Nelken, D. (2009). Comparative criminal justice: Beyond ethnocentrism and relativism. European Journal of Criminology, 6(4), 291-311.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How can the study of comparative criminal justice avoid the opposite dangers of ethnocentrism and relativism?
2. Why do the authors argue that more attention needs to be given to understanding how other criminal justice systems produce prison rates?
3. What might we learn from examining how other nation's policy makers respond to problems in their own prison systems?

Schneider, J. L. (2006). Professional codes of ethics: Their role and implications for international research. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 22(2), 173-192.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How does a researcher know which ethical constructs they must conduct their research within?
2. How do U.S. ethical standards differ from other nation's standards?
3. What suggestions do the authors provide on doing international research that will withstand ethical scrutiny?

Haag, A. M. (2006). Ethical dilemmas faced by correctional psychologists in Canada. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(1), 93-109.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are some of the ethical issues that are unique to the correctional environment?
2. Which three of the four principles of the Canadian Psychological Association's ethics guide is this article arranged around?  Why is this distinction important?
3. What ethical issues might be unique to a correctional psychologist compared to a police officer on the street?

Withrow, B. L. & Dailey, J. D. (2004). A model of circumstantial corruptibility. Police Quarterly, 7(2), 159-178.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are the various theories of police corruption as explained by the article?
2. Why does the author argue that insufficient attention has been given to gratuities as a form of police corruption?   Do you agree with the author?  Why or why not?
3. What are some of the different policy recommendations that go along with the author's proposed model?  Do you think these recommendations will be effective?  Why or why not?

Maher, T. M. (2003). Police sexual misconduct: Officers' perceptions of its extent and causality. Criminal Justice Review, 28(2), 355-381.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are officer's general feelings about serious forms of sexual misconduct by fellow officers?  Do they agree this behavior should be dealt with in a certain way?
2. How might sexual misconduct issues be fostered in part by the police subculture?
3. What valuable information do the author's say has been gained from respondent's answers in regards to the development and adoption of formal anti-sexual misconduct policies?

Peak, K. J., Stitt, B. G., & Glensor, R. W. (1998). Ethical considerations in community policing and problem solving. Police Quarterly, 1(3), 19-34.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is moral theory and how does it apply to ethic in criminal justice?
2. Explain the importance and relevance of the relationship between community-oriented policing and ethics.
3. How might the ethical dilemmas police officers face be different under a community-oriented policing strategy vs. a more traditional police-community relationship?

Michael J. Leiber, M. J., Mack , K. Y., & Featherstone, R. A. (2009). Family structure, family processes, economic factors, and delinquency: Similarities and differences by race and ethnicity. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 7(2), 79-99.  doi: 10.1177/1541204008327144

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What theories of delinquency do the authors test that suggest that delinquency is related to family structure and economic factors?
2. What associations did the authors find in regard to maternal attachment versus family structure itself?
3. To what extent do similarities and differences exist for Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics in regards to family structure and economic factors and delinquency?

***

Baker, D. V. (2008). Black female executions in historical context. Criminal Justice Review, 33(1), 64-88.  doi: 10.1177/0734016808316782

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is the most consistent factor in Black female executions throughout the U.S.?
2. How has the racialized sexism of American criminal justice affected Black women yet today?
3. What was one of the crude measures of the prevalence of White rape of slave women?

***

Feld, B. (1999). A funny thing happened on the way to the centenary: Social structure, race and the transformation of the juvenile court. Punishment & Society, 1(2), 187-214. doi: 10.1177/14624749922227775

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Why does the author say that the originally rehabilitative philosophy of the juvenile court has gradually been supplanted by a more legalistic and punitive approach to delinquency?
2. How are the dual purposes of the juvenile justice system, of social welfare and law enforcement, inherently contradictory?
3. What is the ultimate result of all these changes?

Schoenfeld, H. (2005). Violated trust: Conceptualizing prosecutorial misconduct. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(3), 250-271.  doi: 10.1177/1043986205278722

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Why does the author argue that systematic analyses of prosecutorial misconduct need to be conducted?
2. How does the structure of the trust relationship create motivation and opportunities for misconduct?
3. What does the theoretical explanation of prosecutorial misconduct that the author proposes look like?

