1. Criminal Justice 2011
Class Name,
Instructor Name
Date, Semester

2. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS
Approaches to ethics with less importance on
consequences
Three schools of thought
1.Kantian Ethics
2.Prima Facie Duties
3.Rights-Based Ethics
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3. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
KANT’S IMPERATIVES
• A hypothetical imperative is a command that
we ought to follow if we have certain desires
that we want to
• Categorical imperatives are absolute
commands that we should follow, period
• Conditional imperative is a moral principle
that we ought to respect others if we want
them to respect us
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4. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
MAXIMS AND UNIVERSAL LAWS
• Maxim - a moral rule we adhere to is
the maxim of the act
• Universal law - a rule that would be
followed by everyone, all of the time
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5. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
MORAL DUTIES &ABSOLUTE RULES
• KANTIAN ETHICS - our moral duty is to tell the
truth. It provides no guidance in the face of
conflicting duties
• Duties - obligations that we must do, both
positive and negative duties, no matter how
we feel, or how others might be affected
• Police have the MORAL duty to tell the truth
regardless of the outcome
Prima facie duties
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6. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
THE ROLE OF PRIMA FACIE DUTIES
• AKA Conditional duties
• Can be overridden by other duties
• A Brief List of Prima Facie Duties (Box
9.3)
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7. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
TYPES OF PRIMA FACIE DUTIES
• Duties from own previous acts
• Duties issuing from the previous acts of others
• Duties from an imbalance between
distribution of happiness and merit of people
concerned
• Duties from the notion that there are others
whose condition we can improve
• Duties that are not injuring
• Duties stemming from the fact that we can
improve our own condition
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8. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
NATURAL RIGHTS ETHICS
Natural rights refer to the notion that basic guarantees
exist and all people possess them simply by virtue of
being human
•Negative rights
•Positive rights
•Legal rights
•Moral rights
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9. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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MORALITY OF LEGAL PUNISHMENT
1. Disablement - commonly referred to as
incapacitation, prevents future crime by physically
disabling the offender
2. Specific Deterrence - prevents an offender from
committing future wrongdoings by instilling in her or
him fear of punitive consequences
3. Reform (rehabilitation) - makes a potential offender
afraid to commit them for fear of consequences
4. General deterrence - seeks to prevent crime by
deterring people “in general
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10. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
DEONTOLOGY & CRIMINAL
PUNISHMENT
• Incapacitation - we are using that offender to benefit
others
• Deterrence. Philosopher Hegel once wrote, “to base
justification of punishment on threat is to treat a man
like a dog instead of with freedom and respect due
to him as a man”
• Rehabilitation can be criticized as an attempt to mold
people into what we think they should be
• Kant - these violate respect for autonomy—we must
recognize that they are entitled to decide for
themselves what sort of people they wish to be
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11. © 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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MANDATORY SENTENCING LAWS
• Three-Strikes Law
• Are you in favor of this law?
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