Chapter 2: Virtue Ethics and Ethical Systems
Chapter Abstract
In this section is a brief overview of ethics sufficient to provide the reader of the importance of the topic as it relates to the CJ arena. The material provided is a seminar regarding Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle through more contemporary periods illustrating how the original philosophies of ethics prevails in modern applications. The chapter imparts summaries of the Goods, Virtue, and Ethical Systems abundant for a reader to think critically of daily life and of practitioners in the field and how ethical crafters of philosophy remain applicable from then to now.
Seeking the Good
During my 28 years as a Police Chief, my character and members of the police agency I headed was critical to service delivery. Therein lies the foundation of success in attaining goals and objectives is selecting the best members to serve. Further, understanding the theories surrounding virtue ethics is inescapable by the leader. Members of the community have the absolute right to expect higher moral standards of their centurions than they, the community is willing to live. This is discussed in detail later in selection processes.
Virtue is commonly associated with good character, good judgment, and good ethical decision making. Obviously these are characteristic sought in criminal justice employees and leadership roles. Virtue is behavior showing high moral standards and Virtue Ethics (or Virtue Theory) is an approach to Ethics that emphasizes an individual’s character as the key element of ethical thinking (Deontological Approach), rather than rules about the acts or consequences of the act themselves (Teleological Approach) (Carr, & Steutel, 1999). Adler, (1991) maintains Moral Virtue can be defined as “the habit of right desire” (p.1).
Virtue ethics or Virtue Ethics Theory has its roots situated in the works of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. Socrates engaged his followers in a battery of question answer dialogue, forcing his students to develop their own theory. This has become known as the Socratic Method. He viewed knowledge, wisdom, and virtue as identical (Albanese, 2010). Plato committed his study to writing attributing Socrates virtue as the knowledge of good and evil that is a prerequisite for achieving the ultimate good or eudemonia. Eudemonia is defined as a person’s state of excellence characterized by objective flourishing across a lifetime, and brought about through the exercise of moral virtue, practical wisdom, and rationality, which is what all human desires and actions aim to achieve (Collins English Dictionary, 2014).
Plato became disillusioned with government corruption following the death of his mentor, Socrates at the hands of the government. He felt few laws were necessary due to highly developed morality and character of inhabitants (Albanese, 2010). Aristotle, a student of Plato, formed his own school, The Lyceum where he produced more than 400 works ranging in several topics. One such work, the Nicomachean Ethics provided the earliest study of the history of ethics in Western Civilization (Albanese, 2010). According to Aristotle, all human pursuits are aimed at some good, complete life is needed to achieve happiness because many changes occur in life; there are ups and downs. In other words, “how ought people live their lives”. This is established, not by honor, wealth or power, but by rational activity in accordance with virtue over a complete life, not unlike self-actualization asserted in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need (Aristotle, 1998).
This rationale has manifest itself throughout history to include contemporary disciplines of study such as, theology, political science, sociology, criminology, and criminal justice. A few other major contributing philosophers of ethics that followed Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are: Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) deontological ethics (duty); John Stuart Mills (1806-1873) teleological (action is judged in the results); Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) consequentialism (promotes happiness and absent of pain); and consequentialism may also be found in the works of Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) free choice. Beccaria an early prison reformist brought attentions to punishment in Criminal Justice Systems during the Enlightment Period in Europe (Albanese, 2010). The works of these philosophers are rooted in Natural Rights that is the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property.
Consequentialism or Consequentialist theories, unlike virtue and deontological theories, hold that only the consequences, or outcomes, of actions matter morally. … The most common form of consequentialism is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is also distinguished by impartiality and agent-neutrality (Utilitarian Theories, n,d,).
Why are Goods sought?
I am situated in the camp that the goodness of mankind is embedded in all that is important. Seeking the Goods refers to seeking the goodness in mankind, what are goods? Goods are at minimum is a tri-fold proposition, first those that are tangible, second those that provide forms of sensual pleasure, and third those that are intrinsically consumed. Why should this philosophy be important to members of the justice system in contemporary periods? Aristotle framed human behavior as aimed at some good (Albanese, 2010). He provided a hierarchy of goods, these are:
- Real goods (food, shelter, health, wealth, pleasure, knowledge, and liberty, friends, and civil peace.
- Apparent goods (items that ought to be desired regardless if we really do; Examples are sweets, good music, and fine wine).
- Ultimate good (happiness, that beyond usual definition).
