Values

Expression of Values as Personal Preferences and/or as Moral Norms

Before examining the distinction between instrumental and intrinsic values, it is worth noting at the outset that values can be expressed as personal preferences and/or as normative prescriptions to be adhered to by all within a given jurisdiction. Values expressed exclusively as personal preferences are limited to guiding the actions and activities of the person holding the values. From this perspective, one person's subjective values are not imposed upon others. On the other hand, values that are defined as social norms purport to enforce a degree of moral conformity across the social and/or jurisdictional parameters within which they are established. Within the context of [Page 970]criminal justice ethics, values expressed as moral imperatives are of primary concern because of the extent to which they establish what is deemed to be good or right for everybody. Values expressed as personal preferences, on the other hand, are limited to the private affairs of individuals and have no immediate or tangible impact on the wider community.

An exception to note here is that there can be public clashes between the subjective values of an individual and the values expressed as moral norms underpinning the fabric of the society in which the individual resides. Individuals may choose nonconformity against the moral norms of a society if they feel that their subjective values are compromised by doing so. Such individuals may therefore be required to take a moral stance, effectively as a type of conscientious objector. However, this only becomes a criminal justice issue if such a stance takes a public form.

There might also be times when individuals willingly and openly challenge the socially accepted values within a jurisdiction on the grounds that their own, subjective values are morally superior. Such challenges often underpin, for example, acts of civil disobedience. However, when this occurs the expression of values as personal preference begins to also take the form of moral values by which all individuals should live. An important point to note here is that the normative, moral characteristics of values are determined by the way values are expressed, independent of how widely acknowledged they are as the dominant moral values within a society.

Instrumental Values: Means to an End

Instrumental values are values that are justified with references to outcomes or consequences. A value presented in this way is a means to an end, rather than an end in and of itself. The language of “means and ends” is common within ethical debates, and a prime criminal justice illustration of this is in relation to noble cause corruption. So, if one says capital punishment is justified because it produces a significant reduction in homicides, then one is expressing the death penalty as having an instrumental value in deterring others from committing murder. All arguments concerning punishment that are based upon deterrence express instrumental values. This is because the justification is expressed in terms of what individuals think the punishment will achieve. For example, saying that prison is preferable to community sentences because it is more likely to deter others from committing crimes expresses punishment in instrumental terms. The prison sentence is favored because of what it achieves.

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