight businesses and the judiciary may be politicized or left weak. For example, when the populace of Venezuela started to demand reforms after years of financial decline and rising corruption, the response of the elites used to be the imprisonment of opponents, bodily threats, and isolation to the world.

Political corruption leads to the repression of political opponents and the regularly occurring police brutality upon the public and other political groups; justice is denied, and freedom is curtailed. It can even lead to the upward jab of dictatorship. As per Transparency International, such assaults towards the courts and judiciary enable corruption and impunity and harm an essential pillar of democratic governance. When judicial bodies, watchdog establishments as properly as our bodies are captured, the rule of regulation turns into ‘rule by law’. As a result, the fabric of democracy is unwoven gradually.

Transparency International argues corruption and social exclusion lead to popular disenchantment with standard institutions. Citizens feel that the gadget is useless and assume that the kingdom is unable to tackle their major socio-economic concerns. The corrupted surroundings can create house for populist politicians. According to main populism scholar, Jan-Werner Mueller, populist governance incorporates three fundamental features: attempts to hijack hooked up institutions, corruption and ‘mass clientelism’, and efforts to systematically suppress civil society. By claiming to derive authority at once from the people, they strive to subvert democratic institutions that restrict their power. Populists regularly taint their political competitors as a section of immoral corrupt elites. However, as soon as in power, they frequently flip out to be greater corrupt than the ‘elites’ that they displaced. Some populist leaders who have come to power by way of capitalizing on public disgust with corruption, ironically, now are looking for to undermine anti-corruption mechanisms and democratic institutions.

Corruption breeds instability, violence and extremism. As the systemic corruption erodes the credibility and legitimacy of, trust in and assist for democratic constitutions, establishments and laws, it leads to residents looking towards alternative governance systems to alter their lives, whether or not non secular and typical fundamentalism, gangsterism and populism. Those marginalized because of corruption seek answers in violence, religious, ethnic and political extremism. We have ample evidence of structures overthrown with the aid of citizens outraged by extravagant ranges of corruption. For instance, some years ago, almost half of Brazilians had been in favor of restoring a navy junta if corrupt politicians had been not punished via the judiciary. Later, much less than half of the country’s populace believed that democracy to be preferable to any other structure of government. This declining trust in establishments led Brazilians to reflect on consideration on their options and they turned, in tremendous numbers, to Jair Bolsonaro, who had praised military rule.

Corruption is the largest hazard to the democratic gadget and culture. Therefore, vital precautions and moves must be taken before the corrupt way of life turns into normalized and institutionalized in our country. The most high-quality measure would be the improvement of the experience of integrity towards the state and the public. Likewise, the introduction of robust watchdogs such as the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Transparency International, and the National Human Rights Commission is crucial. Another measure that performs an indispensable role to take a look at corruption would be protection and awards to whistleblowers. Last but now not the least, the appointment of the equipped and honest candidates for public offices, and strict punishment to the corrupted leaders, officials, corporations as nicely as establishments is the most for creating a corruption-free society.

The essay will argue that there is no establishment of a definition of corruption universally accepted and applicable. It aims to explain corruption through different approaches and the limitations of each concept as a universal matter and regarding its applicability. The essay will reference the difficulty of measuring corruption only as matter of proving the lack of an authoritatively agreed upon definition of what counts as corruption and not as a matter of a serious obstacle to measurement. It will explore some of the different meanings of corruption in a business and individual level through ‘grand corruption’, in a community level through ‘petty corruption’, but it will mainly focus on proving that what is corrupt for one country might not be corrupt for another as the standard acceptable behavior is not a universal matter and the importance this plays when attempting to define corruption. Even though it will challenge some of the definitions of corruption given with real case scenarios, the essay’s aim is not to debate their credibility, in fact every definition the essay will present is applicable in a certain scenario or certain circumstance, but to argue that is no standard definition of corruption nor one applicable in every case. Before it explores concepts as ‘grand corruption’ and ‘petty corruption’ from the view of Transparency International, the essay will start with a philosophical approach of the term ‘corruption’, through the work of Mark Philp, Rothstein, Heywood, referencing Robert Dahl and others. By the end of the essay, the difficulty of answering the question ‘What does ‘corruption’ mean?’ with one clear definition of the subject, the essay will show that improvement have been done in the recent years regarding the understanding of corruption. However, it is safe to say that academics are yet no close to stablish a meaning for corruption.

