Ethics And Leadership In Criminal Justice Essay

Create and philosophy and approach for balancing the issues of individual rights and the public’s protection.

Every person has individual rights that should be respected while at the same time striking a balance when they conflict with public protection. Despite the priority given to individual rights, a person should not endanger the public on the basis of individual rights because protecting the public is also important. My philosophy and approach towards the best way to balance individual rights and public protection is that, individual rights should be prioritized at all times, but this should be done without threatening the public protection. The balancing of individual rights has been found to be a major issue in the law enforcement profession. Professionals are required to make fast decisions on the field, and their decisions must be well balanced in terms of rights of an individual and the public’s protection. For example, in a case where there is an outbreak of a highly contagious disease. Individual’s rights, in this case, such as freedom of movement might be infringed upon in order to protect the entire public. Law enforcement should be well trained to know how to protect the public and at the same time maintain an individual’s right.

Philosophy and approach for harmonizing the use of punishment and reward in criminal justice. Examples

The society today has developed laws and regulations that give a comprehensive understanding to people in the society that demonstrates how to live together without violation of other people’s property and liberty. The society has developed a system of punishment for the circumstances when someone violates such laws and regulations. There has been no development of a reward system for people who do not violate the laws and regulations. Not getting punishment can be considered a reward, individuals in the society are coming up with their systems of rewarding that could give some advantages to them and the societies. The chances of getting a reward reduce if an individual has done something that is against the system of criminal justice. Both the systems of reward and punishment are made for changing a person’s behavior and their way of living life. In the criminal justice field, it might be difficult to decide on the cases of reward and punishment. For example, a person who has stumbled into the system several times without learning their lesson can get punished by not receiving a lenient sentence. A first-time offender can be rewarded by being given a chance for correcting themselves by serving a probation or more lenient sentence (May, 2010).

Philosophy and approach that addresses the use of immoral means (torture) examples

In both fields of criminal justice and law enforcement, it is my opinion that torture is always wrong and that not all torture decisions should be morally justified. The main two principles of rejecting torture are based on moral grounds and legal ones. The deontological perspective is one that might account for the rational rejection of torture. Kant’s Utilitarian approach can, however, be used to justify torture. According to Kant, an action is considered right if it results in the greatest good. Most people in support of torture use this principle to make their arguments. My main approach against torture is based on the ethical code (Chazelle, 2009).
As a criminal justice professional, one is required to achieve the best results and at the same time respect every person’s right even a criminal. Research has shown that there are other approaches that can work instead of torture. Research has also indicated that sometimes information derived using torture is not very reliable. For example, when a federal agent captures a terrorist and they need to extract information on the location of the second bomb. Most people would think that the best way would be to torture the terrorist, but such an approach would probably result to the terrorist lying since they know they will be tortured to their deaths either way. One applicable approach in this case instead of torture would be manipulation. It as well is not an ethical means. However, when compared to torture, it is a better alternative. In this case, the terrorist’s family would be used by the federal agent to manipulate them into giving the information required.

Explain what you believe the ethics of peacemaking criminology and care should mean for law enforcement professionals.

There are different forms of ethics of care that can be implemented in the criminal justice field. For example, Mother Teresa’s embodiment of ethical care was mindfulness. Mindfulness allows people to experience a sense of awareness. It allows them to be fully present and be aware of what is immediate and also aware of the big picture of needs and possibilities. Mediation is one of the strategies that can help people become mindful. The approach has been said to work even in the criminal justice field.
Peacemaking Criminology is a crime concept that advocates alternative methods applicable to the formation of peaceful crime resolutions. It can be executed in the society in an attempt to mitigate the existing violence that is in the field of criminal justice. I believe that this crime outlook has the capability of advancing the management of equal justice where most current approaches fail. Peacemaking implementation would represent an altered approach that improves on the present-day methods and practices associated with the judicial process and policing. Peacemaking Criminology stands for the use of non-violent approaches to solving crimes. The innovative nature of this approach and absence in the current justice administration has left many uncertain of its efficiency. In order to solve a problem, the source must be traced and corrected. The criminal justice field’s current methods of correcting problems usually result in financial repercussions and incarceration. In my opinion, although this method is said to effectively reduce crime by removing criminals from the streets, it is only temporary. Peacemaking Criminology attempts to rectify the source of the problem without having to make arrests and to use a peaceful approach that will result in peace (Moloney, 2009).

References

Chazelle, B. (2009). How to Argue Against Torture. Retrieved from http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/politics/torture09.html
May, B. (2010). Behavior Rehabilitation: Rewards vs. Punishment. Retrieved from http://www.cavemannews.com/BehaviorRehabilitationRewardsvsPunishment.htm
Moloney, J. (2009). Peacemaking Criminology. Undergraduate Review, 5, 78-83. Retrieved from http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1124&context=undergrad_rev