Ethics Theories in the Criminal Justice Field

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Slippery Slope and its relationship to gratuities
Theories regarding public corruption
References

Introduction

Building a completely ethical criminal justice department has been a challenge to the realization of a perfect justice system in nations all over the world. The particular reasons behind this are not had to discern. The nature of operations and duties undertaken by this justice department demand high levels of ethical practices that are not easily attainable by the majority of officers. According to O’Connor (2005), “Police work by its very nature involves the slippery slope (the potential for gradual deterioration of social-moral inhibitions and perceived sense of permissibility for deviant conduct).” In addition to the above, acts of corruption perpetuates due to conflicts between loyalty and integrity, acts of omission, perceived sense of victimization and criminal acts of commission.

Slippery Slope and its relationship to gratuities

Hess and Hess (2008) argue that “the slippery slope of corruption posits that police corruption begins with a lowering of ethical expectation and values to attain a gratuity of minor value.” The relationship between Slippery slope and gratuity has been a major concern in the criminal justice system given the fact that small acts of gratuity spiral into acceptance of larger volume of gratuities. In addition to the above, such practices may lead to the development of a culture of “freebies” form individuals who may expect preferential treatments from the recipient officers. A good example is the acceptance of coffee as a gratuity. Whereas this may have no significant impact in the in the ethical values of an officer, these cats have the capacity to snowball and lead to erosion of ethical values that breeds corruption. This fact is buttressed by O’Connor, (2005) in stating that “these are considered fringe benefits of the job, but they violate the Code of Ethics because they involve financial reward or gain, and they are corruption because the officer has been placed in a compromising position where favors can be reasonably expected in the future

Theories regarding public corruption

The hypothesis on the society at large asserts that “society itself may be responsible for corrupting public servants such as police officers” (Smith, 2010). The gratuity that the public extend to officers and doormen within the criminal justice system has the capacity to spiral and develop a culture of exchange. Officers have to be offered a gratuity in the form of a freebie to provide their services. Smith (2010) expounds that “police officers came to expect these gratuities as a bellhop might expect a tip for bringing luggage up to a hotel room or a valet might expect a tip for parking a car.” This hypothesis asserts that the actions of the society or the community have the greatest capacity to impact on the ethical values of criminal justice officers. This is basically in line with the way the culture of relationships between the public and police officers is structured.

The structural or affiliation hypothesis on the other hand refers to “the belief that values trickle down from the brass to the rank and file – that leaders set examples for their departments” (Smith, 2010).The impacts of such affiliation and existence breed high levels of corruption within the ranks of police officers. This is because of the fact that departmental leader have the duty and responsibility of entrenching ethical standards within their departments. Ineffective leadership and the inability to control affairs of a department on the part of its leaders promote corruption. A good example of this type of hypothesis is a head of anti drug police unit who supports the activities of a drug gang and let gang members sell drugs within his jurisdiction. The bribes received from the gang leader as protection fees is shared within the ranks of the police department to completely cover up the criminal activities and protect the drug barons.

Last, the theory of rotten apple asserts that some officers within the criminal justice system are just brought up unethically; corruption and other acts of unethical behavior is part of their entrenched character. Smith (2010) expounds this theory by illustrating that “according to this view, the very structure of policing (exposure to unsavory characters, forgetting what you learned in the academy, clannishness, and overzealous, misguided approaches to crime control) provides plenty of opportunities to learn the entrenched patterns of deviant police conduct that have been passed down thru generations.”.

This group of police officers may have had bad exposure during their childhood and eventually got listed in the police service. They are therefore involved in acts that they are charged with the duty of deterring in the society such as selling drugs, robbery, murder and other serious crimes. The rotten apple hypothesis is good at understanding the fundamental reason behind high increases in crime in specific areas where a specific officer is stationed. In addition to the above, such officers have led to critical departments in police turned into gang of thugs terrorizing the same citizens they are mandated to protect.

References

Hess, M.K. and Hess, C.O. (2008). Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. New York: Cengage Learning.

O’Connor, T.R. ( 2005). Police Deviance & Ethics. Web.

Smith, N. (2010). Hypothesis on Police Corruption. Web.

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Ethics Theories in the Criminal Justice Field

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