CRJS 395CRJS 395

Ethics In Criminal JusticeEthics In Criminal Justice

CRJS 395 Web SiteCRJS 395 Web Site

http://www.odu.edu/al/cpate/index.htm

CRJS 395CRJS 395

Text Book:Criminal Justice Ethics, LR

Instructor BackgroundInstructor Background

Chris PateMilitaryState GovernmentAcademicPractitioner Perspective

Succeeding In ClassSucceeding In Class

The Easy Way– Read Assignments Before Classes– Attend Class, Participate, Take Notes– Review Material For Understanding

The Hard Way

-Don’t Read Assignments Or Attend Class

-Rely On Someone Else To Carry You

Rules For FairnessRules For Fairness

Verification required for excused late papers and missed quizzes.

Be considerate. Be on time for quizzes and written assignments.

Honor Code is absolute.

Course FormatCourse Format

4 QuizzesGroup Project and (Group) Research PaperInteractive Discussions

Extra CreditExtra Credit

1. Options listed in online syllabus

2. Pre-Approved community service

Provide verification by due date

Course GoalCourse Goal

Help cultivate the richest, fullest moral language possible in order to develop:– Depth– Balance– Consistency– Clarity and– Precision in your ethical assertions and problem

solving

Course PurposeCourse Purpose

Test, expand and enrich our moral languages.

This will be accomplished by:– Case studies involving criminal justice issues– Class discussions– Group projects– Research paper assignments

Course EssentialsCourse Essentials

Trust• Essential for this course to be effective• Essential for you to benefit from this course• Essential to avoid B-O-R-I-N-G classes

Course ExpectationsCourse Expectations

This course will not teach – What is categorically right or wrong about

professional practices.– No absolute answers– No neat moral formulas

Course ExpectationsCourse Expectations

This course will introduce you to– Ethical Languages

Frameworks to think about ethical issues Frameworks to resolve ethical dilemmas

Academic ExpectationsAcademic Expectations

Teacher:– Disseminate information– Provoke discussions– Clarify discussions

Students:– Participate actively in class discussions– Prepare and present assignments on time

What Is This Course About?What Is This Course About?

This course is about normative ethical behavior.This entails:

– Defensible ethical actions– Defensible ethical judgments– Defensible ethical decision making

Ethical understanding and defensibility are important.

What Is This Course About?What Is This Course About?

This course is also about applied ethics. This entails:

– Implementation of general ethical theories, principles, rules, virtues, moral ideals and background beliefs to problems of professional practice.

This includes:– Professional client relationships– Delivery of services– Policy construction and enactment

What You Need To KnowWhat You Need To Know

You need to know the meaning and implication of moral and ethical theories.– Relativism– Consequentialism– Utilitarianism– Virtue ethics– Deontological Ethics– Contractarianism

What You Need To KnowWhat You Need To Know

You need to understand that criminal justice presents moral problems at three levels.– The Level of Laws– The Level of Practices– The Level of Social and Psychological Foundations

What You Need To KnowWhat You Need To Know

You need to understand and apply principles.– Autonomy– Beneficence– Nonmaleficence– Justice

Course BenefitsCourse Benefits

Benefits Of This Course– Ability to identify and understand central issues

in your life– Ability to use languages to:

Frame questions Analyze issues Resolve dilemmas Defend your decisions and judgments

Course BenefitsCourse Benefits

You will derive benefits form this course commensurate with the effort and energy that you invest in it.

The Luxury of DetachmentThe Luxury of Detachment

The Luxury of Detachment

The characteristic gift of a university is the gift of an interval.

“The university offers a moment in which to taste the mystery without the necessity of at once seeking a solution.” Michael Oakeshott

Why Study Ethics?Why Study Ethics?

Ethical Theory is a practical tool for professionals.

Ethical TheoryEthical Theory

If you know what you stand for morally, and why, you can defend your ethical practices anywhere, anytime, to anybody.

This ability might help you keep your job.It might help keep you out of jail.

Is This Course Philosophy?Is This Course Philosophy?

Ethics and Philosophy are intertwined.

Philosopher’s Primary Purpose– Inch closer to some fundamental truths about

the human condition.

Personal EvolutionPersonal Evolution

During this course we will become aware of:– Our ethical confusions– Our ethical inconsistencies– Our ethical compromises

Instructor ExpectationsInstructor Expectations

1. Take the course serious enough to work hard to master the ethical languages.

2. Refrain from issuing ethical imperatives based on politics, religion or philosophy.

Instructor ExpectationsInstructor Expectations

3. Find the truth in what you oppose.

Find the error in what you espouse.

Hear (and read) everyone.

Search for the truth before trying to refute it.

Getting StartedGetting Started

What must every ethical dilemma consider?

Getting StartedGetting Started

“Every resolution to an ethical dilemma must consider the act, the intention, the circumstance, the principles, the beliefs, the outcomes, the virtues, the narrative, the community, and political structures.”

Robert Nash

How We Learn EthicsHow We Learn Ethics

Is the best ethical decision making really subjective, intuitive and impressionistic?

How We Learn EthicsHow We Learn Ethics

Is the best ethical decision making really subjective, intuitive and impressionistic?

We learn ethics by various means.– The “seat of our pants”– Trial and error– Early socialization and indoctrination– Imitation

How We Learn EthicsHow We Learn Ethics

Who teaches us ethics?

