Critical Business Ethics: From Corporate Self‐interest to the Glorification of the Sovereign Pater

Research in critical business ethics has demonstrated how economic self‐interest is the primary reason that businesses adopt nominally ethical practices. After reviewing this body of research, the authors propose that it can be further developed by questioning its conception of self‐interest, by exploring its non‐economic dimensions and by reconsidering the meaning of the ‘self’ that is said to have such interests. Drawing insights from feminist theory and political theology, the paper interrogates corporate business ethics as a public glorification of corporate power based on a patriarchal conception of the corporation. Genealogically rooted in early Christian ceremonial practices used to glorify God the Father, this is a glorification for the sake of glory rather than just for the sake of commercial ends. The authors further argue that corporate business ethics is rendered as the feminized servant of the sovereign corporate patriarch, always at hand to glorify the master. The meaning of corporate business ethics is hence one where the feminine is not absent, but rather is servile to a masculinity conceived in relation to domination, greatness and sovereignty. Collectively, this shows how the power wielded and desired by corporate business ethics far exceeds the pursuit of financial self‐interest; it is also related to modelling the corporation on a male God. The paper concludes by considering how research in critical business ethics can be extended through forms of inquiry that destabilize the ethical glorification of the corporation, and displace its masculinist privilege.     

AAC statement on NAATP lawsuit

As the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) was beginning its annual leadership meeting May 6, American Addiction Centers sued the organization in federal court (see “AAC sues NAATP for defamation,” ADAW, May 13, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32362 ). We wanted to provide further information on the lawsuit (which we linked to in our story last week). Below is a statement provided exclusively to ADAW by AAC May 15.     

Fiellin: Keep the prescriber training for buprenorphine

It seems that almost everyone wants to deregulate buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) — with proposed legislation focused on getting rid of the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) waiver altogether (see ADAW, Oct. 11, “Bill to deregulate buprenorphine raises concerns among OTPs,” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32510 ).     

Kelly at CCSAD: AA works,but most severe patients need treatment

On Sept. 6, as the remnants of Hurricane Dorian were heading for Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders' (CCSAD's) plenary speaker John F. Kelly, Ph.D., Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the founder and director of the Recovery Research Institute, gave the 1,100 attendees — many of them representatives of the treatment field — some welcome news: 75% of people who once had a problem with drugs and alcohol are now in remission. “Think about that,” said Kelly, who has become a mainstay of the speaker circuit in the addiction field. “This disorder has a good prognosis, despite, sadly, the opioid crisis.”     

Pivot to Telehealth: Narrative Reflections on Circle of Security Parenting Groups during COVID‐19

In response to COVID‐19 hygiene and physical distancing restrictions, our service rapidly shifted to delivering Circle of Security‐Parenting? (COS‐P) groups via telehealth. In this article we report the perspectives and experiences of the group facilitator and the parents who received the intervention during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We use semi‐structured, qualitative interviews to explore the advantages, challenges, and positive impacts of the online parenting group from the perspectives of the group leader and the five group participants. Participants’ narrative reflections show that they were satisfied with the convenient and engaging online delivery of the program and would recommend it to other parents. Parents reported significant improvements in their parenting and greater awareness of their strengths and struggles. The online delivery of COS‐P resulted in more efficient service delivery, greater attendance rates, and adherence to the model. The stressors on the experienced facilitator, due to the abrupt transition and multiple technical and communication challenges, may have been mitigated by supervisor and collegial support, as well as careful preparation for herself and the participants. Future research should investigate the effectiveness of online versus face‐to‐face delivery of the intervention, including what works for whom.