Ethics in Criminal Justice Research

Introduction to Ethics in Research

Ethics in research has always been a source of contention for some. What may be unethical for some, may not be for others. Ethics are not just important in one aspect of life, ethics are important in all areas of life. This is what governs society into decent behavior. While some acts may not be illegal, these acts can certainly be unethical, and that would be enough to remove the offender from the community that the individual was associated with. If someone is conducting medical research, and it was discovered which researcher used unethical means in which to get the desired results, that person could be expelled from the medical community, perhaps never to set foot in or around it ever again.

Ethics in research has had a long and varied past. However, criminal justice research is not limited to the behavioral aspects of a criminal; the research can also cover crime demographics, crime stats, basically anything that pertains to criminal justice can and is researched for better means and ideas (Laub, 2011). In society, there are laws that dictates most behavior, but ethics tend to cover more than just the legalities of one's professional behavior. And, while something's may be illegal, it may or may not be unethical, and vice versa. Society also uses those ethical rules to censure, assess, and understand laws. Ethics is what keeps the professional world honest.

A good way of also looking at defining ethics is that it is also a field of learning which studies those standards of conduct. As seen with a medical or social sciences ethicist, this is someone who studies ethical standards of medicine or the social sciences (Resnik, 2011). The criminal justice field has a standard of conduct, and anyone found violating those standards, as it is with any professional community, could be suspended or expelled from the community. The code of ethics for the criminal justice community extends to informing all those participating in the research that there could be some physical risks as well as some emotional risks. However, this is not true in every scenario. Most research could just be as minor as interviewing certain individuals for certain demographical research, such as updating crime stats.

Another ethical standpoint to remember is to avoid any invasions of privacy of the members participating in the studies. If the research is to be kept anonymous, even the researcher cannot know the individual's personal information (Fobbs, 2011). When those individuals in the criminal justice field is conducting research, the conduct must be kept honorable and reliable to ensure standards are adhered to at all times. Those doing the research must embrace confidentiality at all times, regardless of who may think the need to know extends past the researcher and the participant (Fobbs, 2011). The participant in the study or project has a right to know who will