The Importance of Ethical Conduct and Professional Responsibility (criminal justice system) - Essay Example

? Ethics Assignment of Introduction The criminal justice system employs personnel from different socioeconomic, cultural, experience, and educational backgrounds, bringing them together in a system that truly reflects the current diversified society. Although of different backgrounds, the law requires these personnel to execute their duties in a manner that not only promotes their profession growth and development but also recognizes the need for professional and ethical conducts in the profession. To achieve these objectives, the criminal justice system has established all-inclusive guidelines and standards for its staffs’ professional and ethical conducts (Pollock, 2011). Nonetheless, professional misconducts and unethical practices are still evident in the criminal justice system. Notwithstanding the causes of these misconducts in the criminal justice system, it is imperative that certain interventions are sought and implemented to address professional misconduct in the system (Pollock, 2011). Certain recommendations should form the basis of any interventions, plans, or proposals by which the major ethical and misconduct issues affecting the criminal justice system are to be addressed. In fact, the system’s administrators should be at the forefront in ensuring professionalism and ethical practices are upheld in the system. This paper explores the major ethical and misconduct issues and the importance of ethical and professional responsibility in the criminal justice system in addition to outlining a proposal for addressing professional misconduct in the system. The Importance of Ethical Conduct and Professional Responsibility To understand the importance of ethical conduct and professional responsibility, the staff of the criminal justice system must first acquaint themselves with the relevant Codes of Ethics and Professional Responsibility. These codes are useful in enabling employees to aspire to the required level of ethical and professional conduct. Second, being ethically and professionally responsible helps criminal justice personnel to strive for excellence both at the personal and professional levels. To achieve high ethical and professional levels of performance, it is imperative that the criminal justice system’s personnel identify all the causes of professional and ethical misconducts, which are rather numerous considering the apparent diversity in the system’s clientele and tasks (Pollock, 2011). The main reason criminal justice personnel have lagged behind in achieving and maintaining high ethical and professional levels include failure to achieve high levels of competency through further education, work experience, and training. Since some employees do not seek continued education and training implies they are not abreast with the latest ethical and professional developments in the system. This lack of improved competency translates into reduced prompt, less efficient, unethical, and unprofessional performance by criminal justice personnel. Low levels of personal and professional integrity have also been cited as causes of professional and ethical misconducts in the criminal justice system (Pollock, 2011). What is more, failure to observe and maintain the legality of professional competence and knowledge and ignorance of the available advice or assistance are the other common causes of professional and ethical misconduct in the criminal justice system. Similarly, some professionals’ personal life failures have impinged on their professional abilities and jeopardized their professionalism. The other causes of unprofessionalism, though to a slight extent, are poor communication, addiction to substance such as alcohol, failure to address client concerns, and excessive demands at work such as inappropriate work practices, poor mentoring and supervision (Pollock, 2011). Finally, personality conflicts and complacency towards professional standards have also had negative effects on professionalism since they escalate unethical behaviors. Addressing Professional Misconduct Although professionalism requires specialized knowledge and intensive academic undertakings, to address professional misconduct at the workplace may only require simple and basic courses of actions. It is these basic steps that will ensure that the attributes that make one a professional are understood and implemented practically. The first way to address unprofessionalism would be to ensure every employee has the specialized knowledge via personal commitment and organizational interventions to improve worker skills through the appropriate training and certifications (Pollock, 2011). Although some jobs may not require high levels of education, they would still require employees to work in thoughtful, serious, and sustained manner to obtain the specialized knowledge and experiences needed in these fields. Competency and reliability are the other attributes that must be built in the criminal justice system if professionalism is to be realized. Professionals must also be encouraged to practice and exhibit humility, integrity, and honesty in their work. Importantly, self-regulation and accountability for one’s actions, words, and mistakes are required for professionalism (Pollock, 2011). Finally, building expertise, honoring commitments, and having the right tools for the job are core to the realization of professionalism in the criminal justice system. Ethics and Misconduct Issues in the Criminal Justice System Although the criminal justice system has realized some improvement in ethical conduct and professionalism, there is still room for more improvement. This situation implies that there are still quite a number of ethical and misconduct issues that need to be addressed. Current reports indicate a lot of public complaints about unethical practices and professional misconducts by criminal justice personnel. The first among the major ethical issues in the criminal justice system is off-duty behavior. In fact, some law enforcement personnel have off-duty behaviors that are contrary to the established and acceptable codes of conduct. That the public has such great expectations of law enforcers with regards to operating under the law makes law enforcers’ off-duty behavior to be such an issue since they should be setting good example to the public. In fact, whenever they break the law while off-duty, law enforcers are more likely to face lighter punishment than civilians (Pollock, 2011). In fact, in worse situations, law enforcement ignores these misconducts due to the perpetrator’s association with the criminal justice system. Police brutality is the other ethical issue bedeviling the criminal justice system. In fact, even in situations involving the most violent of criminals, they are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty and any questionable conduct by law enforcers could be turned into a serious ethical or professional issue by the suspect or the public (Pollock, 2011). For example, a police officer may require restraining a violent criminal or suspecting only for him/her to be accused of using excessive force, resulting in a negative image for the criminal justice system. Finally, corruption is the other ethical issue in the criminal justice system more so in situations where law enforcement personnel are offered payoffs to commit or ignore illegal actions. To address these ethical and professional misconducts bedeviling the criminal justice systems, proposals should be drawn that would ensure administrative and operational personnel in the department to uphold professionalism. Proposal Both long- and short-term strategies are required for the establishment of professionalism in the criminal justice system. One long-term strategy lies at the recruitment stage followed by appropriate training programs. At the recruitment stage, the concerned officers should put in place the right mechanisms by which only the most suitable candidates in regards to potential to develop into a competent professional, physical attributes, and academic ability are hired. In case a recruit performs poorly in one of the attributes, special and rigorous training should be developed and implemented, more so if one is highly likely to have problems in terms of ethical and professional conduct (Pollock, 2011). Law enforcement agencies and personnel should then be made to recognize the position, trust, and responsibility given to them, which impose ethical and professional obligations on them. Importantly, law enforcement agencies should develop code of ethics by which the system’s administrative wing would support the operational wing (Pollock, 2011). The administrative wing is thus quite instrumental in ensuring law enforcers accept and meet their ethical and professional obligations. At the individual level, every law enforcement officer should have an unquestionable obligation to support and follow the codes and be aware of the possible penalties for violating these codes. Administratively, there are several actions that the criminal justice system could take to address ethical and professional misconduct within its ranks. First, the administration department should foster professional relations by implementing its duties not only competently but also in a way that provides for and promotes employee and corporate interests. Second, the department’s administration should ensure that workplace conflicts, more so conflicts of personal interests are kept away. Good and confidential information dissemination in the interest of all stakeholders is the other ethical action that the administration may use to promote professionalism in the criminal justice system (Pollock, 2011). Administrative duties should also be given only to those duly qualified through training and experience given that lack of qualification could harm employee, system, and public interests. Conclusion The criminal justice system is one of the most watched departments due to its role in ensuring justice is done victims and perpetrators of crimes. However, the system is marred by many ethical and professional issues such as corruption, off-duty conduct, and administrative issues. To address these ethical issues, sound recruitment and training strategies and policies and ethical/professional administration have been cited as the key interventions. Additionally, communicating with law enforcers on the need to recognize and appreciate the need to execute their tasks in a manner that promote professionalism is a key to addressing ethical and professional misconduct. Reference Pollock, J. M. (2011). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice (ethics in crime and justice), seventh edition. Wadsworth Publishing. Read More