Suggested by Mark Philp in the philosophical debate of corruption, political corruption can only be understood if we make a commitment with the “conceptions of the political and the form of the public interest” (Philp, 1997), few scholars applied this on their attempt to define corruption in political constitutions. However, criticized for their restricted applicability to universal matters and possible lack of objectivity regarding social-scientific ideals. In order to compete these critics, Rothstein developed a “uncontroversial and universal” definition of corruption (Sparling, 2018, 377). From Rothstein observation of Robert Dahl work seeing ‘political equality’ as the ‘basic norm’ serves to be of high importance. This is supported by the example of the Swiss and British systems as, he recognizes that Britain “does not provide room for citizens to take initiatives to organize many referenda” and arguing that Switzerland is “constantly having coalition cabinets”, yet that does not cause us to consider them nondemocratic, in fact, both systems are imbedded in ‘political equality’ and are considered democratically ‘stable’ and ‘functioning’, because ‘political equality’ promotes the recognition of democratic improvements, (Rothstein, 2008). Rothstein continues, arguing that ‘impartiality’ is the key to identify corruption as he suggests they are opposites. The term of impartiality applies to office as it is argued (Sparling, 2018) is a “necessary condition of the office”, when there is a disagreement among different parties the person judging it ‘must be impartial’. On these terms, Rothstein concept explains the reasons behind the universal disapproval of judicial bribery. This is target of several critics, Rothstein concept of ‘impartiality’ does not have in consideration the individual as a human being but only as economic actor, nor it consider the limitations of human capacity, for example in the case of impartial judgement, it is argued by the scholar that the judge would be influence by the time he has to make the decision and the information he has on the case. The same article argues the poor development of Rothstein concept when regarding the ‘rule of law’, in the author claims there is a connection between legitimation in ‘procedural impartiality’ yet does not adventure explain the applicability of his work in this matter.

Flowing this approach, Heywood stresses on his work ‘Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption’ that one must not confuse corruption with ‘incompetence’ because the two definitions must not be equal and that when defining corruption, one must remember that not every self-interested act must be considered corrupt. The author highlights the possibility of objectively defining corruption but rapidly defends the high-level difficulty of doing so as he says is “much more difficult than the literature generally assumes”. He believes that the problem with defining corruption is directly related with the Western political thinking, he explains that the Western definitions and interpretations of corruption rely upon a ‘sense of political order’ in order to stop politicians to using their power and position to act inconsequently and damage the sate wealth or policies as well as affecting the community. In his understanding it is of great importance to attain people’s concept of corruption, what the community sees as corrupt and causes behind and their view of the political system to attempt to define corruption. The author admits that his work does not find one entirely applicable definition of corruption but makes a great effort to try explaining it objectively. He begins by identifying the main ‘elements’ of a political corruption definition. The first ‘element’ is the establishment of a ‘conception’ underlining limits and standards regarding the behavior of the public office, with aim on community interest. Secondly, the assumption that corruption includes misrepresentation or self-interested representation of the public office to privilege and prioritize the interest of specific individual. Finally, the assumption that there are frequently three actors ‘involved or affected’ in acts of corruption: “the occupant of the public office (A), the intended beneficiary of that office (B) and the actual (i.e., newly intended) beneficiary of the particular exercise of that office (C)” (Heywood, 2014). After identifying these ‘elements’ the author presents us with his attempted definition of corruption. Stating, the act of political corruption succeeds when A (public official) disrespects the office conduct, not prioritizing the interest of B (public interest) but prioritizing their self-interest and a third party’s interest (C), “who rewards or otherwise incentivizes A to gain access to goods or services they would not otherwise obtain” (Heywood, 2014). The scholar continues explaining that in this definition it should not be assumed that A is on infringement of the law as he believes legal definitions often fail to serious cases of corruption.

