A moral dilemma

A moral dilemma

Introduction

A moral dilemma is a disagreement that comes with choosing from two or more actions and has reasons for the latter. The individual’s religion also plays a vital role in the decisions. The following content shows the hypothesis used in discernment in a moral dilemma. The questions are used to make a prediction, which are then explained.

Main body

2. You work at a pharmacy. The pharmacist you work with is selling powerful/addictive painkillers to customers who do not have a doctor’s prescription. The pharmacy earns a lot of money by selling the painkillers. Would you report the pharmacist?

Yes or No

Yes: 80% no: 20%

Pharmacists work under specific ethics that control how they act. Going against ethics such as ‘do no harm’ puts both the pharmacist and his employees at the risk of being imprisoned and losing their licenses as medics. Moreover, the values taught by society also stand against this kind of act as dishonest. Religion also teaches people to love others just as they love themselves; hence, selling highly addictive painkillers does not show love for their neighbors. Thus the prediction for reporting the pharmacist is a total of 80% while no 20%. The 20% is accounted for by the fact that the pharmacist was earning a lot of money and using it to pay employees. Reporting him would cost one’s job (Pozgar,2019).

9. You’re driving at night while intoxicated and you accidentally hit someone on a dark country road. The person you hit is extremely severely injured, unconscious, and does not appear to be breathing. Since you are drunk, you know that if you call the police you will be arrested and have to probably spent several years in jail. No one is around to see this accident. You could call 911 in case the person could be saved or you could drive away. Would you drive away?

Yes or No

Yes: 50% no: 50%

This situation lies at 50-50 because the two matters are both critical. The two sides have a robust vying point as they affect two lives. There is the opportunity to run away as the individual did not identify or see anything that happened. Besides, the person is unconscious; hence the likelihood of waking up sooner is low. Calling the emergency number exposes one to the risk of being put to prison because of drunk driving. This accounts for fifty percent. However, the person has the chance of being saved, and he or she can withdraw any charges put against you. The individual’s life is just as important (Markson, 2018).

17. Your best friend, who is a teacher, is having consensual sex with a 15-year-old student. Both are very happy. Would you report them to the police?

Yes or No

yes: 70% no: 30%

It is against teachers’ code of ethics to have an affair with their students. Besides, a person above the age of eighteen should have no relationship with people below the same. Thus, the teacher is taking advantage of the minor. The societal values also consider it wrong to engage in such affairs. Therefore, reporting them would take the upper hand. On the contrary, the fact that he is my best friend, and both are happy would make it hard for me to report them (Walter, 2018).

18. Your sister informs you that she plans to kill her significant other for insurance money even though she is happy in the relationship. You try, but you cannot talk her out of it. Would you contact the police?

Yes or No

yes: 50% no: 50%

Killing is a capital crime throughout the world. Anyone involved in the murder is considered an accomplice. Therefore being aware of my sister’s plans exposes me as a liability to the crime, which can follow with life imprisonment hence influencing me to contact the police. On the other hand, It would be hard to report my sister to the police; moreover, she would share her spouse’s riches with me, leaving me a wealthy person (Markson, 2018).

20. Your sister’s 16-year-old daughter confides in you that her brother, your nephew, raped her. She begs you not to tell anyone. If you say to the police, your nephew will go to jail for many years. You can instruct your sister and let her deal with it or call the police. Would you call the police?

Yes or No

Yes: 70% no: 30%

Reports indicate that most rape cases occur within the family ties, and they all go unreported. Several risks come along with unreported rape cases such as illnesses, a likely hood of the action happening repeatedly, and physical and emotional assault. Telling my sister would probably lead to family issues, and my niece will receive no help. Reporting will put a stop to the matter and ensure that the boy does not repeat the act. Also, telling my sister first would make her blame the girl and defend the boy (Goodson, & Bouffard, 2019).

22. A very close family member (father, brother, etc.) said you they were planning to kill someone who raped a relative. There is a lot of evidence that the alleged rapist committed the crime, but he was not convicted during the trial because of a technicality. Would you alert the police?

Yes or No

Yes: 40% no: 60%

Issues surrounding rape are many and critical. I can only imagine what one goes through once he or she is raped. There is so much pain associated with the latter; besides the society condemns the act. When a family member goes through the latter, everyone is affected. However, despite convicting the individual, the jury ruled in his favor. It becomes hurtful to imagine that another person will suffer in the hands of the criminal. Thus, I would find it hard to involve the police. On the other hand, planning to kill comes along with several issues such as one’s death and get at lodger ends with the police (Goodson, & Bouffard, 2019).

25. You work at a restaurant. You notice customers are getting sick due to your manager’s unwillingness to follow proper health inspection guidelines. If you report him to the health department, then the restaurant will probably be shut down, and many people, including you, will lose their job. Would you notify the health department?

Yes or No

yes: 90% no: 10%

Inadequate health guidelines expose all customers to diseases. Besides, if the employer is caught, the employees also go down with him, and the chefs can lose their licenses. Thus I will lose my capacity to get another job elsewhere. I can also be arrested once the customers report the restaurant following the poor health guidelines. Besides, I stand to lose nothing as in both cases; I will lose my job. Hence indicating would be at a probability of 90% (Hung et al. 2018).

28. You find a list in your 15-year-old son’s bedroom. The list is titled “the people at former school to shoot/stab.” The list has 10 people. You talk to him & he has great anger against these people because they bullied him and forced him to leave the school. You talk to him about this issue. He seems to understand the seriousness of consequences of any violence but there’s still anger. If you notify the school, then they will notify the police, and your son will be arrested and charged with a very serious crime (e.g., planning to carry out mass murder) and would very likely go to jail for several years. Would you notify the school?