These help establish a foundation for Moral Virtue. Aristotle defined this as excellence of character (Albanese, 2010). These initial ethical foundations did not survive in a vacuum as throughout history the goods that relate to virtue, that relate to character may be found in other works. One such prominent later work is by Abraham Maslow. His Hierarchy of Needs was published in 1943 that illustrates human motivation is similarly situated with the works of Aristotle (Maslow, 1943). Compare Aristotle’s 10 Moral Virtues in Figure 1. with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Figure 2.
The original virtues, Courage, Temperance, Prudence, and Justice (Four Cardinal Virtues) located in Plato’s work and later Aristotle have been adopted by Theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in his “Summa Theologiae” of 1274 (McInerny, and O’Callaghan, 2016). Moral virtues have leached into modern political philosophy through the works of Thomas Hobbes and influences of John Locke in American politics and in the construct of the America’s Declaration of Independence and later the Social Contract Theory fused into the fabric of the “Rule of Law” in America today.
To summarize thus far those that commonly practice seeking goodness or real goods according to the moral virtues is morally virtuous. This has been referred to by Adler (1991) as the habit of right desire that is the “process of conquering one’s childish tendencies toward indulgence in immediate gratification” (p.106). The pathways provided by practice of moral virtues does not provide answers to ethical dilemmas but only a clearer method to form the correct decision.
Ethical Systems
In contemporary society the only stable that is consistent is that of change, Change at a rapid rate unthought-of in just a few short years gone by. Technology and attitude of younger generations have prompted the speed at which change occurs. What is important to note, based on my experience and research is that current generations want change, they require change, they need change, and they find it difficult to live without it. However when push comes to shove and when this membership is confronted with something in the gray area, they stop dead in their tracks and are often confused as to how to handle the situation. Perhaps this concept may aid in understanding of increased police officer use of force than a few decades past.
So because times have changed, does this mean our ethical frameworks must change? In some situations decisions generally confronting leaders and subordinates alike were often less complex and perhaps less impacting. Today members of society are bombarded with ethical dilemmas, at least on the surface, they appear to be greater in number than those a mere 20 years ago. In order to resolve ethical dilemmas it is important to justify the rationale of a decision in a well-formed and articulate fashion. In other words why was the decision made, and how is the best or most correct for the situation as compared to other alternatives. Understanding the ethical systems and meaning of goodness may offer more solid footing as to why a choice was made at least for the person making the decision.
I have often maintained that if the United States would make jumping to conclusion and leaping to suppositions our countries physical fitness plan, we would not have an obesity issue at all. As an example, a decision that had been made may have the appearance of impropriety and being unethical. If those studying the issue would stop, take a hard look, and possibly interject one of the philosophical systems, it may not be as was first blush. An opportunity to examine something from a different perspective may be a blessing in disguise.
The following table provides a visual illustration of what we have outlined to this point in our discussion. The normative approach provides pathways relevant to CJ discipline by conveying what we ought to do, while appearing counterintuitive to some degree as to what is thought to be a more ethical decision could or should be. Such theories are often called ethical systems that allocates pathways for ethical actions to be taken by people (Pollock, 2007). Normative ethics are defined by Evans and MacMillan (2014) as “theories of ethics that are concerned with the norms, standards, or criteria that define principles of ethical behavior” (p.27).
The most familiar examples of normative approaches are deontological and teleological ethics. The deontological approach falls under the Kantian or universally applied that simply means that it must be applied in all conduct, all circumstance and provides no wiggle room. Thus thou shall not lie or kill is an absolute Kantian conduct. In fact if a doctrine cannot be applied as a law equally to all then it should not be applied. However in the CJ application one knows this is not always the case. For example, it is legally permissible to lie to a suspect (under certain circumstances) in an attempt to gain information from the suspect relative to solving a crime. The teleological approach is utilitarian or the ends justify the means. Utilitarian often used synonymously with Consequentialism is a doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority (yourdictionary.com).
For example, as an undercover drug enforcement officer you are attempting to make a buy of marijuana from a dealer. You throw down your money and tell him, “I gotta bounce, my old lady is waiting for me to get back with the shit.” He says, “were gonna do a number” and you tell him “No man I gotta go, she’s neeeden me now.” The next thing you hear is a click and a muzzle of a gun is stuck in your ear, and “he says, you’re gonna do a number if you ain’t no nark.”
Well, now how stringently are you going to hang onto Kant’s duty-based ethical conduct or are you to resort to a Bentham or Mills approach?
Also painfully evident is the need for criminal justice members to use deadly physical force in the protection of them self or a third person. As a young police officer I was taught that if someone is threatening your life with a gun you can, wait until you see a muzzle blast from the suspect’s gun, you can wait until you feel a burning sensation in your body, or you can shoot the bad guy. These examples fit much easier under the Teleological Approach. This is construed to denote the ends justifies the means. The outcome is justified regardless of the intent. The consequentialist and teleological approaches are often confused as they hold certain qualities similar to each.
