Ethics and privatization in criminal justice: Does education have a role to play?

Ethics historically has not been viewed as a core topic for criminal justice education. This note proposes that the new dilemmas created by the privatization of correctional services and the increased attention given moral issues and business ethics in the media will awaken academic interest in this area. Based on review of the literature on teaching ethics in higher education, courses that encourage students to explore their personal codes of ethics and refine their individual decisionmaking abilities are advocated over those oriented toward the acceptance of a specific belief system and defined ethical code. Universities are encouraged to determine their own ethical codes and evaluate the approaches that are being used to teach ethics.