Deontological Ethics Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Deontological Ethics Case Study - Essay Example Company officials failed to map out civilian farms to be avoided despite the US Congress approving the discriminate use of harmful herbicides in the region (Lawson, 2001). As a result, approximately 10,000 natives of the region suffered from severe health complication. In addition, an immense loss of livestock and agricultural produce occurred. Dyncorp faced further disgrace in 2005 when allegations made by a whistleblower named Ben Johnston surfaced. He claimed that Dyncorp soldiers engaged in inhumane acts of trafficking, forceful prostitution with minors when on contract in Bosnia (Dowbenko, 2002). Deontological implications of the ethical problem A quick glance into the background of PMCs operating within the US indicates that these companies generate billions in their annual revenues; for example, Dyncorp’s revenues are about 3 billion yet it is a medium-sized company in this field (Dyncorp, 2012). Governments rely on the protection and military services offered by these firms when the country’s army has been deployed to attend to other pressing matters (Dyncorp, 2012). The running of these companies remains independent from the government because the stakeholders are private entities. The deontological implications of the ethical problem posed by Dyncorp revolve around the duty of the company to their clients and the people living within the affected region. Dyncorp’s duty to the government involved the company ensuring that the curtailing of drug production through the destruction of drug plantations (Dowbenko, 2007). Nonetheless, the company had a moral obligation to the inhabitants of the region to differentiate the drug plantations from the crop plantations. Disregarding their duty to the inhabitants of the region proves to be unethical and is an indication of poor corporate social responsibility policies (Lawson, 2001). Dyncorp disregarded the safety of human life led to the indiscriminate application of herbicides within the reg ion, therefore, defying different deontological principles (Dowbenko, 2002). The company’s incompetent actions fail to meet the standard set by the categorical imperative principle posited by Immanuel Kant (Stanford, 2007). The categorical imperative advances that an action or decision made ought to be universal in nature, meaning, it can be applied in similar circumstances because it qualifies as a universal rule or law. Negligent behavior is also wrong because it pays little regard to the concept of duty or moral obligation, which is the core concept of deontology ethics (Stanford, 2007). In addition, the company’s involvement in inhumane acts against underage children, in Bosnia, shows failure of the company to adhere to their moral obligations to their duties. a) Resolution of the problem; b)do you agree with the resolutions; c) Whether the problem was resolved consistent with the principles of deontological ethics Resolution of the problem involved efforts made by both the government and the company’s managerial board. The government imposed limitations on the jurisdiction of Dyncorp when serving in the capacity of hired soldiers when operating in foreign lands. The government also cautioned company officials to avoid negligent behavior when carrying out their services (Dowbenko, 2002). The US Department of Defense in 2005 drafted a proposal, which prohibited the involvement of military contractors in human trafficking, forced labor and prostitution (Dowbenko,

England's Policy of Transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

England's Policy of Transportation - Essay Example The rebellion in the colonies had made it impossible to use them as a penal colony and in 1788 England began to transport mass numbers of these criminals to Australia. This dark period in England's criminal justice history saw the transportation of 160,000 people to the continent (Sheehan, Miller, & Hudzik, n.d.). Many were children, some were elderly, and most had been convicted of only very minor offences. England's Policy of Transportation was a heinous immorality, unjustly perpetrated in an ineffective attempt to control England's lower class and their petty crimes. The harshness of Britain's reaction to crime is understandable as upper class citizens feared the pickpockets and thieves and demanded action from the government. However, to send any person, not to mention a child, across the sea with no hope of returning strips them of their last remaining possession, their cultural identity. The initial voyage contained 700 convicts whose number included a 9 year old boy convicted of stealing and an 82 year old woman caught lying under oath (Martz, 2000). These hapless passengers were thrown together with a brutal adult population to endure abuse and worse. According to Dunlop (1997),"All prisoners were treated alike, and conditions were harsh; appalling living conditions, disease, hunger, floggings and general neglect were prevalent and many convicts died en route or upon arrival." The severity of these actions were as appalling in the 16th century as they are today. Though men outnumbered women 6 to 1, women were often the target of criminal convictions in an effort to increase the female population in Australia (Martz, 2000). Innocent women could be convicted, not because of their crime, but because of their gender. Men in the new penal colony demanded wives and the British system was eager to provide them. Providing women to the penal colony was viewed as a method of adding stability to the system and many were forced into prostitution upon landing. Often, they would be taken prisoner by male inmates or sold into sexual slavery (Martz, 2000). The injustice of condemning a woman to a life of slavery for political convenience is seldom rivalled in modern history. The years of practising a Policy of Transportation did little to impact or reduce Britain's criminal population. The root causes of crime were poverty and a well-defined class structure. The failure to address these problems left the threat of transportation an impotent weapon on the war on crime. Though the horrors of a lifetime of banishment may have deterred some criminals to be less aggressive in their activity, the rising numbers eliminated any possible gain that deterrence might have. The relatively small numbers of violent criminals included in transportation verifies that the policy did little to correct England's crime problem. Sending women, children, or anyone else to a lifetime of banishment away from all they know is an immoral act when done in response to minor crimes against property. Sentencing them to a lifetime of misery and possible death was an injustice of vast proportions. Transporting women, unfairly convicted for the purpose of creating a class of sexual slaves, was inexcusable even in the context of the times. That it was an ineffective effort resulting from a war against the lower class residents of the slums