***

Cohen, N. J. (2001). Nonlawyer judges and the professionalization of justice: Should an endangered species be preserved? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 17(1), 19-36.  doi:  10.1177/1043986201017001003

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is the history of nonlawyer judging in the United States and how prevalent is it?
2. According to the author, what are some of the drawbacks to having a nonlawyer judge on a case?
3. According to the author, what is the future of nonlawyer judges?

***

Belbot, B. A. (1991). Whistleblowing and lawyers. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 7(3), 154-166.  doi:  10.1177/104398629100700302

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Why is it virtually impossible for an attorney to "blow the whistle" on a corporate client or employee?
2. Why are attorney-client privilege and client confidentiality so important?

Martin, M. E. ((2006). Restoring justice through community policing: The northern Ireland case. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 17(3), 314-329.  doi:  10.1177/0887403405284736

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are the central dilemmas and opportunities inherent in transforming police within communities in conflict?
2. How was community policing successfully adopted in connection with the peace agreement between the UK and the Republic of Ireland in 1998?

***

Bader, C.J., Desmond, S.A., Mencken, F.C., & Johnson, B.R. (2010). Divine justice: The relationship between images of God and attitudes toward criminal punishment. Criminal Justice Review, 35(1), 90-106.doi: 10.1177/0734016809360329

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How have views of God influenced sentiments regarding criminal punishment?
2. How do individuals who have angry and judgmental images of God view criminal punishment and the death penalty?
3. How do individuals with images of God as loving and engaged in the world view criminal punishment?

***

Daly, K. (2002). Restorative justice: The real story. Punishment & Society, 4(1), 55-79. doi: 10.1177/14624740222228464

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What does the author argue are “myths”' about restorative justice?
2. How does the real story of restorative justice differ greatly from advocates' mythical true story?
3. Is the political future of restorative justice better secured by telling the mythical true story or the real story?

Souryal, S. S. (2009). Deterring corruption by prison personnel: A principle-based perspective. The Prison Journal, 89(1), 21-45.  doi:  10.1177/0032885508329979

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is Professor Souryal's proposal for creating a "civil" prison environment which he theorizes will lead to lower rates of corruption by correctional personnel?
2. What are some of the corruption "indicators" of which the prison management group should be aware?
3. What sorts of anti-corruption programs does the author suggest?

***

Stohr, M. K., Hemmens, C., Kifer, M., & Schoeler, M. (2000). We know it, we just have to do it: Perceptions of ethical work in prisons and jails. The Prison Journal, 80(2), 126-150. doi: 10.1177/0032885500080002002

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What do the authors claim that the existing criminal justice ethics literature concentrates primarily on at this time?
2. What findings did the authors report on their effort to quantify the degree to which staff agree and disagree in their perceptions of ethical choices?
3.  Who scored higher on the ethics summary variable?  Why might this be important?

***

Reisig, M. D. & Pratt, T. C. (2000). The ethics of correctional privatization: A critical examination of the delegation of coercive authority. The Prison Journal, 80(2), 210-222. doi: 10.1177/0032885500080002005

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How do the author's attempt to examine the ethnical question of whether or not the government should delegate coercive authority to private entities?
2. According to Hobbes and Rawls, where does society's authority to use coercive force (punishment) come from?
3. Ultimately, what do the author's decide in regards to the question of how much, if any, coercive authority the government should delegate to private entities?

Myers, D. L. (2003). Adult crime, adult time: Punishing violent youth in the adult criminal justice system. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(2), 173-197.  doi: 10.1177/1541204002250878

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What sorts of statistics do the authors measure on juveniles in their research reported in the article?
2. How do the author's findings force us to reconsider the purposes and wisdom of a widespread approach to juvenile transfers to adult court?
3. What have previous studies found in regards to juvenile transfer to adult court?

***

Miller, M. (1995). Covert participant observation: Reconsidering the least used method. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 11(2), 97-105.  doi: 10.1177/104398629501100202

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is covert participant observation in Criminal Justice?
2. What are some of the pros and cons of this type of research?

***

Gibbs, J. P. (1998). Toward theories about criminal justice. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 4(1), 20-36.  doi: 10.1177/104398628800400103

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What sorts of theories do the authors argue we should promote?
2. What are the three major questions the author claims must be addressed by theorists as part of the study of criminal justice?
3. What are some of the possible policy implications of the theories that the author explores?

