PART I: SHORT ESSAY
1. Briefly describe the notions of reciprocity and indirect reciprocity and their role in motivating moral behavior. Illustrate your response with an example from criminal justice.
2. Briefly describe what is meant by the term, "human universal," providing at least two examples.
3. Briefly discuss the notion of a "fair" social contract, utilizing your response to critically assess inequalities of race, class, and gender that are common in the contemporary United States.
4. Define and briefly explore the notion of strong reciprocity, including some consideration for the role of altruistic punishment.
5. Briefly discuss what is meant by a "reversible solution."
6. Briefly discuss what is implied by the notion of "moral development."
7. Briefly summarize Kohlberg's three levels of moral development, illustrating your answer where appropriate.
8. What is psychological egoism? How is it related to ethical egoism? Discuss several ways in which both psychological and ethical egoism might influence the perceptions, choices, and/or behaviors of persons working within the criminal justice system.
PART II: CASE STUDY
Review the following videos that you viewed in the Lecture Notes.
• Death Penalty Focus
• Innocence Project
• View YouTube video "Death Penalty, Luxury Penalties, & False Convictions (The Point) By "Townsquare" (54:58 minutes)
Complete the following tasks:
Watch the video and review the websites regarding the death penalty and wrongful convictions. Based on your research and the information contained in this video on websites, write a case study/research paper being sure to address the following questions and include additional information you feel is relevant and will add value to your submission. Remember to include correct APA format with a cover page, reference page, and in text citations. Your case study/research paper should be at least 3 pages in length.
1. What is the difference between Absolute Divine Command Theory and Moderate Divine Command Theory? Is there a role for religion in settling disputes within criminal justice? In what ways might religion be used for rehabilitative practices?
2. Read the case, "Criminal Informants and the Prisoner's Dilemma" (Box 6.2, pg. 105). Answer the questions and provide your reasoning.
3. To the best of your ability, indicate which of Kohlberg's stages of moral development might best explain the moral reasoning involved in:
a. Executing convicted murders to serve vengeance
b. Executing convicted murders to protect the public from further harm.
4. To the best of your ability, indicate how the ethical dilemma of Speeding versus not speeding might be resolved based on each stage of Kohlberg's model of moral development (use Table 7.1 on page 123 as a guide).
5. Have your personal beliefs on the death penalty and wrongful convictions change or been influenced by the video and websites? If so, how? If not, why not?
6. How do you think the death penalty is impacted by the desire to behave ethically and morally? Do you think those carrying out death convictions suffer any damaging consequences to their mental health? What if they are forced to execute someone that they firmly believe is innocent?
7. After watching the video and reviewing the websites, what can be done in the criminal justice system to improve the odds of an innocent person being convicted and sentenced to die?
8. Additional thoughts on this topic in general?