Reflection Paper On Moral Disengagement

When someone is making an ethical decision they are going through a process of making this decision based on their moral principles. Ethics are principles of behaviour that inform people how to act in certain situations are based on one’s environment

My ethics have been formed over a lifetime of experiences. Because of these experiences and my personal beliefs, I use my rationality to decide what my duties are. I believe that each individual is independently responsible for their own morals. This corresponds with my personal preferred lens which is rights and responsibility. When faced with adversity, I use my practical nature to determine the best course of action. I want to ensure I have examined all angles and outcomes prior to making a

A number of factors prevent us from recognizing ethical issues. We may not factor ethical considerations into our typical ways of thinking or mental models.4 We may be reluctant to use moral terminology (values, justice, right, wrong) to describe our decisions because we want to avoid controversy or believe that keeping silent will make us appear strong and capable.5 We may even deceive ourselves into thinking that we are acting morally when we are clearly not, a process called ethical fading. The moral aspects of a decision fade into the background if we use euphemisms to disguise unethical behavior, numb our consciences through repeated misbehavior, blame others, and claim that only we know the “truth.”6 Fortunately, we can take steps to enhance our ethical sensitivity (and the sensitivity of our fellow leaders and followers) by doing the following:

The issue of ethical decision making has become more important in recent years for a variety of reasons. An understanding of ethical decision making in organizations is more significant to the development of organizational science. Managers engage in decision-making behavior affecting the lives and well-being of others. The individual responds to an ethical dilemma with cognitions determined by his or her cognitive moral development stage.

It is important to understand that ethics is not equal to personal emotions. Therefore, ethical decision making should be void of personal feelings. Moreover, an ethical action is that which protects and respect the moral perspectives of those affected. Indeed, ethical approaches help to determine the standards of behavior that constitute a common good for the human

Multiple studies have found that students are spending less time on their academic studies leading to a decrease in education and an increase in temptation of academic dishonesty.  Cheating has been prevalent since mankind existed, but writer William Chace gives his outlook on the issue in his article, “A Question of Honor”. Chace is able to use adequate reasoning to engage the reader in an article that depicts perspectives from every angle. Included within the article are a sense of sympathy, through explanations and even a proposed solution of how to end academic dishonesty.

Actions and inactions all have moral implications; they are either right or wrong depending on the individual and what s/he believes or feels is right or wrong. Each person’s conduct can and does have implications and ramifications. For every action there is an equal and/or opposite reaction not only for the average person but also for professionals; especially in the area of law enforcement, criminal justice, and criminal procedure. Just discussed is known as moral philosophy.

In Ruggiero’s book, Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues, he explains that there are three basic criteria for making ethical decision and aiding in moral actions. A moral action is, “one that demonstrates respect for persons by honoring the relevant obligations and ideals and by producing favorable consequences.” (Ruggiero, 81) The three basic criteria are obligations, the moral ideals and consequences. Ruggiero believes that when making a decision, one should first understand the details. Second, one needs to understand the obligations, the moral ideal and the consequences of his or her action. We will furthermore go into each criterion

Individual ethics refer to the ability to differentiate what is right from what is wrong. This may entail personal values, norms and beliefs. The influence of individual beliefs and values as well as the values of the coworkers has a great impact on an individual’s decision making (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2006). While some organizations encourage their employees to come up with ethical choices, other organizations lead to promotion of immoral conduct within their employees. There is an assumption that many people make choices which are grounded on their personal values and beliefs. According to social scientists, there are various factors that influence ethical decision making, and individual factors are among the significant factors to consider.

An ethical dilemma is an incident that causes us to question how we should react based on our beliefs. A decision needs to be made between right and wrong. I have experienced many ethical dilemmas in my lifetime, so I know that there is no such thing as an ethical dilemma that only affects one person. I also know that some ethical dilemmas are easier to resolve than others are. The easy ones are the ones in which we can make decisions on the spot. For example, if a cashier gives me too much change, I can immediately make a decision to either return the money or keep it. Based on Kant’s, categorical imperative there are two criteria for determining moral right and wrong. First, there is universalizability, which states, “the person’s

When an individual is proposed with a moral dilemma they will often seek the advice of others rather than acting solely upon their immediate cultural, familial, and cognitive predispositions; suggesting that judgments are also made about the moral judgments of others (Rest, Cooper, Coder, Masanz & Anderson, 1974).

Making consistently ethical decisions is difficult. Most decisions have to be made in the context of economic, professional and social pressures, which can sometimes challenge our ethical goals and conceal or confuse the moral issues. In addition, making ethical choices is complex because in many situations there are a multitude of competing interests and values. Other times, crucial facts are unknown or ambiguous. Since many actions are likely to benefit some people at the expense of others, the decision maker must prioritize competing moral claims and must be proficient at predicting the likely consequences of various choices. An ethical person often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows.

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,

Many questions as to why students decide to preform acts of unethical behaviors have been posed. The most common reasons students resort to the unethical behaviors mentioned above, are because of objective parameters of academic life, such as; difficulty of the course, or not enough time to prepare. While on the other hand, the least common reasons are related to subjective factors, such as, the teacher’s leniency or the importance of scoring a good grade. (Iorga & Romedeac, 2013)

While looking at Ethics, we can see the direct correlation and relationship that it has on our decision making. Ethics ties in the assumption that one has moral knowledge. This thought is produced to support the notion that one’s moralistic values directly influence the knowledge or perception on knowledge. Moral obligation is thought to require some form of action, again bringing in the notion that one’s moral belief system plays a huge part in the shaping of their conclusions. A conclusion can be defined by a judgement or decision reached by reasoning, bringing in the thought that this could possibly be a contemplative decision. There are so many ethical implications that support ones