Ethical Theories, Public Safety, and Social Problems

Question

How would you address ethical theories and apply them in relation to public

safety organizations and social problems? Take into consideration some of

the social problems that affect the public safety agencies.

Discuss the implications of the media, public safety, and ethical

organizational conduct. Does the media exploit or under-report public

safety issues as they relate to ethical conduct? Is the media part of a

larger social problem? Use current or high-profile press releases and or

journals to support your ideas.

Answer

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The issue of right and wrong has been continually studied for a long time. The study of right and wrong is often referred to as the science of ethics. It is the science that explicitly explains our process of valuation, which is always embedded in our individual personalities as well as our collective culture. Sometimes, people prefer simplifying ethics by using the term ‘honesty’, or merely the phrase ‘doing the right thing’. However, for purposes of academics, it is much more complex than this. For the rest of humanity, these simple terms may be sufficient for purposes of understanding the meaning of ethics in our day to day lives.

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Ethical theories are applicable in both public safety and social problems. For instance, for a public safety dispatcher, a matter pertaining to ethics can pop up during the performance of any activity. In other words, every turn that the public safety dispatcher makes has the potential to raise an ethical issue. It is unlikely that in such a circumstance, there will be consensus on the right course of action to take. However, integrity, honesty, and reliability are always a cornerstone of any profession that relates to public safety.

            Two of the most dominant ethical theories that scholars have assessed in great detail are ethical egoism and moral absolutism. Ethical egoists hold the view that each of us ought to look only at the consequences that have a direct effect on us. In their eyes, every individual should perform only those actions that make the greatest contribution to his own self-interest. In other words, an individual is the best judge of his own self-interest, and he is responsible for ensuring that he maximizes this self-interest. In the political arena, ethical egoism is expressed in libertarianism.

            Ethical egoism can be applied to public safety scenarios, whereby the person responsible for public safety ensures that his safety comes first. Those public safety workers who risk their lives may be said to be going against the arguments of ethical egoism. Public safety works would ordinarily be expected to mind their own safety first before they can reach out and ensure that other people are safe.

However, ethical egoism has its critics too. The ethical theory has repeatedly been criticized on the basis that it only draws the circle of morality that is very closely around an isolated individual. This theory may be applied selectively in the spelling out of the code of conduct among public safety officers. Obviously, it is impossible to center all standard operating procedures closely on the individual public safety officer. Such procedures would create the impression that the officer is not committed to ensuring public safety by all possible means.

            The second commonly referred-to ethical theory is moral absolutism. Moral relativists always maintain that all moral disagreements arise from the fact that something that is right for one person is not necessarily right for the other person. In other words, morality is simply like beauty, which is always purely relative to the specific beholder. It is not possible for an ultimate standard to exist in terms of the perspectives that ought to be judged. No one is wrong, and that everyone is always right in his own sphere.

Moral absolutism can be applied in the social problems that arise in the process of executing duties relating to public safety. The ethical theory is a perfect reprieve for public safety officers who may find themselves under criticism for undertaking actions that other people consider unethical. Public safety officers who work in cultural contexts that are different from their own may frequently find themselves warding off criticism by drawing attention to their own perspective of the world as they perceive it through their culture. The best ethical theory undertaking this task is moral absolutism.

Moral egoism may attract scrutiny by the media into the action of an employee. The media may gain interest in knowing the ways in which the code of ethics and standard operating procedure differs from the views of the employees (O’neill, 2009). On a negative note, both ethical egoism and moral absolutism may be misused by lazy and undedicated public safety officers, who may argue that their interests and points of view should always come before those of the organization as well as the people whose public safety they are safeguarding (Ward, 2009). The media is not without criticism, either. Sometimes, the media people jump into harsh conclusions without paying attention to a public officer’s circumstances or the dictates of the standards operating procedures that he is expected by his employer to adhere to.

References

O’neill, O. (2009) Applied Ethics: Naturalism, Normativity and Public Policy, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 26(3), 219–230.

Ward, T. (2009) Human Rights, Ethical Principles, and Standards in Forensic Psychology, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(2), 126-144.