Exploring Ethics in the Justice System – Article Review Guidelines

Each student in this class will complete a written assignment; a critical review of a scholarly article[1] regarding ethics in the criminal or juvenile justice system.  Each student must locate an article that deals with one or more ethical issues in the criminal or juvenile justice system, describe the ethical issue(s) addressed by the article, explain the author’s ethical position and ethical frame of reference, and then analyze or discuss the issue from at least two different ethical perspectives. 

Developing the Ethics Report:

1. Pick an ethical topic or issue and locate a scholarly article or other source (see footnote below) that addresses the chosen issue. 

2. Read the article carefully (several times), and make notes about the following: 

Definition and description of the nature and extent of the ethical issue, 

Author’s source(s) of information about the ethical issue,  

How the author explains the problem or dilemma – what is the specific moral issue? 

How decisions are being made regarding this issue – what choices do people seem to be making, based on any evidence provided? 

What does the author recommend should be done to help with this ethical issue? 

3. Select at least two ethical perspectives covered in this course (e.g., ethical formalism, utilitarianism, religion, natural law, ethics of virtue, ethics of care), and discuss the issue from these two perspectives.  Do they provide a different or better perspective?  Do the ethical choices seem different based on the different perspectives? 

• 4. Conclude the paper by suggesting one or more types of action or specific actions that people faced with the particular dilemma should consider and suggest ways that we might improve our understanding of this issue. 
• [1] 1 For this assignment, “scholarly article” refers to an article published in a peer-reviewed journal or compilation of writings (or a book chapter, but not from the class text) that incorporates one or more of the following:  collection and analysis of data according to a research design and method that is described in the article; a comparative case study that includes multiple ethical issues or behaviors and that examines similarities, differences, trends, or patterns using an analytical method described in the article; or a published account of ethical issues or behaviors that includes a critical or comparative perspective.
• Format for Special Topic Report:
• Prepare typed reports.  They must be no less than 4 double spaced, typed pages, 1-inch margins on all sides, 12-point Times Roman font (or Arial 10-point font).  Include the following sections: 
• a. Cover page, including the title: “CJUS 3440 Ethics Report,” a subtitle indicating your topic, the date, and the following statement: “This paper is the original work of [student name].” 

b. Introduction – description, definitions, background information and statistics/data,  

c. Background – author(s) source(s) of information, the specific moral issue(s), decisions being made, author(s) perspective or recommendations,         

d. Analysis – assessment of the issue from at least two ethical systems, 

e. Summary and Conclusion – What choices do people have in the situation(s) discussed, and what do we need to study or learn to improve decision making in these situations? and