Transparency International offers an overview of corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”, dividing corruption in ‘grand corruption’, ‘petty corruption’ and ‘political corruption’. It enlightens ‘grand corruption’ as the use of ‘high-level’ power to advantage a minority, harming the society often with impunity. An example of ‘grand corruption’ is the case of the Ukrainian ex-President Viktor Yanukovych accused of the burglary of U.S. $7.5 billion. Transparency International accuses Ukrainian prosecutors of ‘reluctance’ when publicly judging his actions and tolerating the ex-president to freely spend the ‘stolen wealth’ in Moscow under protection of the Russian government, once Ukraine cannot legally effectuate ‘private prosecutions’ (Transparency International, 2016). ‘Petty corruption’, in other hand, is defined has the daily misapplication of power ‘by public officials’ towards common citizens when trying to access public services such as police stations. Stressing that this is a reason for concern specially in the public sector since “corruption incidents in the public sector (7,4% in 2011 versus 7,2% in 2010) compared to the private sector (3,4% in 2011 versus 4% in 2010)” (Transparency International, 2012). Using the Greek financial crisis of 2011 as an example of ‘petty corruption’, the ‘2011 National Survey on Corruption in Greece’ showed that the financial crises caused a reduction of the cost of this type of corruption ‘by 78 million euro’ with essential public services like hospitals being the heart of ‘petty corruption’ of this issue in the public sector (Transparency International, 2012). Lastly, this movement defines ‘political corruption’ as the self-interested management of “policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers”, through the overuse of their position in order to ensure the maintenance of their “power, status and wealth” (Transparency International). This type of corruption is pointed as the one deserving more concern and attention. According to Transparency International, 2019, the main challenge when fighting this type of corruption is containing the influence ‘corrupt actors’ might have upon ‘political leaders’, as it is in the case of many Arab governments. Despite the applicability of the concepts, the measurement of corruption from the Transparency International has been questioned many times. Considering the practice of corruption often being done in secret it is hard the evaluate the credibility of this data. Indeed, the CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index) is the most used indicator of global corruption, nevertheless it is, arguably, made from the opinion of a small percentage of, either experts or business-related people (The Guardian, 2013).

In conclusion, this essay identified different attempts to explain corruption on different fields, such as, the context of ‘impartiality’ defended by scholars like Rothstein, the attempt of defining corruption from Heywood on his work ‘Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption’ through a social-science approach and the division of corruption by Transparency International in ‘grand corruption, ‘petty corruption’ and ‘political corruption’ that led to finally dividing the occurrence of corruption between the private and public sector. In the end, corruption in the public sector showed more reason for concern based on CPI data. Nonetheless, as it points out through the essay, all these conceptions of corruption are reason for disagreement between those who adventure defining corruption. Leading us to the inevitable conclusion that the occurrence of corruption, even though in some states is a matter of ‘common knowledge’, is difficult to define. It is however generally accepted that corruption is a practice of ‘clandestine nature’, leading to the use of corruption indices based on the opinion of small groups of people in business positions. To finalize, despite academic studies of corruption recently increasing significantly, there is no stablished definition of corruption. From Heywood (2014) it is possible to see the Western influences on some of the corruption concepts as well as the presence of need to explain liberal constitutions and free market. Similarly, to critics of realism approach of international relations, corruption is criticized for its lack of specific definition. As Jonathan Rose stresses on the article ‘The Meaning of Corruption’, “If corruption is to mean something, it cannot mean everything”. The meaning of corruption continues lacking a definite definition with global applicability, despite many definitions being developed, however based on social opinion, cultural concept or relying on the opinion of the minority opinion of influential people.

