“Ethical Decision Making”

Since the day you were born, your family and environment have instilled a set of values and ethics into
your character. When you joined the Marine Corps, there is a possibility that a new set of values and ethics was
introduced into your character. How do these two set of values and ethics interact with each other and affect
decision-making abilities? What happens when they do not align when facing a decision?

ANSWER

Ethical Decision-Making

Ethical values and standards are instilled into a person by the environment and the people surrounding them. These values usually interact and form a person’s character, which makes it easy for one to make ethical decisions. As a Marine Corps, one learns some of the values by which marines should live, such as honor. Honor guides marines to live by the ultimate ethical and moral behavior (Schwartz, 2016). This means that one is never supposed to lie, cheat, or steal. One is supposed to abide by the code of integrity, human dignity, and respect. Growing up, a person picks up ethical values such as respect, respect for human life, dignity, integrity, and discipline. These values seem to be the same as the ones one learns as a marine corp. This means that they interact well during decision-making or any other time one needs to use the ethical values gained.

An example of a situation where the values gained as a Marine Corps and those picked up while growing up interact is whereby while walking on the streets, one notices a person harassing another because they are different. As a Marine Corps, it is the duty of the person to ensure that other human beings are treated with respect and to protect human dignity. As a child growing up, one learns that it is essential to learn to live with others and defend the people around them. In this scenario, the best action is to approach the situation and find a solution without escalating the situation. As a person who has acquired ethical values from society and Marine Corps, one should ensure that they understand what is going on and try to bring peace between the two individuals, and if that is not possible, ensure the person who was wrong in the situation faces the law.

When the values learned as a Marine Corps and those learned in one’s life do not align, then it is essential that one weighs the decision in that situation before making the decision. For example, in a dilemma involving a mother whose life might be in danger if an abortion procedure is not carried out. One of the values learned growing up is that abortion is wrong and that it is disrespectful to human life. As a Marine Corps, saving and protecting other people’s lives is the most important job, and thus the decision has to be made (Zeni et al., 2016). The situation here is hard, and the values learned are clashing. In such a situation, the best action is to rationalize the best move for the person who is already alive.

Letting the mother live in this situation and having an abortion might go against the values learned from the environment, but as a person who needs to make a rational decision, it could have been a decision that saves the life of a person. In a situation where the two sets of values clash, the best action is finding within oneself what is the best decision to make and believing that the decision made was the best and not spending a lot of time thinking about it because, after all, it is important to trust one’s instincts. When the values learned as a Marine Corps and those picked from nature do not align when trying to make an important decision, the next step is to look for the best action for the situation and make a decision based on that.

References

Schwartz, M. S. (2016). Ethical decision-making theory: An integrated approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(4), 755-776.

Zeni, T. A., Buckley, M. R., Mumford, M. D., & Griffith, J. A. (2016). Making “sense” of ethical decision-making. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(6), 838-855.