The Rise of Unethical Behaviors: Practical Ethics and Ethical Ramifications - Essay Sample

Introduction

The modern world is characterized by increasing level of transparency which implies that unethical behaviors are on the increase too. Practical ethics address a broad subject area. Ethical ramifications are evident in our daily choices, and ethical issues confront us daily. Ethics refers to a set of moral standards that outline the expectation of behavioral conduct. Ethical principles, therefore, argue on moral standards of conduct. Ethical practice builds trust by role-modeling ethical behavior and through the application of principles and values in a consistent manner in decision making (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Ethical values outline a moral compass through which people live and make decisions in their lives. Ethics is, therefore, about doing the right thing since it's the right thing to do. In the following paper, the practical ethical issues will be addressed in depth.

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WCO Approach

The World Customs Organization (WCO) developed a comprehensive Code of Ethics and conducts with practical and precise terms as well as recommendations on codes of conduct issues (World Customs Organization, n.d.). WCO is a declaration that states that customs employees need to be issued with a code of conduct and implications of the same fully explained to them. Further, an effective disciplinary measure should be put in place, including dismissal possibility (World Customs Organization, n.d.).

In public service, public trust is a prerequisite. Customs employees are obliged to their government as well as citizens to exercise loyalty to laws and ethical principles above their gains (World Customs Organization, n.d.). As such, the public demands complete trust, confidence, and respect in the integrity of the customs administration. The public is entitled to and expects honesty, impartiality, and professionalism in the way customs employees employ their knowledge, skills, experience, and official duties (World Customs Organization, n.d.). Customs employees should, therefore, uphold the highest integrity standards in handling the public and in their personal lives (World Customs Organization, n.d.).

The purpose of the Code of Ethics and Conduct is to describe the minimum standards of behavior in clear and practical terms, that is expected of all customs employees. The standards of practice guide the decision-making process and actions taken (World Customs Organization, n.d.). Public confidence is assured in the integrity of customs, as employees are expected to adhere to and respect the Code of Ethics and Conduct.

Critical elements in the Code of Ethics and Conduct are personal responsibility, law compliance, limitations to the acceptance of gifts, rewards and discounts, conflict of interest avoidance, and Limitations on political activities. Besides, conduct in money matters, use, and confidentiality of official information, work environment, private purchases of government properties by employees, and use of formal services and property are also elements included.

Theorizing Community Development

Community development (CD) builds solidarity and agency through adhering to practice principles; participation, self-help, and felt needs (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Bhattacharyya (2004) argued that the problem in defining community development is that many theories explain the concept of CD and fail to characteristics of its practice.

Community development theory advocates for a specific social order and a particular methodology for achieving development in the community (Bhattacharyya, 2004). A theory of CD specifies its purpose, premises, and its methods (Bhattacharyya, 2004). The purpose and methods of CD need to be specific for CD to be a distinct field. However, the tools need not be specific to the CD. Purpose and methods are distinct and also different from techniques or devices used to implement the methods. In fulfilling a purpose, particular methods are followed, and these methods are implemented through specific procedures. Bhattacharyya (2004) argued that the promotion of solidarity and agency is the purpose of CD.

Community as Solidarity

A classical concept of community is that it is a village or a rural agricultural settlement (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Agricultural settlements and small towns have for long remained as the proxy for community and places or space has been an integral constituent of community. Transcending these explanations to fit a theory of CD, a community is a small town, a neighborhood, or village irrespective of the availability of cohesion. There is a connection with place and solidarity based on interests or circumstances that are shared (Bhattacharyya, 2004). The classical concept of the community fails to account for radical social change due to modernity. Modernity implies that there are transformations due to industrialization, which divests "place" to include unknown people in unknown areas and with different social norms.

The current and classical definitions of community are united by solidarity where there are a shared identity and a code of conduct (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Community as solidarity distinguishes the community from social relations in that any social configuration with shared identity and norms is a community (Bhattacharyya, 2004). As such, a community is not defined by ethnicity, level of industrialization, or territoriality.

Development as Agency

The development has the ultimate goal of human autonomy or agency. This implies the capacity to order the world, reproduce, create, change and live in defined systems and having the capacity for people to define themselves other than being described by others (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Further, people must be able to intervene or fail to intervene in the world to influence a process which ultimately means having freedom. As a modern concept, the agency is associated with the concept of choice, which is the result of social change patterns- modernity.

