An unprincipled ethics?: The missing morality of the ASA code

It is argued that the present incarnation of the American Sociological Association’s “Code of Professional Ethics” supplants moral precepts of sociological practice with particularistic procedures and restrictions. This drift from moral reflection to intraprofessional control mechanisms is compared with various ethical theories applicable to social sciences, and explained in terms of perceived structural conditions within and external to the discipline. Richard G. Mitchell, Jr. is an ethnographer whose interest in ethics grew out of fieldwork experience as a participant and observer among mountain climbers (Mountain Experience, University of Chicago Press, 1983), and recently, among American survivalists and related right-wing paramilitary groups (forthcoming).     

Observing abuse: Professional ethics and personal morality in field research

Based on the author's participant observation research in a state institution for the mentally retarded, this article deals with moral and ethical dilemmas that occur in research at settings characterized by routine human abuse. After a discussion of the choices posed by these dilemmas, the author presents preferred solutions. The importance of anticipating potential moral and ethical dilemmas prior to entering the field and delineating the relation between professional ethics and personal morality are discussed as implications of this problem.The author would like to thank Robert Bogdan and Shulamit Reinharz for their extensive comments on previous drafts of this article.Partial support for this article was provided through cooperative agreement No. G0085C03503 with the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author.     

IPRA Code of Athens—The first international code of public relations ethics: Its development and implementation since 1965

In 1965, the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) adopted the International Code of Ethics, which became known as the Code of Athens (IPRA, 2001). The Code was authored by Lucien Matrat, a French public relations pioneer, and reflected a hopeful, post-World War 2 ethical framework with its strong linkage to the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (IPRA, 1994). A code of ethics was an early strategic imperative of IPRA, established 10 years before, and was coupled with a Code of Conduct, known as the Code of Venice of 1961 (0065 and 0070). Both codes were adopted by many national public relations associations and widely promoted.     

The importance of coping skill enhancement in the treatment of the pathological gambler

The importance of coping skill enhancement in the treatment of pathological gamblers is discussed. It is particularly critical to assess and enhance the coping skills of relapse prone gamblers who are marked by unusual degrees of impulsivity, high levels of negative affect and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A study of 1129 substance abusers, including 140 with serious gambling problems is reported. All were assessed to determine their repertoire of coping skills. The patients with serious gambling problems utilized significantly more avoidant and impulsive coping styles.     

The importance of urban backgardens on plant and invertebrate recruitment: a field microcosm experiment

Private backgardens in cities have the capacity to enhance ecological function and connectivity. The importance of increased habitat availability was tested experimentally using microcosms with soil or with soil and vegetation added into Toronto backgardens. Local attributes of the backgardens were recorded, and within the microcosms, recruitment of seeds, plants, and winged and wingless invertebrates were recorded. Natural recruitment by all organisms was significant into the microcosms in the 20 backgardens tested. Invertebrate abundance and diversity, incidental seed recruitment, and aboveground vegetation growth was enhanced regardless of whether only bare soil was added or soil with vegetation. The number of woody plants (non-herbaceous plants with hard lignified tissues or woody parts e.g., stems and are adapted to survive from one year to the next i.e., through winter) in the backgardens predicted seed recruitment and number of plant species predicted winged invertebrate abundance. Hence, simple augmentation of private backgardens—even at an ecologically small-scale—can enhance the capacity of urban systems to provide appropriate habitats for organisms within a difficult matrix for many species.     

The importance of volitional narrative in treatment: An ethnographic case study in a work progran

The revised theory of the model of human occupation expands the concept of volition to include volitional narrative. This paper focuses on the application of this theory of volition to a client's experience in a work program. This ethnographic case study describes the volitional narrative and life world of one client who attended the occupational therapy work based program. For fifteen months the client was the subject of narrative interviews, participant observation, videotapes and telephone contacts. The findings will illustrate how knowledge of a client's volitional narrative and life world can shed critical light on understanding treatment conflicts. Finally, the discussion will underscore how important it is for work based programs to be designed to encourage therapists to adapt their treatment approaches to maximize the opportunities to seek out the client's volitional narratives and to create meaningful experiences that are consistent with the client's life world.     

