Running head: ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 1

Ethical Decision Making

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Ethical decision-making is the process in which one evaluates and chooses among

alternatives per ethical principles. When undertaking this process, it is important to perceive and

remove unethical options and choosing the most ethical alternative. The ethical decision-making

process requires three important virtues: commitment, consciousness, and competency.

Commitment. This is the aspiration to do what is right thing no matter the cost involved.

Consciousness. It is the consciousness of the need to be consistent in applying moral

values daily.

Competency. This is the ability to gather and evaluate information, formulate

alternatives, and anticipate future outcomes and risks.

A good decision is described to be both effective and ethical. An effective decision can

attain what we wanted to attain. Therefore, if a choice produces an unwanted result it is termed

ineffective. To come up with an effective decision, one has to think about choices that can

accomplish the most important goals. On the other hand, an ethical decision generates and

sustains trust by reflecting respect, responsibility, fairness, and caring and are congruent with

good citizenship. These virtues provide the ground rules for making better decisions.

To attain an ethical and effective decision, the following steps should be followed:

Gather the facts.

Before deriving a conclusion, you should assemble as many facts as possible even though

finding these facts may become difficult due to uncertainties surrounding the ethical issues. You

should clarify the assumptions made and separate them from facts.
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Define ethical issues.

You should identify and define the key ethical basis for the issue you are focusing on.

These issues may be multiples, hence the need to focus on one at a time then proceed to deriving

solutions

Identify the affected parties.

To come up with the best decision, one should try to look at issues from the perspective

of the affected individuals. This is only possible if you start by identifying all the stakeholders

involved, both primary and secondary. Primary stakeholders are those affected directly while

indirect stakeholders are affected indirectly.

Identify consequences.

After you have identified the affected parties, you should think about the possible

positive and negative impacts on them. You can focus more on the primary stakeholders for a

clearer analysis. Your decision is expected to be valid for both the long-term and short-term

impacts regardless of their magnitude.

Identify the relevant principles, rights, and justice issues.

The final decision is expected to accommodate principles and rights that are involved in

the situation under concern. You should take to account the created obligations due to ethical

principles present. You should also consider the obligations that are created due to the specific

rights of both primary and secondary stakeholders. The relevant concepts of justice or fairness

involved in the situation under concern should guide you into making a good ethical decision.
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Consider your character and integrity.

The kind of decision you formulate should conform with what relevant community

members expect from an individual of integrity. Take into account all the specific virtues

relevant in your situation and think about the impact of your decision and how it will be

remembered in the future days.

Think creatively about potential actions.

Try and come up with multiple solutions that are likely to satisfy most of the interests

concerning the primary parties. Don’t limit yourself as you may have unconsidered choices.

Check your gut.

It is always good to assess your character and ensure you are going to gain credibility

based on good decision-making.

Decide on your action plan and be prepared to respond to those who may oppose your

point of view. You should come up with compelling arguments to justify your position ethically.

Make sure your decision protects the rights of all the involved stakeholders while still

maximizing their overall good.

A decision-maker who intends to come up with an effective and ethical decision has to be

guided by some distinct components entailed in the decision-making process. These components

include;

Moral awareness.

This is the ability to recognize and value the ethical aspects in a decision that must be

made and the overall acknowledgment that a situation involves a moral issue. This awareness
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may come from a gut feeling that something is not right in a situation. Where a situation contains

ethical conflicts, an individual is likely to have disgust-like emotion or physiological response.

Moral decision-making.

A decision-maker must begin by interpreting a situation as moral and exit the situation

whenever his or her actions affect other morals. When faced with a moral dilemma, a decision-

maker should be able to identify which actions are likely to affect the welfare of others. The best

tactic to recognize this is by identifying the stakeholders, both primary and secondary, and

determining how your actions are going to affect them. Once the decision-maker is aware of

what actions are likely to affect others, he or she can now make a judgment on the course of

action that is morally justifiable. The decision-maker chooses the outcome that will provide the

best outcome while respecting the rights of the stakeholders and offer everyone what they

deserve.

After the decision-maker has settled on the best course of action, he or she must apply

ethical behavior and concentrate on taking the moral action (Rogerson, Mark D., et al., 2011 p.

614) The focus to take a moral action is what motivates a decision-maker to take the next step in

ethical decision making, and influences him or her to comply with ethical judgment when faced

by an ethical dilemma.

A decision maker’s intentions to act ethically in decision making are strongly determined

by his or her moral action to develop a superior ethical character.

Amoral decision-making.

The term amoral refers to knowledge of moral values but having no concern for them in a

situation. An amoral decision-maker does not show concern about his or her actions whether

they are morally right or wrong. Also, an amoral decision-maker can be aware of wrong and
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right actions but goes ahead and does wrong anyway then responds differently about it. In amoral

decision-making, the individual will not consider ethical issues in their decision-making process

as they believe general ethical norms are not suited in their area of concern.

Ethical issue in public safety.

Public safety refers to practices that involve safeguarding the public from crime,

tragedies, and other dangers that are likely to occur. In many nations, public safety responsibility

is dedicated to certain government organizations. These organizations may be security agents,

fire force, and more, and regardless of the role, their main goal is to prevent danger and ensure

the wellbeing of the communities. The public safety sector like any other sector involves ethical

issues and is occasionally faced with several ethical dilemmas. The law enforcement sector is a

good area to discuss the ethical issues in public safety.

Police officers are compelled and expected to observe the International Association of

Chiefs of Police’s code of ethics. This particular code of ethics often brings out ethical issues and

dilemmas affecting those who serve to uphold the rule of law. The emerging ethical issues in the

law enforcement sector are;

Off-Duty Life.

Every police officers are held to a precise high standard that dictates that their personal

lives must reflect the professionalism of their job. They are required to maintain a professional

image always as they are under strict public scrutiny. The public’s trust is a key item that they

rely on to maintain their power positions. Unlike most jobs, which stop when the employee is off

duty, police officers are constantly faced with an ethical dilemma of upholding their degree of
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social respect and submission to the law. This is what places them in direct conflict with

members of society and especially those who lack respect for the law.

Upholding the Law and your Rights.

It is a requirement for each officer to uphold and defend the constitutional rights of an

individual and this is ensured by swearing an oath. An officer is constantly faced with ethical

issues in upholding these oaths especially when they are contradictory. A good example is the

nation’s drug laws that force him or her to perform in the best interest of the state but not the

individual.

Necessary Force.

This is a particullar ethical issue likely to face each police officer and it sets their lives at

risk when handling non-compliant individuals. A good example is the modern-day Black Lives

Matter movement where the public is concerned over instances where police officers have used

unnecessary force. Every police officer is allowed by the law to use reasonable force when

enforcing the law but their usage of force cannot be justified in some cases. Therefore, a police

officer has a decision on the level of force to use, and a misjudgment could lead to losses.

Acting impartially.

Police officers are required to act impartially in all situations but this oath has resulted in

a series of problems. An example is where an officer knows the location of a drug house but he

or she lacks the court acceptable evidence required for him to pursue the case. The dilemma is
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that this police officer is required to follow ethics while enforcing the law but he or she is limited

to enforce the law through following the set procedures.

Profiling.

Modern-day society has incorrect assumptions and preconceptions that result in situations

of racial profiling on a daily basis. In the line of duty, a police officer has limited time to assess a

situation and cannot find time to analyze the society’s set belief directing his conscious behavior.
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References

C. "A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003." Citation classics from the

journal of business ethics (2013): 213-263.

Rogerson, Mark D., et al. "Nonrational processes in ethical decision making." American Psychologist 66.7

(2011): 614.