Ethical decision making according to Velasqez et al. (2014) is the process of evaluating the moral insinuations of a course of action. All decisions contain a moral or ethical dimension since they contain impact on others. It is therefore recommended that any moral decision should focus on what is true, what is right, respect people’s privacy, void injuring others and stick to what has been agreed (Lincoln & Holmes, 2011). In this case, John Smith disobeyed the law by failing to report to his probation officer despite knowing he has that duty. He also lied to the woman he is having a relation with. He was involved with two girls aged 4 and 7 which is a defilement case based on the fact that the girls were too young for everyone to notice. John Smith is therefore deliberately lying to the woman he is currently involved with, maybe with an intention of doing harm to her. Therefore, it would be unethical to allow Smith to continue deceiving this woman.
John’s presence in a house of a woman with young children puts the children into the danger of defilement and thus, john’s is a threat to these children. Although John has not given the mother of these children any reason to doubt him, the fact that John is lying and deliberately refusing to observe the probation agreement demonstrates his unwillingness to change. In this regard, the probation office should consider telling the truth about Smith as a way of saving the woman and her children to possible danger awaiting them. Moreover, John made a mistake which he must accept and pay for to be entrusted to live with others in the society. In this regard, the most ethical thing to do it to show this woman that John is a criminal who deserve the punishment he is getting and having him in her house was very dangerous (Reynolds, 2006).
The other option that one would have in this case is making Smith confess the truth to the woman, in the presence of the probation officer. The fact John had lied and that the woman believes in him make it hard for the woman to believe the probation officer not unless John confesses or evidence is found against him. However, getting evidence would mean providing enough freedom to John to allow him think of molesting one of the children in the house. Thus, making John confess would be one of the best measures to reveal the truth.
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