For a very long time leaders and high ranking officials have been exposed to the public as having extra-marital affairs which did not end well for them, but not as badly as it would for a normal civilian due to obvious reasons; power. The consequences and sentences that they faced were based upon their place in the society and the respect that they should never have been given by their subjects. One avoidable consequence that is dire to such people is a shame. Shame that arises from despise from the society is as a result of the ethical issues present in any given society. Abuse of sacred sexual relationships has been considered one of the greatest immoralities in many societies since time immemorial. This paper, therefore, focuses on the ethical issues that come up due to the actions of one leader in the army, engaging in a sexual relationship with a junior captain.
Jeffrey Allen Sinclair, whose spouse is Rebecca J. Sinclair, is a Brigadier general currently serving in the United States Army since 1985. In the year 2012, Sinclair was claimed to have sexually harassed his female lover, who claimed to have been threatened if she did not comply with the demands of his general. The news of the affair broke out after the captain approached the commanding officer of the Brigadier general, Major General James Huggins. The case was brought to court where James L. Pohl presided over it. The main matter of concern here is not the court’s decision, but rather the ethical issues involved with this situation.
Under the military code of justice, adultery is a crime. Sinclair was a married man, thereby putting him in no position to deny the allegations of adultery. It is ethically wrong for a married man to have an affair. It despises the wife of that person, making her feel disrespected, insignificant and above all, betrayed. Faithfulness is one moral factor that is upheld very highly when people hear of it. When it comes to morally accepted behavior, which is what ethics is, faithful people qualify to be called ethically straight. Brigadier General Jeffrey Allen Sinclair broke the military code of conduct and the values of the society too.
In the female captain’s confession, she mentioned that Sinclair had forced her to engage in sexual behavior that is not ethically acceptable as a healthy sexual style. Oral sex is a form of sex that is ethically not acceptable and the fact that Sinclair forced it to be done to him only aggravates the situation. Sexual practices are only ethically acceptable as long as it is between the right people and done in the best way. The Brigadier broke the ethics code by engaging in oral sex and forcing it.
Abusing someone, anyone, whether a junior or a senior, is an act that goes against standards of society and in this caise the military. In the testimony of the accuser, she said that Sinclair constantly abused the females in the brigade he commanded. In her efforts to correct his lover, she would be told that he was a general and could do as he pleases. In the present state of the world, gender discrimination is a forgotten matter and has found its way into values of a society. Despising women was an action that Sinclair engaged in and, therefore, went against values of the society and the military.
Brigadier General Jeffrey Allen Sinclair broke the ethics of the military society by abusing his office and power through his adulterous actions with not one, but three women. To make the matters worse, all of these women served in the same unit under him, according to allegations. The codes of ethics of any given society stipulate that any office should be upheld highly and respected with the amount of integrity that it deserves. Sinclair broke that code of ethics by involving himself with other women before getting a divorce. He set a bad example to the other military officers he was serving alongside with.
Ethics is an essential part of the society that helps in controlling and maintaining good behavior among the members of society. It should, therefore, be enforced and made known to all. Leaders above all should be examples and when they go against these standards, the society begins to rot from the very core.
Reference
Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Unknown. "Jeffrey Allen Sinclair." Wikipedia, 2014. Web. 24 Mar 2014.
Marcotte, A. (2014). The Sexual Assault Case Against Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair Would Be Just as Messy in Civilian Court. Slate, 13th march, p. single.
The Huffington Post. (2014). U.S. Army General Allegedly Threatened To Kill Sex-Crime Victim. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/jeffrey-sinclair-trial-se_n_2081908.html [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014].