The role of ethics in interdisciplinary technology assessment

Technology Assessment (TA) is a problem oriented endeavour dealing with political, societal, ecological, etc. problems. Only in rare cases is one individual scientific discipline sufficient to assess these problems. Usually the perspectives of different scientific disciplines have to be combined in order to develop interdisciplinary based recommendations to act. In this paper a quality controlled interdisciplinary discussion process is described which encourages an expert group to generate argumentation chains cross-cutting the disciplinary boundaries. The role of ethical reflection in this procedure depends on the problem situation. Whenever a technical application is on the agenda which cannot be allocated to a so-called “business-as-usual” case, one would ask for ethical reflection. This contribution argues that this ethical reflection has to take place together with the interdisciplinary discussion due to two reasons. Firstly, the technical, economical, legal and social aspects are deeply cross-correlated with the ethical reflection. And secondly, participating in such interdisciplinary discussions enables an ethical reflection which keeps in touch with the real world. Two case studies dealing with robotics applications in health care are mentioned as examples for problem settings, in which interdisciplinary TA succeed in developing discipline-crossing argumentation chains.     

The role of narrative in public relations ethics pedagogy

Competence in ethical decision making is one of the most important issues in the industry and practice of public relations, yet professionals entering the discipline overestimate their knowledge and skills related to ethical principles. This article features a pedagogical approach to strengthen ethics education in public relations through the use of collaborative student-professional ethics narratives. This technique attempts to move beyond a traditional case study approach and transcend traditional classroom boundaries through the development of narratives featuring real ethics situations experienced by public relations professionals. The project involved the development, implementation and assessment of the pedagogical approach that required students to interview local communication professionals (mostly in public relations) and to craft narratives that explore ethical dilemmas these professionals faced. Pre- and post-test surveys and group feedback helped explore the impact of narrative inquiry in helping students internalize ethical lessons.     

Deaf or hard of hearing inmates in prison

Despite laws in the United States enacted to protect individuals with disabilities in prison, there is ample case law to demonstrate that the intent of these laws has not been achieved. Using the existing US legal and social science literatures and experiences, this article considers: the problems hearing-impaired offenders face in prison that are not encountered by non-deaf or hard of hearing inmates; the services and accommodations prisons provide for deaf or hard of hearing inmates so that they can function at least as well as non-deaf or hard of hearing inmates; and the types of scientific research that should be conducted to understand the possible types of deaf or hard of hearing experiences in prisons, the consequences of these experiences, and the best way to address pathological sequela of being deaf or hard of hearing in prison. We argue that the creation of rules to protect this population is of no value unless these laws are implemented as intended. Without monitoring the law in action and studying why the intent of the law may be thwarted, an atmosphere in which deaf or hard of hearing offenders are neglected and even abused will likely occur.     

The ethics and implications of paying participants in qualitative research

It appears that the practice of giving cash or gift vouchers to research participants is becoming increasingly common; however, this practice has received little attention from social researchers. Paying participants has implications in terms of the ethical requirement for consent and may have consequences in terms of recruitment for research projects and for the data collected. In this paper I consider how these issues arose in a research project with lone mothers and the way in which offering payments might help with gaining access to participants. I argue that the possible impact of making payments to research participants should be considered in research accounts and the possible impacts of payments should be more widely debated.     

Practitioners’ perceptions of their ethics in Korean global firms

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to review the perceptions held by public relations practitioners who work in global public relations firms, regarding their ethics, and to identify elements that support their ethics. Results indicate that those practitioners are adamantly ethics-oriented but they have a limited understanding of ethics specific to public relations. No absolute universal ethical standards were found. This study identified nine elements affecting public relations practitioners’ ethics. The important and powerful elements were chiefly attributed to cultural influences. It finally provides critical clues to the process of enhancing public relations professionalism.