Yes or No

yes: 95% no: 5%

Despite being bullied, a plan to murder is a capital crime. Reporting my son would be the best option as he will get the psychological help he might need. Besides, the school will deal with the bullying issues that might be occurring. The people in the list will also be investigated and protected from possible harm. Besides, will procuring a murder plan, it is easy to get too caught, hence alerting the school is a way of protecting my son. Also, there will be no evidence that he was planning to kill anyone, but he can prove that he was bullied and action will be taken (Smith, 2018).

29. After years & years of searching you finally fall in love with the perfect person. You know you have AIDS and the relationship is starting to become sexual. You are head over heels in love with this person. If you tell them, you know it will be the end of the relationship because they told you they would never be involved with someone with AIDS. Would you tell them you have AIDS?

Yes or No

Yes: 75% no: 25%

Losing a loved one for any reason is painful. Letting a lover know my status is important, just their feelings, especially because I understand her to stand. It can be hard finding true love, but basing it on will cause both people to get hurt in the future. Moreover, I would not want to expose a person I love to AIDS; thus, I would prefer letting them know and decide. However, it would be hard to imagine that I will lose her once I open up to her. Even with all that, I would still consider letting her know (Du, & Ma, 2018).

34. Would you work as an escort for wealthy clients at $30,000 an evening?

Yes or No

Yes: 70% no: 30%

Being an escort is one of the lowest kinds of jobs. However, sometimes they can be rewarding if they are handled with commitment. For pay of 30,000 dollars, I would work as an escort as the money is life-changing. On the contrary, it is easy to feel humiliated while working as an escort in the latter; thus, there is the chance to rejecting the job despite the high pay (Markson, 2018).

Methods used

There was the use of questionnaires that helped in data collection and analysis. Five participants took part in the survey. The exact results are attached in the appendix.

Moral/ religious survey questionnaires.

Please read each question and circle the number that most closely applies to you.

1. How often do you attend you place of worship (church, synagogue, mosque, etc.)?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Never Extremely Often

2. How often do you pray?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Never Daily

3. How closely do you observe holidays associated with your religion?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Not close extremely close

4. How often do you say a prayer before you go to bed?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Never Very frequently

5. How often do you say a prayer or religious phrase for good luck, when you want something to turn out okay, or when you are worries about something?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Never Extremely often

6. How often do you wear a religion accessory/ symbol (e.g. necklace, bracelet, piece of clothing?)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Never Always

7. How strongly do you believe in a religious afterlife?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Not at all Very Strongly

8. How religious would you say you are?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Not at all extremely

9. Please circle the one that applies to you:

Your Gender: M or F

Your Ethnicity: Caucasian Asian Hispanic African American Other

Your Age: 18-30 31-45 46-Over

ANALYSIS

According to the data collected, there is an indication that religion has more influence on the subjects than morality. Several reasons can explain this, such as religion leads to morality. When people attach themselves to a particular religion, they also commit to the moral expectations of faith. People believe that whatever that is taught through a religion is from the Supreme Being (GOD); who should be respected ad obeyed. For instance, Christians believe in the teachings in the Bible. They follow them to the letter and can hardly waver, as they believe God is watching. The Muslims also believe in the teachings of Mohammed, which majorly preach love; hence, they have learned to work in unity. Results have also indicated that people also tend to conform to group ethics and codes as they live. The latter is identified in the first ten hypotheses, whereby ethics ruled the decisions made by the participants. “Going against medical ethics is wrong and would lead to the loss of one’s license.” One of the participants mentioned this. These ethics have been put in place by the governing bodies, and everyone adheres (McPhetres et al. 2018).

Consequences that come along with breaking the codes of ethics, such as imprisonment, cause the people to adhere to the latter and do as expected. Besides the results, it also shows that females conform and adhere to ethics and set morality than males, which is linked to aggression levels. However, the primary reason is due to society and religion, which has taught the women to submit and obey. For instance, in the Bible and Quran, women are expected to submit and obey authority. Traditionally, this is what has also been taught to every; which makes them obey (Linde, & Erford, 2018).

Conclusion

Essentially, religion and society work hand in hand in controlling people’s decisions. Religion plays a major role in controlling an individual’s behavior due to the belief in the Supreme Being. This helps in the control and taming of particular behavior. The results have also indicated that religion is stronger than a personal sense of morality. Ethics also influence the acts of people in certain situations as they come with consequences such as losing one’s license. Moreover, there is the proof that females conform more than males do; which is attributed more to the religion and societal traditions.

References

Pozgar, G. D. (2019). Legal and ethical issues for health professionals. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Markson, E. W. (2018). Moral dilemmas. In Where Medicine Fails (pp. 83-88). Routledge.

Walter, J. S. (2018). Teacher license revocation and surrender in North Carolina due to sexual misconduct. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 28(1), 40-54.

Goodson, A., & Bouffard, L. A. (2019). Social disorganization and gender equality as correlates of family violence and rape. Journal of Crime and Justice, 42(3), 274-287.

Hung, K. K., Mark, C. K., Yeung, M. P., Chan, E. Y., & Graham, C. A. (2018). The role of the hotel industry in the response to emerging epidemics: a case study of SARS in 2003 and H1N1 swine flu in 2009 in Hong Kong. Globalization and health, 14(1), 117.

Smith, P. K. (2018). The psychology of school bullying. Routledge.

Du, L., & Ma, M. (2018). PRIVACY VS. HEALTH RIGHTS-SHOULD HOSPITALS DISCLOSE HIV STATUS WITH PATIENTS’PARTNERS? AN ANALYSIS OF PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL NETWORKING IN CHINA. MEDICINE AND LAW, 37(1), 163-174.

Linde, L. E., & Erford, B. T. (2018). Ethical and legal foundations of group work. In Group Work (pp. 65-86). Routledge.