Correctional officers face ongoing challenges in their work. Their task is to carry out their duties efficiently, but it takes work. In their work, they need to respect moral and ethical norms for every person. However, staff members sometimes do not adhere to these rules and experience operational problems as a result. Ethical challenges commit workers to social justice, and focusing on the financial side creates issues that can be solved by treating people morally.
A definition of ethics is needed to begin an analysis of the challenges faced by correctional institutions. In this sphere of activity, these norms relate to the psychological component and material. Summing up these two domains, one can say that the ethical obligation for employees is “helping to guarantee social justice at their institutions” (Garth-James, 2022, p. 3). This applies to ensuring social justice in interpersonal matters and treating each person equally. Thus, it is justice that can be put to the test of correctional institutions if the employee performs their work in bad faith.
Correctional institutions are often accused of linking ethics with money. Staff members are interested in making a profit, which causes credibility problems. Focusing only on financial incentives for punishment undermines the institution’s reputation and raises ethical concerns (Montes, 2020). Moral issues should be relevant to every staff member; otherwise, it could lead to negative consequences. An institution may lose credibility and face problems of non-compliance with ethics.
Despite possible difficulties, it is possible to avoid the test of ethical non-compliance. To achieve this, staff should focus on other aspects rather than finance. For example, employees may treat people serving a sentence equally morally (Coverdale, 2021). It should also consider the financial sphere, which should not affect the attitude of staff members towards subordinates and their work in general. Thus, by complying with these rules, the issue of prison trials can be resolved.
In conclusion, moral and ethical issues do remain relevant for correctional institutions. The staff member’s task should be to ensure fairness, but that rule was sometimes violated. As a result, it may increase mistrust among employees and people in general. However, to avoid the appearance of such a reputation, employees can remedy the situation by respecting ethical equality. Correctional institutions can remove potential problems and accusations that tarnish their status by treating people selflessly and morally alike.
References
Coverdale, H. B. (2021). Caring and the prison in philosophy, policy and practice: Under lock and key. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 38(3), 415–430.
Garth-James, K. (2022). Ethical considerations and reimaging state corrections: Education and work partnerships for offenders return to home and community. International Journal on Social and Education Sciences, 4(1), 1–16.
Montes, A. N. (2020). Ethical concerns about private (and public) corrections: Extending the focus beyond profit- making and the delegation of punishment. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 31(4), 609–630.