...Torture and Ethics Paper Jennifer Yow ASJ 532 June 16, 2014 Since -9/11, torture has been official US policy by George Bush at the highest levels of government. On September 17, 2001, George Bush signed a secret finding empowering CIA to "Capture, Kill, or Interrogate Al-Queda Leaders." (Lendman, 2008). It also authorized establishing a secret global facilities to detain and interrogate them without guidelines on proper treatment. In the same time, Bush approved a secret "high-value target list" of about two dozen names. He also gave CIA free reign to capture, kill and interrogate terrorists that were not on the list (Lendman, 2008). What is torture: (a) the intentional infliction of extreme physical pain or suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless person; (b) the intentional, substantial curtailment of the exercise of a person's autonomy (achieved by means of (a)); (c) in general, undertaken for the purpose of breaking the victim's will." We will discuss terrorism and torture, look at arguments for and against each practice, and ethically evaluate those arguments (Lendman, 2008).. If pain is meant to break the will of the person, one must ask when we might have an interest in doing so. Certainly violating the freedom through violence is not acceptable for citizens; I may not justifiably torture you to obtain what I want from you, be it your property, your behavior, or your ideological consent (Lendman, 2008). Also, the police may not torture to obtain information...
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...Torture is a method of gathering information; it dates back to early medieval times where gruesome techniques were used. Throughout the years, the techniques have changed, but the method of torturing for information still survives. Some people encourage the use of torture for information, while others discourage it because they believe that it goes against human ethics. Human ethics are the rights that all humans have, and the big controversy over torture is whether torture goes against those ethics. In this paper the method of torture will be examined for both encouragement and discouragement based on the views each person has of human ethics. It is quite easy to look at worldwide news telecasts and know what kind of things that American...
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...Torture Despite the strong commitments of the US legal system of torture, ever since 9/11, torture became an acceptable tool to be used. The practice of torture is difficult to address because there is not a concrete definition of what torture is. Thinking torture can be justified is not the same as thinking it is necessary. A survey posted by The Huffington Post, concluded that respondents were more uncertain about whether information gained through torturing suspected terrorists is generally reliable or unreliable. The survey also found significant uncertainty over whether the U.S. had used torture to track down Big Laden, as the new movie “Zero Dark Thirty” portrays. As defined by dictionary.com, “torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.” However, there are many other definitions. Defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is an act where intentional pain is inflicted on a purpose. According to the Third Geneva Convention, torture is known to cause no “no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever”. Who draws the line as to which specific practices are harsh enough to correspond to those words? Some have suggested that torture is worse than killing, and that torturing the innocent is morally worse than murder. The most prevalent forms...
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...Tour Torture and Ethics Paper CJA 530 January 31st, 2011 Eddie Koen Torture and Ethics Paper Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case is. In American society we do have a high morality on life and how we should be treated. Torture is something that may not be written down in every countries laws, but is listed in different provisions of the law. In the American Society we all believe that we all shall be free from torture even if we are accused of a crime and do not want to talk about the crime that we are accused of committing. “International norms in this array of treaties and customary international law impose ranges of obligations on states. For instance, states must not only refrain from using torture, they must also take strong positive measures to prevent and punish torture” (McKay, 2005, pg.1037). If we have the right to be free from torture in here in America...
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...ETHICS IN BUSINESS . Table of Contents Introduction: 1 Body one what is ethics: 2 Body two the four views of ethics: 3 Body three the ethical challenges: 5 Body four companies reaction to unethical action: 6 Conclusion: 7 The summary: 8 References and bibliography: 9 Introduction: Management is an exiting topic to study. It gives people the ability to interact with the recent action around the world. Also it gives people the authority to judge the situation, and make a decision based on their perspective views. In addition, ethics is one of the most anticipate it topics in business and in real life situation. People will start to decide the action whether it is ethical or not. Also how people ethical views are different from culture to culture. People have opposite opinion about the situation based on effect their life positively or negatively. Ethics is not just for individuals to care about. Governments, organizations, and banks spend a huge amount of money on determent what is ethical and what is not? Companies could lose all their customers if they made an unethical action. Governments could lose all their supporters if had an unethical scandal. Even, celebrities would lose all of his fans if he or she did unethical action such as racism or sexual abused. However, most of companies have guidelines or policies to face and prevent any unethical issues in side the organization against costumers or employees. Business ethics is a very important factor...
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...Torture and Ethics Paper Alfreepha Williams AJS/532 July 21, 2013 Patricia DeAngelis Torture and Ethics There are many views or definition of the word “torture”, which is often debated by many individuals. According to “International Rehabilitation Council For Torture Victims” (2005-2012), “torture is an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining information or a confession, punishing him for an act committed” (para. 2). “Torture is anguish of body or mind; something that causes agony or pain; the infliction of intense pain (from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure; or distortion or over refinement of a meaning or an argument” (“Torture,” 2013). There are debates about torture and whether or not is unethical or a cruel and unusual punishment. People have been taught to believe that torturing a person is unacceptable and inhumane. However, the torturing of an enemy to get answers is not considered cruel and inhumane especially, when it involves saving the lives of many. This paper will analyze whether torturing enemy combatants or high-value targets violates standards of morality in an American free society. It will also examine whether the act of torture violates basic human rights and if it could have global implications, and last determine if torture may be justified under ontological, deontological, utilitarianism, or the natural...
