Where does unethical behavior start? As a keynote speaker on the topic of ethics and teaching choices, consequences and good decision making, I am often asked that question. As with most anything else in life, there are no simple answers. Does it sometimes start with a child’s upbringing? Does a child learn unethical behavior from a parent or guardian and then bring that behavior onto a sports team, or workplace or a nonprofit association? I ask again, does unethical behavior run in families?
Yes, it can happen and sadly, unless there are psychological intervention and counseling, the child will perpetuate the behavior. In the absence of taught consequences for unethical behavior, there is little to stop the actions. Let me examine a recent case of a family gone unethical.
The Williams Family
In Georgia, the police have just arrested a father and daughter for selling and distributing drugs. The drugs were marijuana and MDMA (“Ecstasy”). Their area of distribution was the north Forsyth area. The father-daughter were Daniel McGregor Williams III, 51, and Morgan Christina Williams, 17.
The arrest came after the Forsyth County Drug Task Force raided a storage locker and found a large number of drugs and money. The police had honed in on the 17-year-old, who was enrolled at both North Forsyth High School and the University of Northern Georgia. She sold drugs to the students, and her father was the apparent mastermind.
According to the police report, the teenager has been charged with “…the sale of marijuana, possession of more than an ounce of marijuana, intent to distribute marijuana, intent to distribute MDMA, tampering with evidence and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug-related objects.”
The father apparently coordinated the operation by directing the daughter as to potential buyers in addition to financing the operation, sourcing drugs and making logistical arrangements. In the world of unethical behavior, where there is always a need, an opportunity, and rationalization, the father obviously saw an opportunity to use his (minor-aged) daughter as a front for the operation. He knew he would be charged as an adult, but the courts, in his mind, would be lenient on his “little girl.” I am tempted to use words like “coward,” but that is not an ethical assessment.
The police had been aware of Morgan’s activities for months but they were obviously waiting to connect the father. The Morgan’s would have been fools to keep going had they known the police were watching them – or would they? This is where the aspect of need comes into play.
When the police ripped open the storage locker, they found $22,000 in cash. Daniel Williams wasn’t stupid. A drawback of the exorbitant profits made from drug dealing is that the money can’t be banked; it must somehow be laundered. If Daniel wanted a $3,000 Armani suit, for example, he could go to a clothier and pay cash for it. What raises suspicion is when a man who is seemingly unemployed deposits $22,000 in his personal bank account.
Daniel had another problem; he apparently was a drug abuser. He was recently arrested while driving drunk and being in possession of prescription pills. It is easy to read that as “opioids.” His need might have extended to supporting his own drug addiction. In a round-about way, the daughter might have been trying to help her father maintain his addiction.
A Crazy Wrinkle
If this case of bad ethics were not crazy enough, when Morgan was only 14 her mother, Elaine Williams, was arrested for advertising for a baby on Craigslist – for her daughter! The mother was charged with “domestic-unlawful advertisement inducement for the adoption of children.” Again, does unethical behavior run in families?
T
he charges were dropped, but the damage was already done. The mother, in essence, wanted the baby to satisfy some kind of rationalization to satisfy the daughter’s needs. Though this isn’t a psychological treatise, very often young women want or have babies because they have a need to nurture something. They, themselves, are not being nurtured.
The dual tragedy here is that Morgan grew up in a family devoid of ethical behavior. As she sits in a jail cell unless the state steps in to offer her psychiatric counseling she will never truly understand the consequences of her behavior. Of course, the other aspect here is that Morgan had no compunction in selling drugs to other minors.
Though the police claim they just found marijuana and “Ecstasy” in the storage locker, as the father was undoubtedly involved with opioids, I would not doubt they offered minors a stronger drug. What then?
What Morgan learned, she will teach. This issue here is if anyone with a sense of ethics will help her.
