Case Study-Ethical Decisions Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

-Ethical Decisions - Case Study Example As Crank (2003, pp. 329-331) points out, the first point of ethical formalism is that one should act in such a way that the behavior could be considered as universal. Now it becomes evident that it is not possible for Robert to further relax the parole criteria as he is convinced that further relaxation will result in the release of potentially dangerous criminals. So a further relaxation is not the right way because releasing dangerous criminals in order to empty correctional facilities is not a universally acceptable principle. The second principle is that one should not treat others as a means to an end. In this particular case it becomes evident that Robert and his parole board are being utilized by the government as a means to an end, thus, the act is unethical; the government tries to reduce overcrowding in prisons by forcing Robert to take unethical steps. If Robert decides to relax parole criteria trying to empty prisons, he will use the general public as a means to meet his own end. It is obviously so because in the case of further relaxation of the parole criteria the safety of public is compromised. The third principle is that one is free to choose how to behave and his autonomous behavior is to be independently judged on basis of Ethics and Moral Codes. In this case one can see that Robert will not decide to relax parole criteria if he takes a decision independently as he is sure that such a step will negatively affect public safety. So an autonomous action in this case would result in a decision not to relax the criteria. Admittedly, the responsibility of the parole board is to make judgments about the suitability of prisoners for their coming back to society. If this is the...Thus, the benefits of taking a decision to release inmates for community-based work on the ground of security guess work are plenty. First of all, it satisfies the existing security officers as they feel that William can protect their security and dignity. That means they wil l not take unnecessary leaves because of the perceived threat for their lives; firstly, due to the reduced inmate population and, secondly, due to th...