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...by the Investigating Officer NAME AJS/532 August 5, 2013 Margery Melvin Deception by the Investigating Officer There are three sides to every story: the suspect’s version, the police’s version, and somewhere in the middle lies the truth. Humans by nature will instinctively do anything to ensure the security of his or her survival. Regardless if an individual is guilty or not the possibility of meeting consequences for his or her actions will almost always sway the individual to deny said actions to prevent the consequences from happening. Law enforcement personnel walk a fine line with regard to the use of deception, to find the truth. This paper will analyze the code of ethics in comparison to law enforcement procedure, and the role of nonverbal communication play with regard to detecting deception. The Ethics of Deception Ethical and moral behaviors are characteristics that individuals have but not all individuals have the same degree of moral ground. Everyone has the right to free choice and free-thinking, which are the foundation of the pursuit of happiness, life, and liberty. Within the context of free choice, humans have the choice of telling the truth or lying. Truth is usually only given freely when the foreseen benefit exists; otherwise most individuals will resort to a lie. By nature, humans do not want to experience pain, harm, or anything that may restrict individual freedoms. For individuals who violate laws, social norms, or otherwise commit...
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...Terrorism: Does It Justify the Use of Torture Eric M. Skogen SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility Prof. Linda Atkinson January 23, 2012 Terrorism: Does It Justify the Use of Torture Torture is used by governments throughout the world to include the United States as way to extract information from a person or persons. By inflicting severe pain the torturer forces the captive to do or say something that could lead to information of a supposed terrorist attack or pertinent details of upcoming events. The act of torture has been used against prisoners of war, possible insurgents, religious sympathizers and political prisoners since Christ was crucified at the cross. In the early 1970’s, certain governments begin to see a form of violence start to evolve called “terrorism” and with that came prisoners who were called “terrorists.” Although many countries employ torture techniques against those that are dubbed “political prisoners” not all countries label them as terrorists or even face potential threats of terrorism to the extent other countries do. Over the next several pages I will discuss events that have taken place since the 1970’s leading up to the current terrorist acts we face today and how the use of torture has played a role in these events. I will also discuss how the use of torture brings up a great ethical debate of what is right and wrong and how governments attempt to justify the use of torture. I will state how one of the classical...
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...Compare and Contrast Torture or Not to Torture 2012 “Any direct or indirect participation in any act of torture or other forms of degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment by psychologists is strictly prohibited. There are no exceptions.”(APA website, 2012). The American Psychological Association through the last two decades has taken a sever stand on torture and helping the United States government on how to handle prisoners at the “black site” also known as Guantanamo Bay (Peltz,Burnstein,Grand, 2008)P587. Their stand on how psychologist should aid in the treatment of information recovery in forms of torture interrogation technics has always been a longstanding policy against psychologist involvement in torture. Many members wanted the association to take a strong stand against any involvement of psychologists in national security interrogations during the Bush administration. Psychologists were used during the bush administration “war on terror” efforts and took part in both abusive interrogation techniques and torture. While the APA acknowledged issues of psychologist involvement in national security-related investigations has been an extremely difficult and divisive one for our association (Personal Communication, 2012. The APA has always had a longstanding policy against psychologist involvement in torture; many members wanted the association to take a strong stand against any involvement of psychologists in national security interrogations...
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...The Deception by the Investigating Officer paper 544 3/21/2016 Melba V. Pearson The Deception by the Investigating Officer paper In life, there three parts of a story, in the criminal justice field there is law enforcement's part of the story. Then there is the person in questions part of the story, and then there is the part, which holds the truth in the story. People are naturally born, to do everything in their power to make sure they can safeguard their existence. Despite, anyone found culpable with committing a criminal act or also not found guilty, of doing criminal acts likelihood of them meeting consequences for their conduct will likely be all the time. People will refute actions as such, to avoid consequences from being done to them. Police officers employees walk on eggshells with considering the use, with deception to discover the truth in the matter. This paper will discuss, Is it moral to lie to acquire the truth and do the ends justify the means of it, there a contention between the codes of ethics how police officer indeed led, the parts do physical conduct and nonverbal communication play in identifying deception also the conclusion. Is it moral to lie to acquire the truth and do the ends justify the means of it The ethical also moral behavior is personalities, which people contain even if many people cannot contain the similar level of the moral ground. Each person does have the free will to pick what he or she want to also the...
