You are a new corrections officer with minimal experience working in a maximum-security prison and happen to overhear a conversation between two other correction officers. The two officers are planning to physically assault an inmate who brutally attacked a fellow guard which put him into the hospital. The inmate has a history of violence and has attacked officers in the past. You have also heard rumors that the two officers have a history of brutality against prisoners. They have apparently gone unpunished because it is rumored the prison administrators condone their actions or at least look the other way. You have been warned to keep your distance from these officers. If you inform on the officers you risk being ostracized by other prison guards and prison administrators. Informing on them could damage or end your career before it begins. The two officers might even physically attack you for informing on them. Should you tell prison administrators what you know or should you keep your mouth shut.

Critical Thinking:

Maintain and open mind.

Evaluate the facts on both sides of the issue and identify those that are relevant.

Identify the precise moral question to be answered.

Apply Aristotle's Virtue Ethics, Bentham's and Mill's Utilitarianism (Consequentialism) and Kant's Duty and Reason (Non-consequentialism) to the moral question based upon an objective evaluation of the facts.

Draw a conclusion.

NOTE: Organize your paper according to four headings: 1) Relevant Facts; 2) Precise Moral Question; 3) Application of Ethical Theories; and 4) Conclusion.