Ethical and Moral Issues on Anytown's New Policy

Ethical And Moral Issues On Anytown's New Policy

Britany L. Alford

Kaplan University

Greg Matoesian Unit 5 CJ102

The birth of a child is one of the most precious and important days in a parent’s life. Over a period of nine months, a mother builds a bond so strong that she’d give her own life to save the life of her child. Although a mother’s love is priceless, and is said to come naturally, being a parent isn’t as easy. A child doesn’t come with a manual and parents often make mistakes as they struggle with adjusting to parenthood. At times, those mistakes can result in living the nightmare of losing custody of your child permanently or temporarily.

Residents in the town of Anytown have gone to extremes to ensure the safety of children. In Anytown, the Department of Job and Family Services, applying the Social Learning Theory have implemented a “Zero Tolerance” policy which specifies that any household who has one or more documented offense of domestic violence, child abuse, or drug or alcohol related offenses are an act of neglect and child endangerment. Any parent or guardian will not only be prosecuted in a court of law for said offenses, but will also have their child removed from their homes and placed in the care of the state. Under this policy, children of these offenders will not be allowed to return to the homes until such time that the parents have provided proof of completing family counseling, anger management, parenting classes, drug, alcohol, or mental health treatment as well as clear of offenses for at least six months.

According to studies, children who witness aggression towards others are more likely to development violent or aggressive behaviors. As documented in the book of “Criminology, children of wife batterers are far more likely to use aggressive tactics in comparison to children that have not witnessed violence or aggression. The likelihood of a child repeating this behavior is even greater when the victim is a child’s mother and suffers from psychological distress due to the abuse” (Siegel, 2015, p. 122. The Department of Job and Family Services grew concerned after citing the Social Learning Theory, as a means to support their decision for changing the policy. This Theory is defined as an individual observing the view of human behavior, through social interactions, media, or someone who is close and forms intimate contact. These interactions are rewarded for aggressive behavior. Based off the behavior model, children can develop aggressive behavior from anyone or anything, media, video games, television/ movies, neighbors, parents or friends. While this policy was developed with good intentions, it comes with much controversy. Does this policy have a positive or negative impact on children? Does this policy pose moral or ethical concerns?

It's thought that this new policy will reduce the chances of children being mistreated as well as decrease their exposure to aggressive behavior that ultimately could result in developing the same behaviors. The ultimate goal of the policy is to improve the living conditions and create a healthier environment for children. Although there are benefits of the policy, some have implied that the negative outweigh the positive. Some of the negative impacts include, insufficient housing for placing children, mimicking of bad behavior due to exposure to children demonstrating aggressive or violent behaviors learned in their homes. Falling behind in school is a risk that comes with insufficient housing placement and subsequently moving from school to school.

Children in instable environments often fall behind in school as they find it difficult to focus. Lastly, courts are flooded with cases of parents fighting to regain custody of their children and countless claims against foster homes alleging mistreatment of their children in foster homes.

Unfortunately, in a world where money rules, foster parenting becomes a means of employment and not ones commitment to providing a safe haven for children. “In 2011 a survey reported 13% of all foster children run away at least once and 9% abandon their foster homes to live with friends” (Stone 2014). Several of my cousins experienced no only separation from a parent, but also from their siblings while being placed in several foster homes. All of them suffered from separation anxiety. During a brief interview, my cousin Falen, said that in one home, “we were fed only Ramen noodles from the bag and were punished often for the slightest mistake” ( Falen Gatewood 2015). She was given hand me downs, no matter what the sizes were and also developed corns on her feet from wearing shoes too small. For her and her siblings, she felt she had no true support system or parental figure they could look up to. In the care of a foster parent, they felt more neglected than in their own homes. In foster care, they were mentally and physically abused and malnourished. For her and her siblings, treatment in one foster home was so bad they begged to be placed with a new family to escape the cruelty of their foster mother. Children within the home would bully and fight them on a daily basis. They lived in fear daily and lost a ton of weight due to stress and a lack of nutrition.

“Studies show that abused or neglected children placed in foster care face lifelong challenges greater than children who remain with their families” (Stone 2014). “Statistics also show that 25% of foster children suffer from PTSD and 4.5% children in the general population. 24.3 % suffer from depression, 43% suffer from separation anxiety, 22% become homeless and 60% males are convicted of a crime” (Stone 2014). In my opinion The Department of Job and Family Services did not take all of the negative problems into consideration