Question

You are an eyewitness to a crime: A man has robbed a bank, but instead of keeping the money for himself, he donates it to a poor orphanage that can now afford to feed, clothe and care for its children. You know who committed the crime. If you go to the authorities with the information, there's a good chance the money will be returned to the bank, leaving a lot of kids in need. What do you do? Apply the concept of 'Ethical Decision Making Process' to act in the above situation by applying four steps.

Answer 1

Answer:

The following steps in Ethical Decision Making Process would be adopted:

1. State the problem, and determine facts.

The problem here is stealing to finance the poor in the society (orphanage). The available facts are: A man robbed a bank and donates the money to the poor, the motives behind this is unknown since he didn't steal for his purse. It is not good to make assumptions so as to arrive at a good decision.

2. Check the ethical issues to be solved in the problem.

The ethical issue is stealing which conflicts with a society's moral principles.  But, the positive is giving to the poor which is good the source of the money is however illegal.

3. Take a closer look at those affected.

The robber, the bank, poor orphanage, the society as a whole would be affected by my decisions.

4. Identify all decisions that you could take, their consequences, and make a decision.

Any decision I take would affect the robber who might be jailed and the orphans could lose the money or the Bank would remain affected, some bankers might be affected depending on the law and how the crime happened, and I would lose my good ethical values and breach the law if I should remain silent.

I would report to the authorities this would be a good decision because:

i. The bank would be saved.

ii. It could increase greater ethical values in the society.

iii. That's the right thing to do because irrespective of the good motive of a crime that doesn't remove the crime committed.

iv. The poor orphanage could receive financial support from people in the society.

Explanation:

Ethical decision-making gives one the freedom of choosing the right ethical principles among several other ethical principles. The goal is to make one do the right thing, stand for the right thing regardless of the risk, and to be consistent in applying great moral values that are consistent with good citizenship.

The 'Ethical Decision Making Process' steps to apply in the situation mentioned above include:

1. State the problem, and determine facts.

2. Check the ethical issues to be solved in the problem.

3. Take a closer look at those affected.

4. Identify all decisions that you could take and their consequences.

5. Apply the Ethical principles to the options.

6. Make a decision.