Standards of Individual Moral Behavior and Institutional Ethics

Law Essay
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Law Essay
Shanks and colleagues (2010) claim that ethics is a concept that heavily relies on logical right and wrong values that suggest whatever human beings should do or how they should act in various contexts. Ethical standards can cause influence depending on different levels or perspectives. Specifically, the standards can affect persons or institutions. The essay looks into personal moral behavior, institutional ethics standards, and the existing differences. Moreover, the paper will explore how ethics and integrity concepts relate to public trust.
Differences in the Individual Moral Behavior and Institutional Ethics Standards
           Personal moral behavior and institutional ethics have differing standards. Different individuals with different personalities possess or showcase different moral standards at personal levels. Morals are the existing standards or values of behavior that allow individuals to live in their respective societies. These are what the larger community perceives as appropriate and acceptable. Some persons usually behave morally and adhere to the societal guidelines as expected. However, some individuals chose to go against moral standards. For instance, an employee working in an organization may fail to conform to the ethical standards required by the organization. On the other hand, institutional ethics, also called social ethics, refers to the specific echo of the social and community systems' moral dimensions. Every institution should sustain an exceptional moral profile to get the credibility and maintain a good relationship with all the stakeholders, including developing a sustainable institutional image ("Journal USA, 2022"). The policing and security departments must follow institutional ethical standards when dealing with citizens displaying undesirable moral behaviors. On the other hand, unwanted personal moral behavior must be punishable by law.
           Police officers are law enforcers expected to adhere to institutional ethical standards as they serve the nation. They have an essential role in maintaining democracy. Therefore, citizens develop faith in the police officers and grant them policing authority for them to reside in a secure environment. In some scenarios, they allow the professionals to investigate, arrest, detain citizens, and legally employ physical force. Therefore, it implies that the individuals must remain professional in their duties while being guided by the standards required by the police departments. Also, the departments' role is to ascertain that the officers comply with the set ethical standards. Whenever it does not happen, the trust amongst the citizens diminishes, affecting effective democratic services to the individuals ("Journal USA, 2022"). This is where individual moral behavior disrupti...