Persuasive elements used in this discussion are terms such as Duty, Honor, Oath, Character, and Courage, etc. Many professional organizations will have a Code of Ethics that offers guidance to the membership. The International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2000 instituted a Code of Ethics for voluntary adherence by all law enforcement agencies that wish to subscribe:
“On my honor,
I will never betray my badge,
my integrity, my character,
or the public trust.
I will always have
the courage to hold myself
and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution
my community and the agency I serve.”
(International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2000)
There resides in an “Oath of Office” the notion that the oath itself will sufficiently consume one to believe that in their current undertaking the oath shall guide personal actions in an ethical fashion. We know that from the outcomes of professional boards of inquiry that this prescription alone is inadequate. As an example in the medical field, according to the Federation of State Medical Board Report (FSMB) (2016), “in 2015, state boards received 12,555 alerts from the FSMB’s Disciplinary Alert Service” (p.18). The FSMB compiles annual disciplinary data from its 70 member medical and osteopathic boards (FSMB, 2016). Similar reporting is compiled by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Resources and Services Administration (HHSA) announced in remarks at the Tri-Regulator Symposium in 2012, “we have received 2,255 new Data Bank reports as a direct result of your compliance efforts. Those 2,000-plus new reports have been disclosed to other boards and hospitals over 3,000 times” (HHSA, 2012).
In a correlational study of police agencies by Whitman (2010) compiled data from 545 police departments examining the relationship between initial ethical testing of candidates and the reduction of violations by police officers during their career. In the police profession an assumption of an Oath of Office is required for public service. The data compilation of a ten year period is: 503 disciplinary actions that did not result in termination and 506 terminations separate and apart from the first category. Each was a separate category and data request was in a format asking for data differently. The study sample was obtained from state and local law enforcement from the following regions of the U.S.:
- Central (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky);
- Mountain Pacific (Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico).
- North Atlantic (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia); and
- Southern (West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama) (Figure 3.).
The equal distribution of contributing agencies prevents regional bias. The number of violations and terminations over the ten year period may not appear outrageous on its surface but what is not known is how many violations may have occurred that were dealt with informally preceding a formal action. Finally the reader should not dwell on the numbers of violation in either group illustrated but rather significant is the observation of oversight of individual members from internal and external methodologies and the tracking of the indiscretions.
In these forms of data collection, they are self-reporting and data collectors must rely on the credibility of the persona and or the agency submitting the data.
Hopefully thus far preceding sections have provided a succinct fashion to understand ethics. The systems of ethical approaches reside under two main canopies, Deontological (Absolute Ethics) and Teleological (Consequential Ethics). The readers personal intellectual curiosity is optimistically peaked at this juncture and is begun the correlational journey with ethics and law and the CJ systems. In short, all other ethical systems are found rooted in one of these two. Also recalling the four Cardinal Virtues, Courage, Temperance, Prudence, and Justice are generally thought to be in codified regulations or laws prescribing, in fact may be tempered within the delivery of enforcement of the law rather than the law itself.
References
Adler, M. (1991). Desires, right and wrong: The ethics of enough. New York: Macmillian.
Albanese, J.A. (2012). Professional ethics in criminal justice: Being ethical when no one is looking (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (330 B.C.E.). New York: Oxford University Press, (1998). p.6.
Carr, D. & Steutel, J ( 1999). Virtue Ethics and Moral Education, Routledge, p. 22.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
Evans and MacMillan (2014). Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice and Public Safety (4th ed). Edmond Montgomery Publications, Toronto.
Maslow, A.H. (1943). “A theory of human motivation”. Psychological Review. 50 (4): 370–96. doi:10.1037/h0054346
McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (2015). Ethics in law enforcement. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/
McInerny, Ralph and O’Callaghan, John, “Saint Thomas Aquinas”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/aquinas/>.
Pollock, J. (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
U.S. Medical Licensure and Disciplinary Information, Federation of State Medical Boards Published 2016 Report, U.S. Medical Regulatory Trends and Actions. Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Resources and Services Administration, Remarks to the Tri-Regulator Symposium, Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, October 17, 2012
Utilitarian Theories – Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy. caae.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/80130/part2/sect9.html
Westgate, A. (2012). Disciplinary-actions-against-physicians-increase. Physicians Practice. UBM Medica Network. www.physicianspractice.com
Whitman, M.L. (2013). Investigating the correlation between preemployment screening and predicting unethical behavior in police candidates. Capella University Dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing ISBN:9781303151750, 1303151758.