Situation 1
You are a correctional officer working the late-night shift. Your sergeant and another officer from the day shift come onto the tier where you are working and ask you to open an inmate’s cell. After you do so, they enter the cell. Then you hear a series of grunts, cries, and moans. They leave, muttering about how the inmate has been taught a lesson. You believe that you have been a party to an assault, but you say nothing. The next night you find out that the inmate did not report the incident, nor did any other inmate. You believe that if you come forward and report what you saw, you will be severely ostracized. You may not be believed (especially if the inmate doesn’t back you up), You might even lose your job. What would you do?
Situation 2
You are taking an essay exam in a college classroom. The test is closed book and closed notes, yet you look up and see that the person sitting next to you has hidden under his blue book a piece of paper filled with notes, which he is using to answer some questions. What would you do? Would your answer change if the test was graded on a curve? What is the student were a friend? What would you do if the student was flunking the course and was going to lose the scholarship he needed to stay in school? What about a situation of plagiarism? Would you turn in a student if you knew he or she had turned in a plagiarized paper? Why or why not? If someone cheats in school, isn’t it likely that he or she will be less honest as a criminal justice professional?
