CJA 324 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Ethical Scrapbook Project

CJA 324 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Ethical Scrapbook Project

· Locate three contemporary examples in each of the following categories for a total of 12 examples:

o Good Samaritan conduct or random acts of kindness

o Acts of vigilantism – violating the law to enforce the law

o Acts of civil disobedience – violating the law to change the law

o Three criminal acts committed by professionals in the course of their employment other than criminal justice professionals in which the defendant was believed to have violated the ethical standards of his or her profession.

· Assemble your 12 examples according to their category and in a visually appealing manner. For each example, provide a summary, a graphic illustration, and a properly formatted reference.

· Review all 12 examples and individually answer the following questions:

o Do you think the individual made the best decision possible given the circumstances?

o Could you see yourself acting similarly in similar circumstances?

· Compare your individual responses to the questions above as a team:

o For which examples were all team members in agreement?

o Which examples generated disagreement?

o Discuss what the disagreement reflects in terms of personal value systems.

· Consider the following values: Friendship, Power, Altruism, Health, Recognition, Independence, Honesty, Religion, Beauty, Justice, Success, Wealth, Creativity, Knowledge, Wisdom, Family, Duty, Love, Loyalty, Inner Peace, Pleasure, Challenge, Safety, Risk, and Patriotism.

· Select three values that you value the most, and select three values that are least important to you.

· Compare your individual selections and agree on the three values most important to your team. Identify the three values that are least important.

· Identify as a team the value that the person committing the act (actor) appears to consider most important for each example included in your scrapbook.

· Identify the value that the actor appears to consider the least important.

· Compare each of the actor’s value systems with your individual and team value systems. In what way are they similar? In what way are they different?

· Discuss and answer the following questions as team:

o Should all jurisdictions have a Good Samaritan law requiring an individual to help another if they are able? Explain why. What have you done that would be considered acting as a Good Samaritan? Have you ever failed to act when an individual needed help?

o Should vigilantism be permitted when the criminal justice system fails? Explain why. Under what circumstances might you violate the law to enforce the law?

o Historically, in your opinion, has civil disobedience been effective in changing the law? Explain why. What laws do you disagree with or would consider violating to change? Explain.

o What conditions exist in the various professions, other than criminal justice professions, that contribute to the commission of unethical behavior? Consider the business and corporate sectors, medical professions, religious authorities, retail establishments, construction industry, insurance industry, banking, education, professional sports, research, pharmaceutical companies, and politics. Do you believe that American society as a whole is predisposed to ethical or unethical behavior? What may be done to reduce ethical violations among professionals?

· Write a 1,750- to 2,450-word paper in which you summarize your individual and team responses to the questions.

· Format your scrapbook and paper consistent with APA guidelines.