Ethical Treatment of Prisoners
The treatment of a society's prisoners has been an issue of debate for centuries. The emotions surrounding such treatment are considerable and reaching a consensus on the best and fairest method is often difficult. Torture is considered illegal in most civilized societies and, therefore, in order to maintain an acceptable level of treatment an alternative and more humane approach must be established (Filter, 2000).
There presently exist two leading schools of moral thought: utilitarianism and deontology (Gibbs, 1977). Despite what has been characterized as great differences between the two schools they seem to agree on most substantive issues.
Utilitarianism argues that the right action is the one, out those available, that maximizes one's total happiness. In the prisoner treatment situation this results in considering the emotional pain, physical discomfort, expense, and time involved in housing the prisoner against the advantages garnered by society such as retribution, justice, removing bad individuals from society, and revenge (Bentham, 1988). Followers of the utilitarian school belief that actions should be taken that result in the least possible human suffering for the greatest number. This concept is described by Jeremy Bentham, founder of the utilitarian approach, as "the greatest good for the greatest number." Bentham analysis of any moral situation is to take into account the intensity, duration, certainty or uncertainty, propinquity or remoteness, fecundity, purity, and extent of actions and measure them against the greatest good/greatest number principle (the Principle of Utility).
Based on this basic approach to morality, the utilitarian approach to imprisonment and the ethical treatment of prisoners is one of moderation. Utilitarianism is concerned with consequences. A utilitarian approach seeks to maximize total utility and is often referred to as involving a cost-benefit analysis wherein moral decisions are based on a balancing between these two factors. These costs and benefits can be economic, social,...
Ethical treatment of prisoners is a complex question, involving the nature of the prison system in the U.S. And the nature of those incarcerated in it, as well as ethical obligations that individuals owe to society as well as those that society owes to those who are imprisoned. Deontological ethics might hold, for example, that those who have violated the law and the basic moral norms of society deserve to
Bans save cash. It is costly to encourage smoking in prisons. Smoke-harmed detainees and staff require costly medical care, for different tobacco impacts. Citizens pay, both by expanded duties, and by expanded insurance rates. The prison authorities must raise the issue with government officials and ask them how much smoking costs citizens. When inmates smoke in jail, more bills, hospital expenses, come to citizens: for the smokers' conditions, and
Ethical Dilemma Ethics Officer response: Ethics Police officers are given additional powers to enforce the law that ordinary citizens do not possess, such as the right to stop and frisk suspects and if necessary to use proportional force against a suspect. However, with additional powers comes additional responsibility. On a human level, it is easy to understand why it might be tempting to act violently against someone committing child molestation. But an officer
The foundational ideas of the limits of science and medical ethics goes back a very long way and as it has evolved over the centuries, certain laws, rules, regulations and taboos have been put in place to protect the human race from that sometimes blurred line between scientific discovery and human existence. Medical ethics created a system, bound by the ideals of many that came before them to control this
Ethical Theory & Moral Practice Debates about theory and practice are ancient. Each generation considers the dynamics that surround issues about the interdependency of theory and praxis to be uniquely challenging. Complexity is a variable closely linked with knowledge. As science has added layer upon layer of knowledge, decision-making dilemmas have been confounded by new and staggering concomitant factors. In concert, theoretical frameworks for social science disciplines have been adapted to
ethical issues that may occur in your area of human services. Then explain the tools you might use to identify and address ethical issues and issues related to cultural competence. Finally, explain how your leadership style might influence the tools you select to use. Ethical Issues The ethical issues that human services administrators face can be highly complex: This is, in fact, the nature of ethical dilemmas. For issues that are
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