Professional Ethics in Criminal Justice
Code of Ethics in Criminology

A code of professional ethics in criminal justice is needed for CSI careers. Learn if criminal justice philosophy rings true to you & if so, how to get a degree

The study of criminology ethics is tricky. Ethics, in general, is a topic of much debate and argument. After all, who has the power to say what is right and what is wrong?

Ethics is called the moral philosophy, and it attempts to dictate how we ought to live our lives, choosing right over wrong.

Philosophy & Ethics in Criminal Justce

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Investigators Must Have Proper Ethics in This Field

Philosophy in criminal justice is somewhat dangerous, since professionals spend their time trying to be as 'black and white' as possible when it comes to who's guilty and who's innocent.

But without ethics in criminology, it's impossible to determine whether or not a criminal justice employee has been proper in his or her approach to a case.

In essence, criminal justice's code of ethics is decided not just by one person, but by everyone.

Professional ethics in criminal justice is the general agreement about the questions of what is right and what is wrong.

In the following section we'll take a closer look at how ethics applies specifically to the criminal justice world and then at the code of ethics in criminology that is followed by those who participate in that world.

Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice

The criminal justice system employs professionals who are given the ability to exercise authority and power over other people.

Judges, officers, agents, and even lawyers, have to make decisions about how to proceed with the detainment and punishment of criminals.

And their decisions have a base in ethics.

What separates the civil nations from the uncivil ones is how their governments treat their people.

In the United States, our government is run by the people and therefore must adhere to a strict set of rules regarding how prisoners or suspects are to be handled by the authorities.

Without ethics in criminal justice, people wouldn't get a fair trial, and a great number of innocent men and women would be sitting behind bars for the rest of their lives.

There are many people to whom ethics in criminology applies. Here's a look at just a few of them:

  • Judges
  • Lawyers
  • Police Officers
  • Federal Agents
  • Paralegals
  • Mediators
  • Private Investigators

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Code of Ethics in Criminal Justice

The code of professional ethics in criminology is an agreed upon set of values, rules, and directions with regards to how members of the criminology population do their jobs.

Without a set list of ethical 'rights' and 'wrongs', it would be impossible to enforce these values.

There are always ethical issues in criminal justice, with people misinterpreting this code (or redefining it to suit their purposes) to meet their own ends. But because we have it written down, members of the criminal justice system are able to debate at an academic level how the issue can be resolved.

Criminology is as 'black and white' as possible, but it still has its gray areas.

By upholding ethical issues in criminal justice, we are able to make sure what we're doing is as close to the right thing as humanly possible.

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