References

1. Osipian, Ararat L. Law & Society Review, vol. 47, no. 2, 2013, pp. 458. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43670340
2. Chabova, K. (2016). Measuring Corruption in Europe: Public Opinion Surveys and Composite Indices. Springer Science+Business Media Sordrecht, 51, p.1878.
3. Heywood, P. and Andersson, S. (2009). The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International’s Approach to Measuring Corruption. Political Studies Association, 57, p.746.
4. The Guardian. (2013). Is Transparency International’s Measure of Corruption Still Valid? [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/dec/03/transparency-international-measure-corruption-valid [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
5. Kofanova, E. and Petukhov, V. (2006). Public Opinion of Corruption in Russia. Russian Social Science Review, p.23.
6. Philp, M. (1997). Defining Political Corruption. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, p.446.
7. Rose, J. (2018). The Meaning of Corruption: Testing the Coherence and Adequacy of Corruption Definitions. American Society for Public Administration, p.220.
8. Rose, J. and Heywood, P. (2014). ‘Close, but No Cigar.’ Public Policy, 34(3), p.509.
9. Rothstein, B. (2008). What Is Quality of Government? A Theory of Impartial Government Institutions. 2nd ed. Oxford: Governance, pp.201-202.
10. Sparling, R. (2018). Impartiality and the Definition of Corruption. Political Studies, 66(2), pp.377-378.
11. Transparency International. (2012). Petty Corruption Under Crisis. [online] www.transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/20120403_petty_corruption_under_crisis [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
12. Transparency International. (2016). What is Grand Corruption and How Can We Stop it? [online] www.transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/what_is_grand_corruption_and_how_can_we_stop_it [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
13. Transparency International. (2019). Middle East & North Africa: Corruption Continues as Institutions and Political Rights Weaken. [online] www.transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/regional-analysis-MENA [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
14. Transparency International. (2019). Our Organisation – FAQs on Corruption. [online] www.transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/whoweare/organisation/faqs_on_corruption [Accessed 8 Dec. 2019].
15. Zhong, H. (2016). Measuring Corruption in China: An Expenditure-Based Approach Using Household Survey Data. Central University of Finance and Economics, p.383.
16. Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, edited by Paul M. Heywood, Routledge, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dmu/detail.action?docID=1899869 p.19-22.

Corruption is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of poverty, unemployment, increasing cost of food and energy, climate change, and terrorism. Corruption is the big enemy of the economy, hampers economic development, weakens democracy, and exacerbates inequality, poverty, social divisions, and the environmental crisis.

Analyzing the effects of corruption, first of all, attention should be paid to the fact that it violates human rights and freedoms. It violates the rights of the public such as getting basic services from public and private offices. This practice compromises equality in society. People working in the public and private sectors are putting their rights and lives in risky situations. Corrupt officials do not offer equal services to the public, which creates a sense of inequality in the public. They offer more interest to their close ones. This behavior leads them to violate the rule of law. This violates the provisions of equality and justice.

Secondly, due to the corrupt system civil disobedience increases. People do not respect the rule of law. They violate the rules and regulations of the public and private sectors, which ultimately leads the social system to a wild where no one respects the law. Due to corruption, not only rule of law is compromised but it also hits the performance of the public and private sectors. They do not perform their functions rightly, which decreases the overall development of society.

Thirdly, corruption impacts mainly poverty and unemployment. The more unskilled people are hired in the sectors, the more corruption increases, which leads to poor performance and the overall capacity of hiring personnel of any sector decreases. As there is less capacity for hiring people, people get unemployed, and due to this more people go below the poverty line. Poverty leads people to do anything to fulfill their needs, which ultimately violates discipline in society. Moreover, it increases illiteracy, which reduces awareness in the public. Due to this, the rich grow richer day by day and the poor grow poorer.

The worst of all effects is moral instability. Due to corrupt behavior, the overall societal moral instability increases. People lose their ethical stability, which leads them to do unethical behaviors. They do not consider unethical happenings as bad activities. This results in low respect for ethical values, and due to this, violation of any law is considered to be normal in such societies. Even people feel proud to break the law and disturb the discipline. This disobedience is considered to be bravery in such a society. This behavior worsens societal values day by day. Lastly, people get lose their characters, and a gap is created in society, which we call now the class system.

Corruption is a serious problem in modern society, given all its negative effects, which must be eliminated.

“The Abuse of Entrusted Power for Private Gain”

Personal Comment: Corruption has existed in our world for many eons. We have at times limited corruption, but it always finds its way back in a more profound way as human greediness always emerges. The impact of corruption has also caused the emergence of oppression as people struggle to promote their opinion as most of a country or city is being controlled by one individual or a group of individuals at the core of a corrupted system.

Main Issue

Research Quote: “The abuse of a trusted position in one of the branches of power (executive, legislative, and judicial) or in political or other organizations to obtain material benefit which is not legally justified for itself or others.” (Sumah 2)

Novel Quote: “See, this country, in its days of greatness, when it was the richest nation on earth, was like a zoo… the day the British left—the cages had been left open, and the animals had attacked and ripped each other apart and jungle law replaced zoo law.” (Adiga 38)

Personal comment: In our world, we are faced with many social issues as shown through the novel The White Tiger. The significant issue that was present in the novel was the struggle against political corruption and oppression. We have seen the effects of corruption on many countries as it affects the country’s branches of power which in turn affects the stability of the nation as a whole. The main character of the novel indicates that power and wealth in the country are unfairly being used against their citizens for their gain.