Gross, O. (2007). Torture and an ethics of responsibility. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 3(1), 35-54. doi: 10.1177/1743872107073236

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is the difference between absolutists and relativists in terms of the use of torture?
2. What is the new approach that the author proposes?
3. Based on this new approach that the author proposes, when would torture be appropriate?

***

Bellamy, A. J. (2005). Is the war on terror just? International Relations, 19(3), 275-296.  doi: 10.1177/0047117805055407

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are the three perspectives on the ethics of war as applied to former President Bush's declared war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001, attack on the U.S.?
2. What is the Just War tradition?
3. Does the war on terror as conceived by the Bush administration satisfy the "just war" tests?

***

Crelinsten, R. D. (2003).  The world of torture: A constructed reality. Theoretical Criminology, 7(3), 293-318.  doi: 10.1177/13624806030073003

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How is a torture-sustaining reality is constructed (causes)?
2. How is a torture-sustaining reality maintained and institutionalized (consequences)?
3. How can a torture-sustaining reality dismantled or deconstructed (cures)?
4. How can a torture-sustaining reality be prevented from forming in the first place (prevention, early warning)?

Ben-Yehuda, N. (2005). Terror, Media, and Moral Boundaries. Sociology, 46(1-2), 33-53. doi: 10.1177/13624806030073003

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How is the process of presenting terror characterized in the media?
2. What are the two modes of terror?
3. How has the rhetoric used by the media in their presentation of terror become a central issue today?

***

Biressi, A. & Nunn, H. (2003). Video justice: Crimes of violence in social/media. Space and Culture, 6(3), 276-291.  doi: 10.1177/1206331203251659

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are some of the important ethical and political questions raised by these new technologies?
2. How do these new technologies and genres inform and shape the public's real and imaginary relationship with the law and its executives?
3. What stories do these new technologies tell about crime, fear, and social order?
4. How do these technologies affect the previously established divisions between public and private space?

***

Proctor, J.L., Badzinski, D.M., & Johnson, M. (2002). The Impact of Media on Knowledge and Perceptions of Megan's Law. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 13(4), 356-379. doi: 10.1177/088740302237804

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is Megan's Law?
2. What does the survey data reveal regarding the knowledge of Megan's Law?
3. How does media exposure affect support for Megan's Law?
4. Is community notification an across-the-board popular policy, even among people with minimal media exposure and who pay little attention to crime in the news?

Part II: The Application of Ethical Theories to the Criminal Justice System

Begley, A. M. (2008). Guilty but good: Defending voluntary active euthanasia from a virtue perspective. Nursing Ethics, 15(4), 434-445.  doi: 10.1177/0969733008090514.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How does the author challenge the assumption that killing is necessarily vicious in all circumstances?
2. What conclusions does the author reach in regards moving more towards virtue ethics in regards to euthanasia?

***

Williams, P. T. (1996). To kill or not to kill: A question of wartime ethics. Nursing Ethics, 3(2), 150-156. doi: 10.1177/096973309600300207

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What were the ethical issues the author had to face that he discussed in this article?
2. Explain how utilitarian and deontological principles are applied to these ethical questions?
3. How would the author address this ethical situation if faced with it again?

Helgeland, I. M. (2005). "Catch 22" of research ethics: Ethical dilemmas in follow-up studies of marginal groups. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(4), 549-569. doi: 10.1177/1077800405276770

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What was the author's ethical dilemma in this article?
2. Ultimately, do you think the author should strictly follow a certain research protocol intended to ensure the privacy of the subjects, or to violate the requirement for the greater good of obtaining the necessary data which might produce significant results with public health implications?
3. What does the author conclude about research guidelines?

***

Lascher, E. L. (2004). September 11 victims, random events, and the ethics of compensation. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(3), 281-294.  doi: 10.1177/0002764204268986

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What do you think about the moral question of whether or not government should have compensated the victims of September 11, to the exclusion of victims of other terrorist acts and even natural disasters?
2. Explain the concepts of moral hazard, risk management, and adverse selection.
3. What principles do the author offer for determining when the government should provide direct reimbursement to victims for losses incurred?

Fowers, B. J. (2003). Reason and human finitude: In praise of practical wisdom. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(4), 415-426.  doi: 10.1177/0002764203256947

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What is Aristotle's concept of phronesis?
2. How is Aristotle's notion of practical wisdom applicable to actors in the criminal justice system?
3. What are the  three components of practical wisdom?