How We Learn EthicsHow We Learn Ethics

Who teaches us ethics?

We learn ethics from various sources.– Family– Church, temple, mosque, synagogue– Local community– School

Moral Stages And DevelopmentMoral Stages And Development

What factors influence our judgment of ethical behavior?

Moral Stages And DevelopmentMoral Stages And Development

Appropriate ethical behavior depends on several factors.– Age – Mental Capacity– Role – Training– More

The Panacea PhenomenonThe Panacea Phenomenon

Unrealistic Expectations

Followed By Failure and Dissatisfaction With the Proposed Cure-All

Ultimately a Renewed Search For Another Foolproof Elixir

Prior Ethical Panaceas Prior Ethical Panaceas In The Evolution of CBC In The Evolution of CBC

Community Punishments1700’s Quakers, Penitentiaries1870’s Indeterminate Sentence1800’s-1900 Therapeutic Prison1960’s-1970’s Flourishing CBC1980’s-Present Get Tough On Crime1980’s-1990’s Punish and Control

A Nagging QuestionA Nagging Question

Why study ethics if there are no clear cut, easily defined answers?

A Nagging QuestionA Nagging Question

Why study ethics if there are no clear cut, easily defined answers?

Professional and Personal Rewards

Benefits Of Ethics StudiesBenefits Of Ethics Studies

Little Rewards– Some good reading– Some stimulating conversations– Clarifying core moral beliefs– Thinking deeply about morality in general– Learning to write with precision and clarity– Exchanging views with interesting people

Benefits Of Ethics StudiesBenefits Of Ethics Studies

Big Rewards– Rehearsing for major ethical decision making in the

real professional world– Learning to defend controversial and complicated

ethical actions and judgments– Understanding what makes you “tick” morally– Finding the moral courage to stand up for what you

believe while respecting opposing views– Translating your background moral beliefs and

principles into defensible ethical problem solving

Benefits Of Ethics StudiesBenefits Of Ethics Studies

The Little Rewards– Will make your life more intellectually

stimulating

The Big Rewards– Could someday keep you from being sued

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

1. Metaphysical Life Space

2. Concrete Moral World of Small Communities

3. Secular Pluralist World of Large Organizations

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

1. Metaphysical Life Space– Individual philosophical consciousness

Based on our background experiences Expressed in philosophical, theological, political, scientific,

or other languages

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

1. Metaphysical Life Space– The private moral language of background beliefs

Foundationally rich It grounds the other two languages. Suited to helping us discover deeper purpose and meaning in

our moral deliberations

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

2. Concrete Moral World of Small Communities– The external, tangible world of moral origin and

influence on us Influences much of what we believe metaphysically and

morally, and who we are as moral beings Has its roots in, and is mediated by, smaller, specific moral

communities– Ideological, ethical, racial, political, recreational, familial

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

2. Concrete Moral World of Small Communities– Requires the language of character grounded in

community sanctioned ideals, narratives, traditions and virtues

Suited to explaining the influence of our concrete moral communities on our ethical activities

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

3. Secular Pluralist World of Large Organizations– The workplace, professions and the public arena– Private individuals of diverse ideologies, values and

morals come together to make decisions of moral nature

– Relies on logic, reason, rules and principles

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

3. Secular Pluralist World of Large Organizations– Requires the language of moral principle rooted in mutual

respect and tolerance for moral differences– Necessarily often abstract language of general principle used by

diverse individuals and groups to reach mutual understanding, tolerance, and possibly agreement, regarding resolution of ethical conflicts.

Logically deductive without establishing the absolute “correctness” of any particular point of view

Suited to rational, defensible ethical decision making

Three Overlapping Moral WorldsThree Overlapping Moral Worlds

What do we mean when we say that:

Our understanding and application of rules, principles, and theories are influenced by our stories, traditions and conception of virtues.

Crucial Need For AwarenessCrucial Need For Awareness

It is critically important to become aware of the background beliefs that underlie and drive the ethical decision making process.

This can be a difficult process. These background beliefs exert perhaps the most powerful

influence on all moral thinking.

The Importance Of Active The Importance Of Active DiscussionDiscussion

Mastery of concepts in this course, and individual moral and ethical growth, depend on three things this semester.– Talking freely using technical language about difficult

ethical issues– Taking the risk to discuss professional, maybe even

personal, moral concerns– Remember that conversation can be heated and not be

an argument

Fundamental BeliefsFundamental Beliefs

The best way to get a person to talk publicly about ethical concerns is to treat that person with respect.

No one person has a corner on the market of ethical insight.

No single person inhabits the moral high ground a priori.

Moral ViatorsMoral Viators

People are moral viators, travelers with a purpose, on a journey to find meaning in the work they do.

Because the journey is individual, it has intrinsic worth and should to be respected.

Democracy and OpinionsDemocracy and Opinions

“In a democratic society, all opinions must be heard because some of them may be true; and those that aren’t must be vigorously contested.” John Stuart Mills

Ethics and AestheticsEthics and Aesthetics

“Ethics and aesthetics are one and the same.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

Any moral belief that brings intense satisfaction to the mind or senses can be a beautiful thing, something to be admired by all.

BreakBreak

Read assignments.Participate in class discussions.Review notes weekly.