Causes

Research Quote: “Corruption always arises from an array of several, interrelated factors, which can differ considerably from one another.” (Sumah 9)

Novel Quote: “To sum up—in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat—or get eaten up.” (Adiga 38)

Personal comment: Many factors can influence corruption and oppression in our society. The most notable cause of corruption in the novel was the historical influence of English settlers. India was colonized by imperialistic England many centuries ago and only relinquished control approximately 70 years ago. As India was under control for many centuries, they struggled to rule their own country effectively and fairly. This caused the wealthy to gain all the power in the country and left the poor with no support. Geographical location was also a major factor for the corruption of India as they are located in a very hot and dry climate that is faced with many droughts. As a third-world country, the major economic source for many citizens would be agriculture and farming. This allowed the small percentage of wealth to amass a lot of control and power as a lot of citizens were not highly educated due to the fact they had to work on farms. This caused the wealthy to infiltrate the country’s branches of power so they could benefit from their fellow citizens for their own gain. The economic underdevelopment and low employment rates of the country were also major causes of corruption in the country. In India, only a small percentage of people are wealthy and live very comfortably while the vast majority of the population is poor and lives in third-world conditions. Those wealthy people greatly influence the economy of the country as they have the most power in their businesses. This causes the branch of power to be infiltrated by those wealthy people as there is no one more powerful enough to stop them. This leads to corruption as the wealthy benefit from this situation and oppression as there is no one to able to stand up to them and tell them what they’re doing is wrong and unfair.

Effects

Research Quote: “Negative effects of corruption are the same; it reduces foreign direct and domestic investments, increases inequality and poverty, raises the number of freeloaders (renters, free-riders) in the economy, distorts and exploits public investments, and reduces public revenues.” (Sumah 53)

Novel Quote: “We were like two separate cities—inside and outside the dark egg. I knew I was in the right city. But my father, if he were alive, would be sitting on that pavement… So I was in some way out of the car too, even while I was driving it.” (Adiga 80)

Personal comment: The effects of corruption and oppression can be seen throughout the novel as they greatly affect the severity of poverty and classism in Balram’s community. As the novel takes place in India, the main character’s community is always faced with the effects of the country’s corruption. Balram lived in a poor community where everyone was expected to be a farmer or a rickshaw driver. If you are not from an affluent community, you were not expected to become wealthy and prosperous as the country’s system was arranged only to benefit the wealthy and the higher classes and not the poor and lower classes. Major corruption caused a major divide between the wealthy and impoverished societies in India. Corruption is used by people with great power and wealth to benefit themselves and oppress others who rank lower than them in society. The wealthy are the only people who benefit from a corrupt society, while the impoverished tirelessly work to stay afloat. This leads to a divide in society as the wealthy do not associate with the poor and also do not want the impoverished to succeed by keeping them oppressed and under their control.

Solution

Research Quote: “To succeed, we have to be the party of change, we have to root out corruption in our ranks and we have to be the party of solutions.” (Bobby Jindal)

Novel Quote: “There is no end to things in India, Mr. Jiabao, as Mr. Ashok so correctly used to say. You’ll have to keep paying and paying the fuckers. But I complain about the police the way the rich complain; not the way the poor complain.” (Adiga 187)

Personal comment: Corruption and oppression can be very difficult for only one single person to overcome. It seizes control of the government and law control officials who are the people who can break the corruption cycle but do not do so. This is why gaining the attention of the international public would be very essential to restrain the level of corruption in the country. In Venezuela, they have been battling political corruption and oppression for many years, but change has just recently been made since they gathered the attention of the international public. When international news agencies pick up such news, it can quickly spread to powerful people in different countries who can help any country rethink and rebuild the governmental system to ensure everyone is being treated equally and no one is benefiting while others are suffering. Many of these countries do at times minimize corruption but corruption can resurface by having unethical political officials take advantage of such fragile countries. These citizens need to learn to start electing more ethical people in their government who will look out for their rights and their safety instead of selfish officials who only want to achieve personal gain. If these countries were to follow through and elect ethical people into power, oppression would be eliminated as everyone would be able to speak freely and there would be much less corruption as the most powerful in the country are looking for the health of their citizens instead they’re own personal gain.

