Moral Virtue and Moral Vice

Having moral virtue is basically describing someone’s character trait and how they behave in certain situations. A person who can be described as having moral virtue will possess traits such as honestly, integrity, humility and self- respect to name a few. They are caring people who strive and choose to act out of moral goodness. They will act with good intentions, choose the right course of action to provide good consequences. Moral virtue are not only tendencies to act a certain way but people who possess these traits also think, feel, believe and desire to do good.

Possessing moral vices is just the opposite of possessing moral virtue. Moral vices can be described as character traits where people act in an indifferent or harmful fashion. People who possess these traits act with “negative emotions” and in ways where they are indifferent toward or that harm oneself and/or others. Vices interfere with our capacity to be moral and dispose us toward harm rather than morally desirable behavior.

In reference to CJ professionals, police officers, probation/parole officers and lawyers, I would argue the most typical type of characters you will see are:

Moral Virtue

Integrity, courage, responsibility, trustworthiness and open-mindedness. These professions should include these character traits. All of these professionals took an oath in some form of manner and these titles alone come with a level of accountability. First responders must act with integrity and be trusted to carry out responsibilities the public demands. They must display courage to handle situations that most people would run from and when conducting their duties they must not be bias and base decisions on facts while remaining open-minded.

Moral Vices

Arrogance, laziness, insincerity, intolerance and rudeness are some vices I would argue are most typical. The fact of merely being employed for these professions brings a lot of confidence. Over time, I think at some point confidence leads to being arrogant. Officer’s deal with so many situations where they are the authority causes this trait which also leads to insincerity, intolerance and rudeness. Professionals who are subjected to a negative situation or environment on a continuous basis lose empathy and just want to clear the call or case. This can also lead to laziness. Where the officers once went above and beyond to handle a situation now are looking for the easiest way to get out of it or resolve it without considering possibilities of future effects.

CJ Professionals: Honestly, Justice, Tactfulness, Compassion and Responsibility. These traits are moral virtues for this profession. They must be honest when building a case and abide by the law when seeking justice. They display tactfulness in presenting evidence and have compassion for their victims and cause. There actions or inactions will always be viewed, they have a duty to serve and carry a large amount of responsibility.

Police, Probation and Parole: These moral virtues were covered under my Moral Virtue heading where I was describing these professions.

Lawyers: Arrogance, selfishness, dishonestly, insincerity and greed. To be fair when I think about lawyers I think about defense attorneys and professional experiences. In my experience any good defense lawyer will be filled with arrogance. I think this is a tool they use to make their clients feel confident in their abilities. They have been known to be dishonest when it comes to presenting cases. When displaying these moral vices it’s hard for me to believe they can be sincere about any of their work which is usually driven by monetary gain that promotes selfishness and greed.

Ideal or desirable traits:

CJ Professionals and Police /Parole have already been listed.

Lawyers- Honestly, unselfishness, compassion, sincerity and trustworthiness. I think these would be great traits for lawyers. To have an honest lawyer who displays compassion and sincerity for their cases would promote trustworthiness and confidence in their abilities. An unselfish lawyer would care about a case and its true cause. They would carry more respect in their field and bring a better reputation to their chosen career.

Reference

Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice

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