1.Identify the facts.
At this step you will need to identify any relevant facts from the dilemma. This is simply just information given in the dilemma. For example if the dilemma states “Joe has been a police officer for 5 years”. One of your facts could be Joe has been a police officer for 5 years. You do not need to speculate or try to bring in your own assumptions. Remember at this stage we are just interested in explicit FACTS. (Please include at least 4 facts, this can be in a bulleted format).
2.Identify relevant values
At this step you will need to identify any values that a relatable to the dilemma. For example sticking with the example above, seeing as Joe is a police officer one of the values associated with this dilemma may be duty, power or authority. Another example may be if a dilemma states that there is an individual that consistently steals money, one of their values may be wealth.
3.Identify all possible moral dilemmas for each party involved.
At this step we need to identify what dilemmas each person in the dilemma could potentially face.
For example if a dilemma states that “Joe is off duty and see’s a fellow officer, Deputy White out drinking while he is supposed to be on duty. Joe is trying to decide whether or not he should confront Deputy White or decide to turn him in”.
So you would indicate the dilemmas that face Joe and Deputy White.
Joe- Should Joe confront Deputy White? Should Joe call the Chief and turn him in? Should he just act like he didnt see Deputy White?
Deputy White- If Joe turns him in he could lose his job.
4.Decide what is the most immediate moral or ethical issue facing the individual.
At this step you are simply stating which dilemma you are focusing on. For example you can narrow it down and say Joe is trying to decide if he should confront Deputy White.
5.Resolve the ethical or moral dilemma by using an ethical system or some other means of decision making.
At this last step you need to decide how you are going to resolve this dilemma and what ethical system it correlates with. For example you can say, If I were Joe I would choose to confront Deputy White because I care about my co-worker and would be concerned about his well-being and the potential of losing his job. This resolution aligns with Ethics of Care because it is focused on the needs of Deputy White.
