Why do People Act Unethically?
There are several reasons why people may act unethically. In some cases, the external environment of where and when unethical behaviour takes place matters but in other cases, that simply is not the case. Here are three overarching reasons for why people behave unethically in the public service:
- People are inherently unethical and lack a regard for ethical conduct
- People that normally behave ethically but that make unethical decisions
- People that make unethical decisions based on circumstances outside of their control.
A Description of the Three Kinds of People
1) The first kind of a person is someone that is ethically corrupt, lacks a sense of duty or obligation to serving the public, and prioritizes personal interest above all else. This person uses their position to advance their persona interests even if it comes at the expense of other people. The every-man-for-themselves attitude this person exhibits leads them to act secretly, which can include taking bribes or extorting the system. These people can exhibit these behaviours:
- Play games with information to get their way
- Evade responsibility
- Abuse privileges of office
- Are not responsive to the public (Svara, 88)
Example: Bill Clinton exhibited the behaviour of this kind of person because he abused his power in office. He also lied under oath about having sexual relations with an intern.
2) The second kind of a person has a sense of duty and responsibility to act ethically. This person will generally make informed and independent choices. The shortcomings of this kind of a person comes from a misconstrued or distorted understanding of their ethical perspective and duties. Their ego or commitment to a goal can get in the way of seeing right from wrong, which can lead this person to justify the means for an end. This kind of a person can also be someone that has strong ideological beliefs and acts on them regardless of other external factors.
Example: Kim Davis acted unethically based on her strong personal ideological beliefs when she refused to give a marriage license to a gay couple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xg1Dh2xhXg
3) The third kind of person attributes the responsibility of their actions to other people since their actions derive from pressure to conform and an implicit or explicit threat to act unethically. Often these circumstances are not easily visible to the outside spectator but they are very real and overbearing for the person experiencing it.
An example of this kind of person is someone who sees unethical behaviour, who perhaps also participates in the unethical behaviour, because everyone in his or her environment accepts that behaviour.
Environmental Conditions Contributes to Unethical Behaviour
As previously allude to, it is important to not only consider the kind of a person that engages in unethical behaviour. It is equally important to consider the external conditions under which the unethical conduct takes place. If the internal structure of a government organization does not provide adequate methods of control and scrutiny, the opportunities to act unethically can potentially motivate unethical behaviour.
The first kind of person, the ‘bad person’, would take advantage of the lack of control and scrutiny. In a framework where strong methods of control are absent, this person can create a very toxic working environment for other people. This ‘bad person’ can create a culture of accepted unethical behaviour that would aid in distorting the ethical perspective of other people. This kind of culture too creates a pressure to conform to accepted unethical behaviour. Here, the third kind of person would be pushed to act unethically because of the circumstances.
It is also important to acknowledge that in the above scenario the unethical behaviour stems from a culture that the ‘bad person’ creates but that in reality, this may not be the case. That scenario merely explains how a structure can be easily corrupted if proper mechanism of control are not put in place. Often in the real world, the ‘bad person’ cannot be attributed all the fault for unethical behaviour although they could perhaps be the root cause. In reality, most people act independently and decide to act unethically of their own accord based on the kind of person they are and perhaps too, based on the opportunities and incentive to act unethically and low risks of getting caught.
What kind of a public servant would you be?
A great categorization of three kinds of ethical people that exist comes from Paula Gordon (Svara, 88).
No-ethics, Corrupted, Bad People
This kind of person plays games with information in order to get their way, they evade responsibility to the public, abuse their position for their benefit, and function under the presumption that every man is for themselves.
Value-neutral, Ethical Realists
They rely on the law to tell them how to behave because they do not have the ability to determine what is ethically correct or wrong for themselves These kinds of people try to not do bad things, not because they believe them to be bad but because they do not break the law. These people tend to selectively respond to wrongdoings because they themselves can bend the rules to their convenience and understand that all issues are not pragmatic or political possible to address. They care more about the process rather than the intent and they stress productivity and results.
Value-based Ethicists
They have a strong ethical compass because they are able to resist pressure to act unethically. These people see wrongdoing as bad and proactively respond to wrongdoings by others. They do not abuse their privilege and value being truthful and open. They are guided by integrity and serve the public interest, not their own.
NOTE:
It is important to remember that everyone, regardless of how strong they hold their ethical values can be susceptible to acting unethical at one time or another based on many factors and circumstances. However, it is also important to remember that as public administrators, one should always try to be the best version of oneself while advancing the interests and good of the public.
Svara, J. (2007). The ethics primer for public administrators in government and nonprofit organizations. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett.