Ethics and Criminal Justice: Assessing Kohlberg's Theory and Ethical Issues

Kohlberg's theory of moral development

Answer the questions below with at least 200 words for each response.

Summarize the six stages of Kohlberg's theory of moral development.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

Describe cultural relativism.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

Why is it important for criminal justice professionals to study ethics? Explain how applying ethical approaches helps criminal justice professionals make appropriate and correct decisions.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

What are the differences between ethical absolutism and ethical pluralism?

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

Conduct Internet research on a police officer who was convicted by a jury of excessive use of force that was in the news media. An example would be Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the killing of Laquan McDonald; however, please do not use this example for your assignment.

Once you have selected the specific case, write an essay that addresses the information below.

Write an introduction that provides an overview of the events that occurred.

Discuss police officer use of force in this incident.

What was the makeup of the jury? Was this a fair representation of the local area?

Why was this conviction viewed as a break from the norm in jury selection and outcome? Were there any decision-making points within the criminal justice system that were used to determine discrimination?

What are your personal thoughts on a police officer being convicted or not convicted? Do you think that the police officer showed suspect bias?

Your essay must be at least two pages in length, not counting the title or reference pages. Support your essay with at least one reference. Adhere to APA Style when constructing this assignment, including in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed.

Review the following statements on page 144 of Chapter 6 in your textbook regarding why offenders should be punished.

They deserve to be punished.

Punishment will stop them from committing further crimes.

Punishment tells victims that society disapproves of the harm that they have suffered.

Punishment discourages others from doing the same thing.

Punishment protects society from dangerous or dishonest people.

Punishment allows offenders to make amends for the harm they have caused.

Punishment ensures that people understand that laws are there to be obeyed.

After reviewing the questions and the various theories behind offender punishment, write a reflection paper that addresses the information below.

Cultural relativism

Describe a scenario in which one method of offender punishment may be more appropriate than another method of offender punishment.

State why offender punishment varies based on the crime, and state whether you think there should be more or less variation in punishment. Explain how ethics factor into your decision.

Discuss how you see multiculturalism and diversity (e.g., race, religion, ethnicity) within a society having an influence on offender punishment. What implications do these insights have on your future learning?

Your paper must be at least two pages in length. APA Style will not be required for this assignment.

For this assignment, you will discuss the roles of prison guards and analyze ethical issues within the criminal justice system as they relate to racial discrimination, bias, and prejudice of court officials. Write an essay that addresses the information below.

Provide an introduction that gives an example of one ethical issue that could arise during each of these three phases: initial offender arrest, the criminal justice proceedings, and the incarceration of an offender.

Summarize historical racial discrimination as it relates to the following issues:

juvenile justice system,

jury selection,

conviction and sentencing, and

death penalty.

Explain why there is the Model Code of Judicial Conduct for judges, staff, and court officials to help keep their conduct free of bias and prejudice.

Examine the prison officer’s power. Provide one example of prison guard subculture.

Support your essay with a minimum of two references from the CSU Online Library.

After watching a local or national news report involving a victim and a suspect, reflect on the elements presented. Write a reflection paper that addresses the information below.

Describe one recent media story that was reported that discussed an offender and a victim.

Do you think the media showed bias or stereotype when reporting information about either the offender or victims portrayed in the story?

What bias may have been presented?

How does the responsibility of the press or media tie into the theories of moral development?

How might you apply this insight to your future learning?

Your paper must be at least two pages in length. APA Style is required for this assignment.

Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too have galvanized a base of minorities and brought forth the public awareness of shortcomings and issues of sexism, racism, and unequal treatment by law enforcement. Research one of these issues, or select another movement for this assignment. Then, address the questions below in your paper.

Ethical absolutism versus pluralism

What is the history of this movement?

What issues within the criminal justice system created the need for this movement? What are the ethical violations?

What are your personal thoughts/feeling about this movement?

How has this movement created awareness and social change in the way women are heard and/or the accountability for police behavior when dealing with people of color?

Does money and power buy freedom from prosecutorial investigation?

What has been the result socially from this movement? Has it been positive or negative? Why?

Your paper must be at least four pages in length, not counting the title or reference pages. Support your research paper with at least two sources from the CSU Online Library. For more information on how to research relevant articles in the CSU Online Library, access the Library Research: An Overview video ( transcript for the Library Research: An Overview video ).

Adhere to APA Style when constructing this assignment, including in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed.

Read the scenario below.

You and Officer Bob are the first officers on the scene of a drug deal that went wrong. You and Officer Bob begin to canvass the area and notice a bag of money nearby. Officer Bob advises you not to photograph or tag the evidence at this time. Officer Bob calls the money “dirty street money” and actually moves the money out of view and appears to be hiding it behind a tree. You later notice Officer Bob with a backpack as he is walking toward his unmarked car. You look behind the tree and notice the money is missing. You later notice Officer Bob staring at you in a menacing way; you know in your heart that Officer Bob has taken the money and has no plans on tagging it as evidence. You know Officer Bob has a daughter in college, and his wife was just laid off from her job. He is a seven-year veteran on the police force and has met the criteria of no felony arrests.

Reflect on what you have learned in this course about multiculturalism, diversity, and ethics, and create a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes your responses to the questions below.

How has Officer Bob ethically rationalized keeping the money? Are there any moral or psychological theories that support this?

What ethical dilemmas do you face as a witness?

How can you justify not reporting this? How can you justify reporting this?

What would be your course of action if you were morally corrupt as well?

What if Officer Bob was the only minority in the department and has a pending Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) case against the department; would that change how you would handle this?

Your PowerPoint presentation must be at least eight slides in length and include speaker notes for each slide. The speaker notes should provide the detail and discussion of your presentation, and everything in the presentation should be in your own words. APA Style will not be required for this assignment.