Morality Is Culturally Dependent : What May Be Moral?

Ethics are the principals that build an individual’s character and integrity. It is the code of conduct that a person lives by; it is the way that a person conducts themselves when no one is around. Stealing, lying, and cheating are wrong, yet every day in the workplace these issues occur. Growing competition lends to the need for people to do what they can to get ahead and stay ahead. Ethics are pushed to the side as people try to gain power or to stay out of trouble, all at the risk of tarnishing their character. This same mindset has spilled over into Academia. A student’s desire to successfully earn a degree by any means necessary has caused educational institutions to address these ethical issues by setting policies in place to combat academic dishonesty.

As defined by the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Academic Integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia. This includes values such as avoidance of cheating or plagiarism; maintenance of academic standards; honesty and rigor in research and academic publishing. Many believe academic integrity to be a strong, pervasive and understood rule when going to Universities and Community Colleges across the globe; however, in the recent decades, abiding to the rules and policies to uphold academic integrity has slowly become more problematic for students across the board. Thesis?

I believe that the best approach to political culture is the moralistic culture because it best reflects the common ideologies of the United States, benefits the common interest of the people, and is a selfless means of government. The United States is based off of a common belief that all people are created equal and therefore should have equal opportunity. Moralistic culture focuses on the common good of the people, where as the individualistic approach is every man for themselves. In the individualistic approach the government is solely focused on the minimal amount of help it can give to its citizens. Moralistic government is the most beneficial form of government for the people. The politicians focus on what is best for state as a whole,

Chace askes how does cheating become accepted? Part of the answer is the type of wrong it is. “When one compares it to a violation of copyright which is punishable in a court of law, cheating in college is only morally and ethically wrong.” (Chace, W.M., 25) Even Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. doctoral thesis at Boston University was full of words from other authors and copied down section upon section in great abundance. (Chace, W.M., 25)

suggests that on a global scale, unique societies fail to share the same evaluative language when

Prior to completing the Academic Integrity Program, I thought academic integrity was as simple “not cheating.” I considered it a policy solely implemented to ensure that students learned the material. To me, cheating was mostly plagiarism, or trying to pass off someone else’s work as your own. It was not until I completed the program that I began to understand the long-term effects of cheating on the peers, the professor, and the institution. Now, I understand that cheating affects not just me, but also the other students in my courses and the university’s reputation. I also understand the reasoning behind the university’s strict policies regarding academic integrity violations, as they are in place to protect the student, the classmates,

Academic ethics are the moral codes or the shared standards of an academic enterprise and the core of its success (Occidental College, 2016). Basically, academic ethics require each student, to be honest, responsible, fair, respectful, give credit where it is due, turn in their original work, and etc. (Michigan State University, n.d.). Academic integrity requires students to do their own work without unauthorized help from others, cheating, lying, plagiarizing, and stealing (Valdosta State University, 2016). Academic integrity is important because it shows that the student is trustworthy and honest enough to do his or her own work, whether someone is looking or not. “Learning how to express original ideas, cite sources, work independently, and report results accurately and honestly are skills that carry students beyond their academic careers” (Michigan State University, n.d., para. 2).

Moral Relativism is generally used to describe the differences among various cultures that influence their morality and ethics. According to James Rachels, because of moral relativism there typically is no right and wrong and briefly states : “Different cultures have different moral codes.” (Rachels, 18) Various cultures perceive right and wrong differently. What is considered right in one society could be considered wrong in another, but altogether all cultures have some values in common.

Academic Integrity is significant to the University because we came to school to not only learn education but to learn moral things for the future. Education is very important, but if we do not obtain moral concept we could hardly follow the right path when we graduate from school to be a crew of society; therefore, University should educate people who disobeyed the rule of Academic Integrity and correct their behavior.

America has been deemed, and has always been, a ‘melting pot’ cultures, and with this mixing of very diverse cultures comes many different morals, ideals, and ethics. It is important to realize,

Firstly, education on ethics can help to prevent academic dishonesty such as cheating. Prohaska (2012) states that students will be encouraged to behave ethically if teachers emphasize on the connection between their academic development and ethical behavior in school. By explaining the consequences of academic misconducts, students will always be reminded that their self-image will be affected if they behave dishonestly (Prohaska, 2012). In this way, students will abide by the rules and are less likely to commit an offense, for instance,

Technology is rapidly evolving and changing, and as a result of the increasing availability and propagation of several forms of technology, academic dishonesty cases in every college and university have greatly multiplied and become a global issue. The issue on cheating behaviors in students is so pervasive and uncontrollable that it is almost considered as commonplace (Arhin & Jones, 2009). One of the hardest challenges for educators is knowing how and when to discipline their students. In the given scenario, there are several issues to take into account; the first and foremost being the issue of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is defined by the Webster dictionary as the intentional participation in deceptive practices regarding one’s academic work or the work of another (Faucher & Caves, 2009). Jones (2011) states that many institutions of higher education have adopted academic dishonesty policies, instituted academic integrity tutorial completion prerequisites for next term registration, and acquired plagiarism software detection tools. They go on to say that within the past few years, high-tech cheating is gradually replacing the simple cut-and-paste cheating, and educators must be proactive and develop instructional strategies that integrate all facets of appropriate digital citizenship, that is, digital ethics. By implementing these academic dishonesty and integrity policies and making them attainable to

Currently, there are cases of cheating and secret use of unwanted written materials during exam times. They portray unpreparedness and laziness on the part of a student. It is unethical since it does not show faithfulness and integrity in studies. Teaching from this material helps me to be dependable and not to be morally disengaged because of diffusion of responsibility. Unethical conduct can be attributed to the behavior of a particular group. The teaching is important to me because I have learned on how to be responsible for my actions and to act ethically even at a student level. The practice of morals at a young age will help me to remain ethical even at old age.

Academic dishonesty is another facet of unethical behaviour. It is an action or attempt that results in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or a disadvantage for any other member of academic community. A child uses his or her experiences in society to shape personal ethics. Family has a strong influence on one's values and behaviour,parents establish rules from the start and it becomes the basis for our ethics and morals. A personal ethical commitment is part of what makes students a success. A lack of ethical commitment will always result in acdemic failure. I personally believe that students who are academically dishonest cheat themselves out of an education and harm their fellow students by screwing the grading curve for the class as a whole. Therefore academic ethics are vital and students should commit themselves to maintaining highest personal ethical standards.

The point of this conflict is that even within our own society, there is a