The Institute of Social Oversight (ISO) believes that one thing heavily missing in government and many elements of society is the safeguarding of Normative Ethics. This is the Ethics pertaining to what society sees as the norm and defines as acceptable behavior. The ISO adheres to classic Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, these Ethical values would include Temperance against indulgent excesses, Prudence in seeing future events, Diligence in one's work, preventing Conflicts of Interests, and so forth. We believe that building habits that orient toward prosocial behavior for members in an institution and, therefore, the larger community is paramount, without which the collective psychological fabric of society deteriorates.

The Institute of Social Oversight (ISO) has a strong sociological framework for analyzing the incentives and behaviors of institutions and groups, especially regarding how power is obtained and utilized. This analytical framework helps teach Ethics Officers how to navigate the interests of many entities in a given community or singular institution; by understanding this, they would be able to safeguard Prosocial Ethical Values and act with Prudence to ensure they succeed in their work. When all of society is aligned with this vision, then the small and subtle harms that arise invisibly within human behavior will be reduced and greatly improve our quality of life.

There are three types of Ethics Officers: the Junior Ethics Officer who is a standard full-time worker, and the Senior Ethics Officer, which is a management role; these two roles are collectively known as Professional Ethics Officers. Below them is the Volunteer Ethics Officer; they work to assist in safeguarding Ethical values in a part-time capacity, usually as members of Advisory Ethics Committees in various institutions. The day-to-day work of the Ethics Officer revolves around setting the standard for the internal Ethical Code of an institution, reviewing the policies and actions of said institution to ensure they follow the spirit of the Ethical Code, building rapport with personnel of said institution, doing outreach to the larger community to promote Prosocial Virtue Ethical guidelines for everyone, and providing advice on policies to ensure that Ethical values are followed. Ethics Officers also monitor the Ethical behavior of others in a given institution to ensure they adhere to it; consequently, they should be provided some form of disciplinary power when Ethical principles are violated.