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...The Deception by the Investigating Officer paper 544 3/21/2016 Melba V. Pearson The Deception by the Investigating Officer paper In life, there three parts of a story, in the criminal justice field there is law enforcement's part of the story. Then there is the person in questions part of the story, and then there is the part, which holds the truth in the story. People are naturally born, to do everything in their power to make sure they can safeguard their existence. Despite, anyone found culpable with committing a criminal act or also not found guilty, of doing criminal acts likelihood of them meeting consequences for their conduct will likely be all the time. People will refute actions as such, to avoid consequences from being done to them. Police officers employees walk on eggshells with considering the use, with deception to discover the truth in the matter. This paper will discuss, Is it moral to lie to acquire the truth and do the ends justify the means of it, there a contention between the codes of ethics how police officer indeed led, the parts do physical conduct and nonverbal communication play in identifying deception also the conclusion. Is it moral to lie to acquire the truth and do the ends justify the means of it The ethical also moral behavior is personalities, which people contain even if many people cannot contain the similar level of the moral ground. Each person does have the free will to pick what he or she want to also the...
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...Zimbardo Research Paper Dr. Zimbardo conducted a research study in 1971 where he took 24 male college students and divided them randomly between guards and prisoners. The guards created a “prison” like set up for their prisoners. The prisoners were arrested by real cops, blindfolded, hand cuffed and taken to the simulation prison where the guards brutalized, dehumanized, tortured them. The study was to see how behaviors change based upon a setting they were put into. Throughout this paper it will come to light on how unethical this study was but also how it changed the ways in which studies are now required to be handled with human participants (Films Media Group, 2012). Value of the Study in Relation to Social Psychology Dr. Zimbardo’s research study was able to show how healthy participants quickly changed their psychological and physical behaviors when they were placed into a prison like environment. The 24 participants were all good people who were put into a very bad situation where they had to choose to stay good or conform with the environment and do what they felt was rational behavior. This study was to last two weeks and after six days Dr. Zimbardo finally shut it down. This is because the prisoners were showing signs of extreme depression and stress anxiety, while the guards were becoming very abusive, hostile and dehumanizing the prisoners. There were only a few people who were able to not let conformity consume who they really were and destroy their...
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...11 Position Papers I f you like to argue, you will enjoy writing position papers and argument essays. The purpose of a position paper or argument essay is to explain both sides of a controversy and then argue for one side over the other. This two-sided approach is what makes position papers and argument essays different from commentaries (Chapter 10). A commentary usually only expresses the author’s personal opinion about a current issue or event. A position paper or argument essay explains both sides and discusses why one is stronger or better than the other. Your goal is to fairly explain your side and your opponents’ side of the issue, while highlighting the differences between these opposing views. You need to use solid reasoning and factual evidence to persuade your readers that your view is more valid or advantageous than your opponents’ view. In college, your professors will ask you to write position papers and argument essays to show that you understand both sides of an issue and can support one side or the other. In the workplace, corporate position papers are used to argue for or against business strategies or alternatives. The ability to argue effectively is a useful skill that will help you throughout your life. 221 CHAPTER AT–A–GLANCE Position Papers This diagram shows two basic organizations for a position paper, but other arrangements of these sections will work too. In the pattern on the left, the opponents’ position is described up front with its...
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...Joint Command and Staff Programme 38 Distance Learning Rank & Name: Major Lynne Chaloux Syndicate No: 1 Directing Staff: BGen Gagnon Course: JCSP 38 DL Assignment Code: D1/DS 541/EFF/LN-2 Assignment Name: Leadership Research Paper Convergence of Errors: Leadership Failures Contributing to Abu Ghraib Abuses ASSESSMENT Assessor: Marc Imbeault Mark: Comments: Convergence of Errors: Leadership Failures Contributing to Abu Ghraib Abuses Introduction The purpose of this persuasive essay is to reveal the key leadership factors contributing to events that occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom at Abu Ghraib Confinement Facility in Iraq between October and December 2003. “The abuses at Abu Ghraib primarily fall into two categories: a) intentional violent or sexual abuse [against detainees], and b) abusive actions taken based on misinterpretations or confusion regarding law or policy.”[1] From the standpoint of “Leading the Institution,” it will be argued that authorities failed to develop of a coherent body of policy or procedures[2] regarding detainee operations, which would have served to appropriately and consistently guide actions in the field and thus enable success. Instead, policy was inconsistent, ambiguous and changing – resulting in confusion regarding morally and legally acceptable standards for interrogation and detention. These lapses in policy contributed...
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...Running head: HOMELAND SECURITY 410 - FINAL PROJECT TOPIC Provide a synopsis of the article written by Professor Alan Dershowitz. Then identify and describe the critical issues addressed in the article. In your paper, thoroughly discuss and evaluate the following concepts: the ticking time bomb hypothesis; Dershowitz's comments regarding Jeremy Bentham as well as his comments about Voltaire's views; and the three ways to deal with the use of torture in the ticking time bomb situation, as stated by the Israeli government-appointed commission of the late 1980s. As part of the discussion about the commission's conclusions, include Dershowitz's "fourth road." Abstract After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America, numerous articles and books were published. These articles and books analyzed why the 9/11 attack happened and proposed solutions on how to prevent terrorist attacks in the future. Alan Dershowitz contributed to this body of literature from a lawyer's perspective in his book titled Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge. In an article from the book titled, Should the Ticking Time Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured, many of his suggestions such as the use of torture, are rather controversial; however, Dershowitz encourages people to rethink current notions of security, liberty, and international law. Alan Dershowitz acknowledges that he is not an expert on terrorism; his opinions, suggestions and methods...
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