An individual evaluates whether an act is right or wrong based on his/her perception of morality. This perception is generally shaped by family and cultural beliefs, education, and governmental constraints. However the beliefs acquired from the family in the process of growing up, the core values taught in schools, and the laws passed by government defining what is legally right or not, do not always coincide with each other.This leaves some people in a quandary as to what should constitute right and wrong especially when confronted with ambiguous circumstances. Because of this, some quarters strove to come up with methods of measuring the ethical awareness of individuals in an effort to help them better understand their ethical perspectives.
The “Ethics Awareness Inventory” is one such method. After completing the “Ethics Awareness Inventory,” my highest combined score was a 9 which appeared under the category obligation.It was followed by a zero for the core value character, then a negative four (-4) under results and finally, bringing up the rear was a negative five (-5) under the category equity. According to the explanation which accompanied my scoring summary, being the category with the highest combined score, obligation appears to be the most likely basis for my ethical perspective while results and equity are my least likely bases. The rather lopsided result of my ethics inventory heavily favors the core value obligation.The accompanying interpretation suggests (correctly) that my singular inclination is to consider whether an act is ethically right or wrong based on the moral obligation of an individual – in other words, what a morally, reasonable person “ought” to do given a set of circumstances.
As further interpreted, also in agreement with my personal experience, conscience plays a rather important part in my ethical perspective because I am inclined to disregard results in favor of individuals’ intents and purposes.That is to say, ethics for me is choosing the actions which would satisfy the dictates of my conscience after determining the rules that I am prepared to follow. (Ethics Awareness Inventory, 2003) Since I actually believe that the cornerstone of morality should be respect for human dignity, I would like to argue that when rules are formulated, the intent should not be just to benefit society as a whole even to the detriment of some sectors or individuals.Rather, I prefer that rules, in the process of promoting the goals of society, should also respect and uphold basic individual rights and privileges granted by the constitution. Hence, I cannot enforce with enthusiasm a ruling even if it is for the good of society if a certain type of individual or groups of individuals are discriminated against, depriving them of the opportunities accorded by law. (Ethics Awareness Inventory, 2003)My ethical perspective has been initially shaped by my parents as I was growing up, reinforced by my schoolteachers, and completed by the training which I undertook to qualify as an officer of the federal prisons system.
As a corrections officer, I am a very willing practitioner of the Code of Ethics subscribed to by the American Correctional Association (ACA) because some of the principles embodied therein express my ethical perspective, specifically principles 1, 2, and 14.Principle #1 of the ACA Code of Ethics declares that: “Members shall respect and protect the civil and legal rights of all individuals. ” This is followed by principle #2: “Members shall treat every professional situation with concern for the welfare of the individuals involved and with no intent to personal gain. ” Finally, principle #14 requires that “Members shall refrain from discriminating against any individual because of race, gender, creed, national origin, religious affiliation, age, disability, or any other type of prohibited discrimination. (American Correctional Association, 1994)The result of my inventory enabled me to crystallize my ethical perspective. I now find myself in a better position to define what is morally right and wrong based on my strongest core value – obligation.
From hereon, I am confident that I would not be overwhelmed by any “ethical dilemma” that would come my way because in such situations my newly-acquired ethical awareness will always show me which option to take.
