Overview
Criminal Justice 490: Ethical Decision Making in Law Enforcement is a three-credit, senior-level distance education course offered by Athabasca University. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing criminal justice professionals in a fluid twenty-first century environment. With the level of scrutiny of police officers and other criminal justice practitioners by the public and governments, and with access by the mass media to downloads from cell phones that become accessible worldwide on the Internet within hours of an event, policing has truly become global entertainment. More than ever, organizations are compelled to view ethical behaviour and the fallout from inappropriate conduct as one of the most critical issues facing organizations today.
Outline
Criminal Justice 490: Ethical Decision Making in Law Enforcement comprises the following nine units:
- Unit 1: The Foundations and Philosophy of Ethics
- Unit 2: What Contributes to Unethical Conduct?
- Unit 3: Managing Ethical Dilemmas
- Unit 4: Continuation of Compromise
- Unit 5: Case Study Analyses
- Unit 6: Ethical Scandals and How They Affect Public Trust
- Unit 7: Ethical Challenges Leaders Face
- Unit 8: Rebuilding Character and Organizational Values
- Unit 9: Developing a Culture of Integrity
Evaluation
Your final grade in Criminal Justice 490: Ethical Decision Making in Law Enforcement will be based on the grades you achieve on the course assignments for credit.
To receive credit you must achieve an overall course grade of at least D (50 percent). The following table summarizes the assignments for credit, their weighting toward your final grade, and the date at which they are due according to the study schedule provided in this course.
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Assignment 1: Journal Exercise | 20% | You will keep a journal as you work your way through the course, with one entry to be completed and submitted after you have finished each of the nine units. This assignment provides you the opportunity to reflect on your learning experiences unit by unit. |
| Assignment 2: Online Moderating and Posting | 20% | You will create and moderate a discussion forum topic over a period of 30 to 45 days, and then you will summarize it. You will also post at least 5 responses to other discussion forum topics created and moderated by other students in the course. |
| Assignment 3: Unit Exercises | 30% | You will answer the questions found in the Unit Exercise section of each unit after you have conducted additional research. Your answers are due as you complete each unit. |
| Assignment 4: Research Paper | 30% | You will write a research paper of 2000 to 2500 words (8 to 10 pages) on an approved topic. |
| Total | 100% | |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Caldero, M. A., Dailey, J. D., & Withrow, B. L. (2018). Police ethics: The corruption of the noble cause (4th ed.). Routledge.
Delattre, E. J. (2011). Character and cops: Ethics in policing (6th ed.). AEI Press.
Gilmartin, K. M. (2002). Emotional survival for law enforcement: A guide for officers and their families. E-S Press.
Souryal, S. S., & Whitehead, J. T. (2020). Ethics in criminal justice: In search of the truth (7th ed.). Routledge.
Other Materials
All other materials are available on the course home page.