Civic debates have long focused on the variation of behavior that accompanies socialclasses. A common observation is that members of the higher social classes exhibit unethicalconduct more frequently

Civic debates have long focused on the variation of behavior that accompanies socialclasses. A common observation is that members of the higher social classes exhibit unethicalconduct more frequently than those in, the lower heights. Trautmann, de Kuilen and Zeckhauser(2012) base their argument on the premise of rising income inequality in society, where wealthand power are skewed to a small portion of the population. The powerlessness of the poor to riseabove this challenge has resulted in a permanent boundary between those in the top and lowertiers of life. In this sense, unethical behavior is attributed to the poor income distribution in theworld today. The poor are bound to engage in socially unacceptable behavior to survive. Piff etal. (2012) postulate that the members of the upper classes behave unethically because of thegreater access to resources, freedom, and autonomy from the other classes. In other words, theupper classes have financial power that gives them the capacity to escape the consequences ofimmoral conduct.

Question 2

Police subculture is a summation of all the beliefs, attitude and conducts retained by themembers of law enforcement. According to Lee et al. (2013), police have exhibited paranoia,treating the public as untrustworthy and potentially hostile. On the surface, this conduct mightbring out a sense of solidarity, but the ethical implications are dire. Police subculture, accordingto Lee et al. (2013), advocates for secrecy, continually viewing the public as the enemy causingalienation, and the ability to use and justify violence. The outcome of such conduct in lawenforcement includes reduced accountability, increased corruption and a force that is incapableof detecting violent officers. Police officers, who were hired, trained and took an oath to protect justice and fairness, end up corrupt. The unconscientious behavior is attributed to upholding thesubculture and its values that have caused a significant number of police force members todeviate from the just path. Misconduct in law enforcement is on the rise as police officers take onbribes to forego legal actions and penalties to be rendered to individuals and organizations.Finding ways to minimize the penetration of police subculture is an excellent way to startreducing misconduct and unethical behavior in law enforcement.

References

Lee, H., Lim, H., Moore, D. D., & Kim, J. (2013). How police organizational structure correlateswith frontline officers’ attitudes toward corruption: a multilevel model. Police Practiceand Research, 14(5), 386-401. doi:10.1080/15614263.2011.635483Piff, P. K., Stancato, D. M., Cote, S., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Keltner, D. (2012). Higher socialclass predicts increased unethical behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, 109(11), 4086-4091. doi:10.1073/pnas.1118373109Trautmann, S., Van de Kuilen, G., & Zeckhauser, R. (2012). Social Class and (Un)ethicalBehavior: Evidence from a Large Population Sample. PsycEXTRA Dataset.doi:10.1037/e629522012-002