What is the right behaviour? How should we live in order to live right? These are the crucial questions waiting for response from our society and those professionals that work in the criminal justice system. Usually these officers have to confront ethical dilemmas or ethical problems, keeping in mind the questions mentioned. My essay is dedicated to current theories related to ethics within the field of criminal justice. I will explain the Slippery Slope and its relationship to gratuities, theories such as Society-at-large hypothesis, Structure or Affiliation Hypothesis, Rotten Apple Hypothesis which are related to the public corruption.
What is the Slippery Slope theory in criminal justice? Slippery Slope is a hypothesis which claims that enforcement officials expect to get small gratuities for suiting community’s interests. Basically, Slippery Slope is the term for police corruption. This theory says that taking money or rewards begins from taking trivial things and police officers admit it. It is believed that if officers take small rewards it will undoubtedly lead them to other officers involved in corruption. “In other words, officers become desensitized to the moral implications of their acts, and the acts themselves become addictive” (Cyndi Banks, 2004). So, if a police officer takes a free cup of tea or coffee, then free meals from someone, he will most likely allow that person to park his or her car in a no parking zone, and that will be the Slippery Slope demonstration.
The Society-at-large hypothesis asserts that society may be responsible for corrupting police officers. It is known that this situation was faced in the Chicago Police Department because the community itself offered police officers small amounts of money as an exchange for protection or other services that officers could possibly provide.
The Structural or Affiliation hypothesis explains how recruits of police departments follow the examples of their seniors by approving corruption. Rookie police officers start their career with the strong sense of moral integrity, but, unfortunately, after they get accustomed to the job, such newcomers lose their good intentions and motivations. It is obvious that the reason why it happens lies within the authority of senior officers. It is rather difficult for recruits to stand out and be morally “pure” while others follow the ways of corruption.
The Rotten Apple hypothesis is the theory that some people, police officers in particular, are too spoiled. They may have experienced the bad influence during their childhood or got such a bad impact from their peers, etc. The police officer who corresponds to this theory may be involved in any kind of criminal activities, such as robbery, selling drugs, murder and others. Also, there is another thought as for the Rotten Apple hypothesis. It is said that this theory on corruption takes place when hired officials are not qualified enough for doing their job. Some critics say that this hypothesis does not recognize the social impact, it is too individual. So, the examples of this hypothesis are either weak individuals who give …