Wrongdoing in the context of "Immoral"

Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other expression of feelings of remorse. Atonement "is closely associated to forgiveness, reconciliation, sorrow, remorse, repentance, reparation, and guilt". It can be seen as a necessary step on a path to redemption. Expiation is the related concept of removing guilt, particularly the undoing of sin or other transgressions in religious contexts.

Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist their members or employees in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally refers to either a code of business ethics, a codes of conduct for employees, or a code of professional practice, and many organizations use the phrases ethical code and code of conduct interchangeably. Ethical codes are often adopted by management and also employers, not to promote a particular moral theory, but rather because they are seen as pragmatic necessities for running an organization in a complex society in which moral concepts play an important part. Even organizations and communities that may be considered criminal in nature may have ethical codes of conduct, official or unofficial.

They are distinct from moral codes that may apply to the culture, education, and religion of a whole society. It is debated whether the politicians should apply a code of ethics, or whether it is a profession entirely discretionary, just subject to compliance with the law: however, recently codes of practice have been approved in this field.

Remorse is a distressing emotion experienced by an individual who regrets actions which they have done in the past which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or wrong. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment. When a person regrets an earlier action or failure to act, it may be because of remorse or in response to various other consequences, including being punished for the act or omission. People may express remorse through apologies, trying to repair the damage they have caused, or self-imposed punishments.

In a legal context, the perceived remorse of an offender is assessed by Western justice systems during trials, sentencing, parole hearings, and in restorative justice. However, there are epistemological problems with assessing an offender's level of remorse.

In law, scienter (/saɪˈɛntər/, Law Latin for "knowingly", Latin pronunciation: [skiˈɛntɛr], from Latin scire 'to know, to separate one thing from another') is a legal term for intent or knowledge of wrongdoing, or reckless disregard for the truth. An offending party then has knowledge of the "wrongness" of an act or event prior to committing it.

For example, if a man sells a car with brakes that do not work to his friend, but the seller does not know about the brake problem, the seller then has no scienter. If he sells the car and knew of the problem before he sold the car, he has scienter.