Ethical Behavior in Criminal Justice

Ethical Behavior in Criminal Justice

Introduction

A criminal justice system consists of the social and legal institutions that enforce the criminal law in confirmation to the defined procedures, limitations and rules. In the U.S, there are separate state, military and federal criminal justice systems. Each of the states has separate systems for juveniles and adults. This system also consist of subsystems which comprises of either one or more of the public institutions and their staff members which include police and agencies responsible for enforcing laws (Wiener, 1997).

In criminal justice organizations, managers tend to implement ethical code of conduct in the work environment and manage workforce accordingly. The responsibility even lies on appellate and trial courts, public and prosecution defender offices; parole and probation agencies; custodial institutions and departments responsible for all the functions. The key players of a criminal justice system comprises of both private and public actors such as private defense attorneys, bail bondsmen, defendants, private agencies who offers supervision, treatment or assistance to the criminals (Sampson, 2001). The report describes the details of how managers imply ethics and promote ethical behavior in the workplace.

Discussion

Effective leadership must occur within the bounds of personal ethics and organizational values. There is the milieu from which effective leadership emerges. Leadership outside personal ethics compromises the leader. Leadership outside organizational values will be rejected. Neither will be last. Leadership within these bounds will be moral and ethical, provided the leader and organization are such. Northouse states people “long for bona fide leadership they can trust and for leaders who are honest and good,” in describing the rise of authentic leadership. Personal ethics and organizational values provide a foundation for authentic leadership.

Effective leadership includes three dominant elements: decision-making, communication, and action. The three are cyclical and should be linked by reflection (arrow between elements). Reflection allows for internal and external evaluation.

First, decision-making is critical to effective leadership. Vision comes to bear within this element. Quality visions draw upon organizational culture and values to increase the impact of a leader's direction for the organization's future. A leader must draw upon a vision applied to the organizational environment to make decisions influencing the organization's future (Donaldson, 2005). A vision of criminal justice organizations must be aligned with code of ethics and must be implemented with clear ethical principles and follow fair treatment of employees.

Second, a leader must communicate those decisions for the organization. In following the model, reflection (arrow) should occur before communicating a decision. This reflection should occur evaluating the strengths of the leader and the organizational culture. If possible, communication should be framed positively. Inspirational communication, defined as “the expression of positive and encouraging messages about the organization, and statements that build motivation and confidence,” had a positive relationship with employees' affective commitment to the organization and employee self-efficacy. This element includes team building as effective communication gathers support within the organization and gets everyone on the same page. Even, if individuals do not agree with a decision, effective communication ...