Free Johnny Jones and the Undercover Unit Essay Sample
Ethical dilemmas face people in different professions and in all sorts of situations. An ethical dilemma is a situation where a person is faced with choices that may challenge his ethical principles or the choice of which may jeopardize crucial elements of one’s life. This being the case, people must act rationally at all times when faced with ethical dilemmas such that emotions do not get a chance to influence one’s choice, thereby making the wrong choice in an ethical dilemma.
In the case study, there are several ethical dilemmas that require solutions of different magnitudes.One major ethical dilemma in the case study affects Johnny’s family life. A family gives the basic support required for better performance at work in any profession. Family problems always trickle down to one’s work as they affect people’s emotions and ability to think rationally. Johnny may be very successful but his success may be affected by his problems with his wife. The dilemma Johnny faces is whether to disregard his superiors call to duty impromptu at the expense of his family or to prioritize his work at the detriment of his family. Moreover, the working hours denies Johnny ample time with his family, which appears like family neglect.
This ethical dilemma is not totally due to working conditions. Johnny has contributed to his family problem by choosing to go for evening drinks with colleagues after evening shifts. In this cases Johnny can choose to go home and compensate his absence with his family, but opts to go out with co-workers for drinking. A new supervisor can create personal social profiles and reviews of officers both at work. This exercise can help in identifying signs of social problems since such problems may interfere with officers’ performance of duty. Moreover, the supervisor can review the duty shifts from time to time to allow officers enough time with their families. For officers on leave or off-duty, they should only be called to work when the situation s very critical. The supervisor can also organize for special forums where families of officers can meet and share experiences. In such occasions, counselors can be co-opted to help the families to psychologically adapt to the working conditions of the heads of their families. Disagreements with his wife regarding his long working hours have made Johnny to avoid going home after work. He has occasionally spent time at Tony’s place. This is avoiding the problem since his absence worsens his relationship with his family. A new supervisor should try to flex working hours for officers, especially those with families so that they are able to attend to their family duties accordingly.
In a criminal justice system, honesty is a highly valued virtue and ensures that there is transparency in the procedures of ensuring justice as well as fairness in delivering justice. Officers in a justice system should carry out their duties in a manner likely to create a good image and credibility in the eyes of the general public being served by the system. Johnny exhibited lack of honesty in his duty when he agreed to attest that Tony had paid an informant $50 for the part she had played in assisting the officers to make progress in a drug case. Though Johnny had not witnessed the transaction between Tony and the inform ant, he signed that the transaction had taken place just to be on the good side with his friend. Johnny was faced with an ethical dilemma of whether to agree to attest t the usage of $50 on an informant and refusing to acknowledge any knowledge of the transaction. Obvious reasons that made Johnny to sign the receipt for the informant could be the fact that Tony was the one who took him through the System when he was transferred there. Moreover, they had worked together for a while and got acquainted with each other, thus Johnny signed the receipt as a gesture of their friendship. However, despite all these factors, honesty was supposed to prevail because it defined the ethical standards of the institution. A new supervise would be required to display the highest level of honesty and transparency so that his leadership would be through example. In addition, the virtue of honesty should be incorporated in the culture of the department such that it is talked about on regular basis. This way, its importance is kept alive in the minds of the officers thus increasing its likely adoption.
Another ethical dilemma facing Johnny is his inability to attend church. He had been devoted to church before he was taken to the narcotics department. The values he acquired there may have contributed to his ability to restrain from drinking alcohol excessively. This dilemma may be a contributing problem to his marital problems because the drinking may inhibit his ability to perform his duties as a husband and a father.
Other work related activities have hindered Johnny’s execution of duties at home. For instance, he is unable to attend the compound and the lawns since he attends weightlifting sessions with colleagues at work. This has not gone well with his wife who, due to frustration has hired a person to do the job on behalf f Johnny. At this point, Johnny is faced with another ethical dilemma. He has to make a choice between attending weightlifting sessions and attending to the lawns. The importance of his physical fitness cannot be downplayed, given the condition of his work. He must be physically fit so that he can be able to attentively conduct surveillance and make difficult and strenuous arrests. On the other hand, his family duties form a supportive pillar for his work as an officer and cannot be taken lightly. This ethical dilemma can be solved by Johnny through alternation of weightlifting sessions and attendance to lawns at home. This way he may strike a balance between his work and family.
Johnny’s challenge of management decisions and policies is an ethical issue that can affect the working conditions of all the employees. In many professions, dissatisfaction is bound to happen due to the diversity of people and their preferences. However, the dissatisfaction should be ethically addressed to avoid worsening of the situation. Johnny should act ethically by following the right channel to express his grievances. Talking openly in the midst of his colleagues may be deemed as incitement that may lead to legal action and even sacking from work. A new supervisor to this department can avoid such disagreements from being aired openly by creating a forum where queries are professionally addressed in the most open way.