Ethics Review of Scenario 1
Opinions about the Professor
1. Ethical problems
The professor who uses this information to write his book is conducting an unethical act.
This is because the professor is misusing his duty as a professor to gather information that is necessary to produce literature. This is not different from infringing the rights of individuals who have copyrighted their material (Kraska, Peter & William 12). The duty of the professor is to lecture the students and not to take advantage of students by using information that he gains from the students to publish his work. The professor abuses the students psychologically. This is because after the students went through a stressful condition of doing research, the professor uses the efforts of the students to produce his work.
2. Reaction
The lecturer also deceives the students into performing a research that he would have otherwise done himself. The professor also exposes the students to legal harm. This means that if the students discover that the professor lied to them the students may never be willing to do any assignment that the professor gives them (Bachman, Ronet & Russell 34). The student would feel that their professor has used them for his own personal gains. The professor would also publish his works through deception. In any case the professor, is triumphant in bringing the book to the public; it would not be genuine since the professor would have deceived the public and himself too. Deception is often not a preferable means for the professor to produce his work. The professor who uses deception ought to get informed consent and debrief his students if possible. The professor ought to tell the students that he was doing some research so that each student would be accredited for his participation. The professor also infringes the rights to privacy of the students. This is because the information that the students gives the professor is private.
Even if, people are being studied, they are always not aware of what the researcher might be looking for. In some situations, privacy of individuals is under the protection by the law. The professor should protect the privacy by not revealing the identity of participants after information is collected. This takes form in two ways, which is confidentiality and anonymity. Anonymity means that people should remain anonymous or nameless.
Even if, there is no possibility of anonymity, the professor ought to protect the confidentiality. This means that the professor holds information that is confidential to the students. If the professor is to use the information that he gets from the students, he is supposed to inform the students. Confidentiality may protect students from physical harm. This is because if the professor uses the student’s names in his research, the students may be exposed by some danger.
3. What should be done to encourage ethical conduct
There ought to be codes of ethics in crime and justice research. The code of ethics should state that improper and proper behavior represents ethics on professionals. All the researchers may not concur with ethical issues and rules of ethics, but the researchers ought to support ethical values as part of their relationship in a professional society. Codes of ethics do more than offering guidance and codifying thinking. The codes also help institutions to defend ethical research against abuse (Pepper, John & Carol 26).
There should also be policies for research. Social sciences are expected to practice their own professional judgment in implementing and designing ethical studies. Professionals ought to follow the code of ethics and any violation of the ethics codes would be put under investigation, and there would be punishment for those who violate the law. Institutions should have the power to discipline or punish those who violate the ethics code of conducts.
A number of people have heard about academic freedom, but few people understand what it entails. Academic freedom is the existence of open and unrestrictive atmosphere for a free exchange of information and ideas. In the open democratic nations, numerous people value the freedom of the intellects and the belief in offering liberty from intrusion. The idea is based on that a free flow of information needs the unbiased knowledge and liberty of expression. Academic freedom represents the essentials for uncompromised research.
There should also be the control of funding through politics. This is because when funds are allocated by the government, it is always has some research priorities and questions. The studies of crime and justice expend vast amount of research and intellectual energy on the topic. Funding that is politically funded should be weighed against the risk of loss of distance and abandoning issues that run away from the current policies.
Works Cited
Bachman, Ronet, and Russell K. Schutt. The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal
Justice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press, 2003. Print.
Kraska, Peter B, and William L. Neuman. Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods.
Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2008. Print.
Pepper, John, and Carol Petrie. Measurement Problems in Criminal Justice Research: Workshop
Summary. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press, 2003. Internet resource
