Theories of Ethics and Moral Behavior in Criminal Justice

Ethics and moral behavior, what does it mean? Before you can analyze ethical or unethical behavior in specific situations in the criminal justice field, you need to define and identify the major ethical behavior concepts. Throughout centuries, researchers and especially philosophers developed theories discussing right from wrong and provided guidelines concerning how to live and act ethically. The major categories of the ethical theory include deontology, utilitarianism, and virtues. Normative ethics include virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism (Cline, 2018). Explore the interactive below to learn more. 

Ethics is defined as a set of moral values and principles. Morals are the basis to determine right from wrong. Ethics are the criminal justice system’s foundation in defining a criminal activity, what society deems as acceptable punishment, police discretion, and due process. The effectiveness of the criminal justice system is based on an ethical manner. Figure 1 explains examples of ethics in the criminal justice system. 


Week 1 – Assignment: Recommend an Ethical Theory

For this weeks assignment, you will choose two ethical theories and compare their similarities and differences. Be sure to address the following:

  • Identify similarities within the two frameworks.
  • Identify differences between the two frameworks.
  • Recommend which framework should be utilized.
  • Discuss why your recommended framework is preferred.

I ONLY NEED HELP WITH THE SIMILARITIES, DIFFERENCES AND RECOMMEDATION/PREFERENCE SECTIONS.