Work Cited

1. Adiga, Aravind. White Tiger. Atlantic Books, 2018. By. “From Oppression to Corruption to Failure.” RSS, www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/from-oppression-to-corruption-to-failure.
2. e.V., Transparency International. Transparency International – What Is Corruption?, www.transparency.org/what-is-corruption#define.
3. Šumah, Štefan. “Corruption, Causes and Consequences.” IntechOpen, IntechOpen, 21 Feb. 2018, www.intechopen.com/books/trade-and-global-market/corruption-causes-and-consequences.

Corruption of the ones that are in power is known to have a huge toll on a nation, but many do not talk about its effects on the higher-ups that are in opposition to the corruption. People have debated whether or not corruption has had a significant effect on Hamlet from the Shakespearian play of the same name. The reasons for the significant effects of Hamlet stem from the corruption causing him to be cautious around almost everyone. The reasons against the significant effects come from the difficulty of telling intent from him playing mad and from his character flaws.

The argument for significant effects finds its evidence in Hamlet’s change in how he treats his friends and family and how overly defensive he has been. One of the first changes seen is Hamlet’s lack of trust with his friends. To Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet says, “Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me the instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me” (Hamlet 3.2.378-380). This demonstrates the distrust that Hamlet has with the friends whom he knows are working for Claudius. Another change would be the relationship between him and his mother. “Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her but use not… How in my words soever she be sent.” (Hamlet 3.3.403-406) says, Hamlet. From this one sees the hatred Hamlet has for her mother who has married his father’s murderous and corrupt uncle days after his father’s death. An interesting effect of corruption is how Hamlet treats Ophelia. In the play, Hamlet says, “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (Hamlet 3.1.121-122). His words at the start were harsh, but after Ophelia’s death, one gets a better understanding. “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum.” (Hamlet 5.1.271-273). This shows that even though he loved Ophelia, he could not let her keep the secret about what he was doing, since her father likes to pander to the king. Additionally, Hamlet has become overly reactive to get revenge on the corrupted king. After hearing Polonius from behind the curtain, Hamlet says, “How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (Hamlet 3.4.24-25) and after killing Polonius says, “Nay, I know not. Is it the King?” (Hamlet 3.4.28). The split-second reaction of killing someone just because there was a chance it was Claudius, shows that the corruption has made him quite overreactive. These were the reasons that argued for corruption’s significant effect on Hamlet.

The argument against the significant effects comes from the difficulties caused by Hamlet acting mad and from the symptoms of Hamlet’s inability to act. Acting mad can cause a lot of issues when trying to determine if Hamlet is being affected by corruption. In the play, Hamlet says, “As I perchance hereafter shall think to meet to put an antic disposition on” (Hamlet 1.5.171-172). For Hamlet to act mad for most of the play makes it hard to determine what actions are caused by his actions and what actions are being done to enact his revenge unless Hamlet is talking alone or with someone he trusts. It also brings up the issue of not being able to tell if a change in his behavior is caused by corruption or by him acting mad for so long that he is now becoming mad. Additionally, his character flaw of not acting on things causes the effects of corruption that could have been prevented. “To take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No… At games a-swearing, or about some act that has no relish or salvation isn’t- then trip him… As hell whereto he goes.” (Hamlet 3.3.85-87,91-93,95) says Hamlet. This shows his procrastination to getting his revenge because he believes that he needs a guaranteed punishment to hell is the only viable punishment. If he were to have killed the king at that point, he could have eliminated the corruption and its effects. Another instance showing his character flaw is when he meets a captain of Price Fortinbras’ army. After learning about all the men who are risking their lives to take over land that has no real value, he decides that he should stop standing around and go enact his revenge on Claudius (Hamlet 4.4.56-66). The time it takes for Hamlet to realize that he is procrastinating is time wasted acting mad and letting the corruption grow, instead of dealing with the issue. These are the reasons that the corruption didn’t have a significant effect on Hamlet.

The proposition uses how Hamlet treats and doesn’t trust the people he knows as reasons that support corruption’s significant effect on Hamlet. On the other hand, the opposition believes that acting mad and Hamlet’s inability to act is evidence of corruption not having a significant effect. Of the two sides, I find that the proposition is the most compelling. For people to have strong connections with your enemy is going to make you trust them less. Although Hamlet’s character flaw helped create the effects, corruption still would have left its mark on Hamlet without it.