***

Buchanan, D., Khoshnood, K., Stopka, T., Shaw, S., Santilices, C. & Singer, M. (2002). Ethical dilemmas created by the criminalization of status behaviors: Case examples from ethnographic field research with injection drug users. Health Education & Behavior, 29(1), 30-42. doi: 10.1177/109019810202900105

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are the seven ethical dilemmas the authors encountered during their research?
2. Why do the authors argue that virtue ethics provides a better mode of analysis to resolve these dilemmas than traditional Kantian and utilitarian moral theories?

***

Holland, K. M. (1980). Socrates – the first criminal justice educator. Criminal Justice Review, 5(2), 1-4. doi: 10.1177/073401688000500202

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are Socrates' views on the preferred content of educational programs for criminal justice professionals?
2. Should criminal justice educators focus on narrow, task-oriented training or broad, liberal arts focused education?
3. Do guardians receive theological training according to Socrates?

Simon, C. A. and Nice, D. C. (1997). Stoicism: Relevant applications for contemporary public administration.The American Review of Public Administration, 27(2): 168-180. doi: 10.1177/027507409702700204

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are the elements of stoicism?
2. How can the elements of stoicism ameliorate the pressures on bureaucrats during times of limited resources, highly contentious and stressful environments, and high levels of uncertainty?
3. Why should their ideas be of interest to both scholars and practitioners?

***

Brunius, T. (1958). Jeremy Bentham's moral calculus. Acta Sociologica, 3, 73-85. doi: 10.1177/000169935800300107

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are some of the critiques that have been leveled at Bentham's utilitarian theory?
2. Why might engaging in the rational calculus Bentham proposes impede action?
3. What does the author conclude about developing a means such as Bentham's utilitarian calculus?

Budde, K. (2007). Rawls on Kant: Is Rawls a Kantian or Kant a Rawlsian? European Journal of Political Theory, 6(3), 339-358.  doi: 10.1177/1474885107077321

Questions that apply to this article:

1. How does the author challenges Rawls' claim that his theory of justice is Kantian in nature?
2. What is the author's ultimate conclusion, after making a sophisticated argument, as to whether or not Kant is, in fact, Rawlsian?

***

Batson, C. D., Lishner, D. A., Carpenter, A., Dulin, L., Harjusola-Webb, S., Stocks, E. L., Gale, S., Hassan, O., & Sampat, B. (2003). "... As you would have them do unto you": Does imagining yourself in the other's place stimulate moral action? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(9), 1190-1201.  doi: 10.1177/0146167203254600

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Do people engage in more moral behavior when they are told to imagine themselves in another's place?
2. Do people engage in more moral behavior when they are told to  imagine what the other person's feelings are in a given situation?
3. What are the implications of the results of this research?

Williams, C. R. (2008).  Compassion, suffering and the self: A moral psychology of social justice. Current Sociology, 56(1), 5-24.  doi: DOI: 10.1177/0011392107084376

Questions that apply to this article:

1. According to the author, why might we need to significantly alter our personal and collective "value frameworks?"
2. What are two impediments to compassion that are explored by the author in the article?
3. Is the virtue of compassion as a crucial component of the struggle for social justice and human flourishing?

***

Spader, D. J. (2002). The morality of justice and the morality of care: Are there distinct moral orientations for males and females? Criminal Justice Review, 27(1), 66-88. doi: 10.1177/073401680202700105

Questions that apply to this article:

1. In what ways does the author argue that Gilligan's theory is questionable in many respects?
2. How might a morality of caring be applied to criminal justice?
3. Do males and females possess different orientations toward ethics?
4. What is the difference between Gilligan's "morality of care" compared to the traditional "morality of justice" approach that has dominated moral and political philosophy for the past two centuries?

***

Miller, Joan G. (1994). Cultural diversity in the morality of caring: Individually oriented versus duty-based interpersonal moral codes.  Cross-Cultural Research, 28(1), 3-39. doi: 10.1177/106939719402800101

Questions that apply to this article:

1. According to the author, what is difference between the morality of caring in American culture versus Indian Hindu culture?
2. What does the author argue that culture is critical to the question of whether justice or caring is given moral precedence by persons in any given society?
3. What are the implications of the alternative interpersonal moral codes the author discusses?