Ethical Dilemma: Morality, Ethics, and Human Behavior

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?