Ethical dilemmas
| Reason for your decision | Why is it important for you? | Why is it important for you? |
| To ensure that my colleague got justice | It would make me happier to know that I saved someone who was innocent. | Failure to save him would leave me with a feeling of guilt |
| To ensure that those who were planning evil against my colleague got justice for their action | Living with them would arouse fear in me | Getting them reprimanded for their mistakes would help me feel safer. I would stop fearing that they will do the same to others in the organization including myself |
| To free myself. I would feel pressurized to work with people for whom I would always be required to keep a secret. | Their being reprimanded would mean that I would stop being accountable to them. | There was a chance that they would be changed to better persons in the society |
| To help correct the guilty persons | Protecting the lives of wrong doers prevents them from changing for the better. | It would be sad to have a friend deteriorate in terms of discipline and manners because I cannot take action. |
| To participate in creation of a more just society | I feel there is always a need for every one of us to participate in the creation of a more just society. If any one of us failed, the society would have failed, the society would have failed and would be required to live with the consequences | The consequences of living in a society in which I am guilty of helping in the creation of is an unforgivable act. |
The dilemma involves either choosing to hide the acts of an evil friend or protecting an innocent person. I believe that my decision to tell the truth would be mostly affected by my self respect. The decision would be highly charged by the fact that I would not want to be associated with supporting the wrong doers at the expense of someone who was innocent. People who have a high self esteem are more likely to be ethical (Bucaro 2013; Cohen, 2007; ; Bellamy, 2008). Such people put the risk involved in obtaining justice behind the justice itself. They feel that their decision is vital for the way a case goes and therefore opt to make the most positive contribution towards it. However, other factors would also play a part in my choosing to take action to save my colleague.
First, I would feel guilty of facilitating wrong doing to take place. The very act of making it possible for evidence to be declared sufficiently incriminating as to warrant someone who is innocent to be declared guilty would be very hard to live with. Compared to allowing people who are guilty to be arrested would count far lesser compared to that even if they were very close friends.
In conclusion, the need to do the right thing, probably in the face of society can make me make an ethical decision. Some people would be more comfortable protecting their friendship or their own security. However, I would trust the justice system to protect, the society, my colleague and myself in such a dilemma situation. I think helping find justice for an innocent person would help me to obtain better friends than those I would be protecting by choosing to say no.
References
Bellamy, A. J. (2008). Fighting terror: Ethical dilemmas. London: Zed Books.
Bucaro, F. (2013). Importance of Influenza Vaccination for Health Care Personnel. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/groups/more-positive-ones-self-esteem-61769.S.250367357
Cohen, M. (2007). 101 ethical dilemmas. London: Routledge.