Human development as the promotion and creation of choices and people's capabilities- the agency is a unifying concern of humanities today. CD promotes agency by generating critical consciousness, tackling challenges facing people, and developing measures to solve them (Bhattacharyya, 2004). As an agency-promoting activity, development facilitates parsimony and captures the purpose of CD, which includes social and economic change. As such, any activity must have the pursuit of agency and solidarity to be referred to a CD. Defining CD as fostering of social relations aligns CD with intellectual concerns in social sciences and humanities. Further, it facilitates action and research to the process eroding solidarity and agency and offers means to reconstructing them.

Community Development Context

CD is a positive response to the erosion process of agency and solidarity. Solidarity is a prerequisite for a fulfilling life, and people are entitled to the right to agency. CD is an integral part of democracy projects, and a vision of solidarity is a core of democracy. Solidarity, therefore, implies that the concerns of every person are felt for the public good. This calls for a willingness to engage in creating and sustaining a caring society. Agency is an opportunity to affirm human will and freedom from restraints and access to resources to achieve human-will affirmation.

Solidarity and Agency Erosion

A current issue is the erosion of agency and solidarity rather than its transformation at both macro and micro levels. Factors that have played a decisive role in the decay of these elements are industrial capitalism, instrumental reason factors, and the rise of the nation-state (Bhattacharyya, 2004).

Industrial Capitalism

Unprecedented prosperity, freedom from famine and numerous amenities have been created by industrial capitalism. Literacy has expanded, life expectancy at birth increased, and opportunities for choice has enlarged. Further, the democratization of society has been achieved. However, solidarity has been destructed and eroded through the free-market ideology (Bhattacharyya, 2004). A dominant result of industrial capitalism is the commodification of life and its adverse effects. Industrial capitalism and the free market gave the implication for CD as a society become an accessory for the market (Bhattacharyya, 2004). The economic system was previously an accessory of the community controlled by a social authority. However, industrial capitalism defined people as individuals bent to optimize utilities where solidarity and culture complex was regarded as externalities. The market price determined the value of human, economic activities were dis-embedded from society, and there was a rise of isolated individuals who have eroded solidarity in modern society. CD implies that the potential of collective action has been diminished by weak solidarity and social capital.

Rise of Nation-State

The modern nation-state can be defined as the imagined community. Under common nationality, people feel a kinship with fellow citizens in the nation-state. The nation-state has dominated forms of social organization and has ruined previous solidarities through cultural identity. Community norms have been replaced by political and economic powers which have centralized national social and ethical norms (Bhattacharyya, 2004).CD, therefore, has the challenge in resisting the homogenizing pattern of the nation-state and defend cultural pluralism.

Reason

There is a wide range of reason. An example is an instrumental reason which is the reason for efficiency and calculation (Bhattacharyya, 2004). Rational reason defines rationality as the capacity to choose the most efficient means to achieve a goal and is consistency in choice (Bhattacharyya, 2004). This reason, which is prevalent in modern institutions, hinders the goal from logical scrutiny and is an end itself (Bhattacharyya, 2004). As such, the reason is measured through market price benefit-cost ratio computations. Community is therefore subverted as authority judges and validates tradition. Most aspects of life have become subjects of instrumental reason as societies are rationalized.

CD points at the cost of positivism reason as they can be varied as cultures. In general, nation-state, industrial capitalism, and reason shapes the modern world and has given people the opportunity for a chance at the price of human agency and solidarity.

Bhattacharyya (2004) argued that the best way to practice CD is through self-help, felt needs, and participation. The principle of self-help rests that when people are healthy, they are capable of caring for themselves. Besides they reciprocate, are productive, are more active, more predisposed to give other than receive, and are more willing to create than consume. The felt needs principle asserts that development projects respond to peoples identified needs and should be demand-based. It recognizes and fosters the capacities of people to define and prioritize the identified problems and is, therefore, agency generating. The participation principle encourages people's acceptance of predetermined goals by the developmental organization.

Technical Assistance Approach

The technical assistance approach helps communities in defining their problems, needs, and also define the potential solutions to these challenges (Fear, Gamm, & Fisher, 1989). In a broad definition, it is the provision of "programs, activities, and services...to strengthen the capacity of recipients to improve their performance concerning an inherent or assigned function" (Fear, Gamm, & Fisher, 1989). As a modern international development approach, it raises substantial professional and ethical issues for practitioners. This is because providers of this approach are tasked in balancing maintaining power structures and undermining the underlying capacity to solve "own" problems by comm...