ethical egoism

Ethical Egoism
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Ethical Egoism
Ethical egoism can be described as a moral doctrine upheld by people that dictates what they need to do to satisfy their interests. That is, people do something to gratify their self-regard. Egoism is chief in the criminal justice nowadays. It can be used to explain various actions undertaken by law enforcement officers. For instance, when a cop is running after an offender who is not obeying commands, and the officer shoots his leg, it is justified in accordance with the egoism theory (McCartney & Parent, 2017). Such an action does not taint the state or law enforcement in any way. It can further be used as a motivating force. Following this doctrine (ethical egoism) it becomes hard to charge police officers in a court of law for acting in their self-interest. Thus, this encourages law enforcement officers to act in self-interest since no legal actions can be undertaken. Similarly, it is through egoisms that police officers can recognize why people act the way they do. This helps the justice system to understand why criminals behave the way they do and comprehend that their actions are driven by egoism. The motives of criminals can be understood better since the police can view their intentions more skeptically than they would if they were not egocentric.
More often, law enforcement personnel need to observe proper ethics. However, this theory can cause law personnel to choose the wrong course of action and still not end up violating any policy.

When the justice system uses this theory to justify their actions, they end up abusing the trust bestowed on them by the public (Jennings, 2014). They may abuse authority and still use this theory to provide explanations for law enforcement misconduct. Due to the lack of punishment for wrong deeds, vices such as corruption, bribery, abuse of power can be rampant in the justice system. In this case, when officers are confronted, they will always argue on the grounds of the ethical egoism by acting on their interest rather than that of the citizens.
References
McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (2015). Ethics in Law Enforcement. Victoria, British Columbia: BCcampus. , 30(2), 2-123. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/
Jennings, R. (2014). Professional Practice & Ethics, 30(2), 2-18.