Ethical Decision-Making in Criminal Justice: Case Study Analysis
Criminal justice institutions and specialists in the contemporary world constantly encounter ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas in criminal justice are mainly due to conflicts of laws, regulations, policies, practices, and interests. For a specialist, personal values and professional ethics are challenged when required to make decisions in the face of ethical dilemmas. This paper discusses how, as a psychologist employed by the Alabama Department of Corrections facing an ethical dilemma, I would apply Rushworth Kidder’s four typologies to inform my decision.
Rushworth Kidder’s Typologies for Understanding Ethical Dilemmas
As a psychologist, in this case, faced when personal and professional ethics conflict, Kidder’s four typologies (Kidder, 1996) can help argue both conflicting sides to help decision-making. The professional issue, in this case, is that an investigation of Alabama’s states prisons by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Alabama’s Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) revealed that not only do the state’s prisons violate the eighth amendment of the U.S. Constitution but they are also understaffed and pose life-threatening conditions. Inmates in these prisons, including those with disabilities, face discrimination and systematic indifference. The personal conflict, in this case, is that my livelihood depends on my employment with the prison, which helps support my wife and two children and pay my mortgage.
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Kidder’s four typologies can be used to make logical arguments for both sides. The typologies and the arguments include;
1. Truth versus loyalty
Kidder argues that truth is adapting to the facts or reality of a situation, while loyalty is allegiance to fidelity to a person, community, government, or set of ideas. It is suitable to stand on truth as well as be loyal. Based on this ideology, as a psychologist in Alabama states prison, I am compelled to admit to the reality of the situation of the prisons to the relevant authorities, which I stood by when interviewed by the ADAP. Three litigations in Alabama guide prisons in the state, with the 1976 Pugh v. Locke case ruling that state prisons should provide minimal adequate mental health care, that is, identification of mentally ill prisoners and provision of care by qualified mental health professionals. The current situation is defiant of rulings made in these rulings. My profession also binds me to be loyal to the code of ethics we are governed by, ensuring the well beings of my clients, in this case, the inmates (Weinberger & Sreenivasan, 1994). It would therefore be the right thing to do to report to the relevant authorities of the inadequate medical care and the poor living conditions in these prisons.
On the other hand, it can be argued that the reality of my personal life, that is, my livelihood and supporting my family, depends on employment by the state’s prisons. I am also bound to be loyal to my wife and children hence must at all times have their best interests at heart. So, it would be right to ensure I continue to earn a living through this employment.
2. Individual versus community
Kidder opines that it is right to consider an individual’s own interests as this will ensure general social good emerges. As a psychologist supporting my wife and children while paying the mortgage, I contribute to the community’s betterment and growth.
This, however, is countered by Kidder’s resolution that the needs of the majority, that is, the community outweigh the needs of an individual. The need to ensure the well-being of Alabama’s inmates outweighs my personal interests. Furthermore, a past complaint filed by the SPLC showed that Alabama had serious deficiencies in the delivery of mental health care, which usually resulted in death by suicide for most inmates with mental health disabilities.
3. Short-term versus long-term
Kidder explains it is right to plan to think and plan for both the short-term and long-term. Short-term concerns are associated with the satisfaction of current needs, while long-term concerns focus on future needs that will be met. In this case, as a psychologist, the immediate need is as a result of the investigation that has both short-term and long-term consequences in my professional and personal life. The short-term need professionally, is the need to provide adequate medical care to the inmates. In contrast, the long-term need is to ensure prisons adhere to the existing laws and meet the standards of the relevant authority bodies. The long-term issue is to improve the mental health care in Alabama as the complaint from SPLC where experts agreed ADOC has one of the lowest mental illness prevalence rates among correctional systems in the country, which was directly linked to poor intake screening for prisoners who need mental health care but instead go untreated. The complaint further attributed this to understaffing and overcrowding of the prisons. The long-term goal would improve this situation.
4. Justice versus mercy
Fairness should be pursued without attention to personalities and situations, according to Kidder. This means that one should abide by the rules put in place. This means as a psychologist, I should uphold my duty to ensure adequate medical care. The 2011 Brown v. Plata will be a strong guide to my decision as the supreme court that depriving prisoners of adequate medical care is undermining human dignity. This argument outweighs my interest and fear of losing a job. Kidder also urges one to seek benevolence for each case when faced with a dilemma. In my case, the unmanageable caseload requires me to be keen and prompt in special cases, such as that of an inmate suicide attempt (McLearen & Magaletta, 2011). Such cases filed by SPLC in their complaint are rampant in the ADOC as mental health staff fails to use appropriate risk-assessment tools such as the suicide-watch cells that are insufficient in the state and lack proper follow-up.
Ethical Decision-Making Process
Kidder further outlines nine checkpoints for decision-making. The first checkpoint is determining whether there is an ethical dilemma. In my case, the conflict between my interests and professional obligations creates an ethical dilemma. The second checkpoint is identifying whose dilemmas it is in this case; the main actor is me, a psychologist employed in Alabama’s state prisons. The next checkpoint is distinguishing facts from assumptions. In this case, the investigation by the SPLC and ADAP confirmed violations of laws and standards set that I have experienced in my line of duty and reported my part, case overload, to my supervisor. The primary assumption made in this situation is the belief that I will be jobless due to this investigation despite putting in my best effort at work. The fourth checkpoint is testing for right versus wrong issues. This checkpoint is crucial in my case as various laws are broken, such as the violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, the supreme court ruling in the 2011 Brown v Plata ruling that declared depriving prisoners of adequate medical care as inhumane. Furthermore, the Alabama state prisons failed to meet the standards of the SPLC and ADAP. In this checkpoint, my moral obligation is also tested as a professional and individual, ensuring the greater good for the majority, in this case, the inmates. The fifth checkpoint makes use of the four paradigms discussed above for testing right versus right. The clear dilemma in my case is the self-versus community. The sixth checkpoint is applying the resolution principles to determine the most relevant and persuasive course of action. These principles include; utilitarianism which is taking the course of action that produces the greatest good for the greatest number; Kantian, which advocates rule-following as rules promote order and justice; finally, the golden rule, which is doing unto others what you would like to be done to you. The seventh checkpoint is escaping the dilemma which can be achieved by brainstorming a creative course of action and, in some cases coming up with a compromise. In my opinion, the investigation results would be useful in coming up with constructive and long-lasting improvements to Alabama’s state prisons, such as the employment of more healthcare professionals. The eighth checkpoint is making the decision based on all the analysis. In my case, after a comprehensive analysis detailed in this paper, the best course of action would be to be truthful about the poor and inadequate medical conditions faced by inmates of Alabama and advocate for the betterment of the situation by raising awareness of these issues to the relevant bodies. This also entails taking necessary steps to protect personal interests by searching for new job opportunities, as I still have a family to support in case I lose my current employment. The final checkpoint is to revisit and reflect on the decision. This will include picking lessons from the situation and being aware of signs of similar conflicts in the future.
References
Kidder, R.M. (1996). How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living (ed). New York, NY: Simon & Scuster
McLearen, A.M., & Magaletta, P.R. (2011). Understanding the broad corrections environment: Responding to the needs of diverse inmate groups. In T.J. Faga & R. K.Ax (Eds)., Correctional Mental HEALTH (327-350). Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Pubications
Weinberger, L.E., & Sreenivasan, S. (1994). Ethical and professional conflicts in correctional psychology. Psychology, Research and Practice, 25(1), 161-167 doi:10:1037/0735-7028.25.2.161