Showing papers on "Professional ethics published in 1980"

The ethics of covert methods.

Abstract: This paper concerns ethical issues raised by a covert research enquiTy conducted in a community of primitive sectarians described as 'old time pentecostals'. Covert methods interviewing and fully participant observation were chosen on pragmatic grounds and in view of the subjects' marked rejection of 'the world' in general and of sociology in particular. Two types of ethical problem are considered: matters of individual morality and those of professional ethics. Covert research is a pragmatic expedient, ideally nonreactive and giving access to secret transactions: but it is also justifiable in view of the right of subjects to be free from disturbance and inhibition. It is argued that covert methods are in certain cases favourable to and in the interests of subjects but potentially detrimental to the personality of the fieldworker, in whom certain traits may persist even after he has left the field.

The ethics of psychotherapy.

Abstract: The author addresses the ethics of psychotherapy in terms of the interface between science and ethics, the goals of treatment, the therapeutic relationship, and special issues of confidentiality and therapist-patient sex. He considers the problems of multiple therapeutic modalities, dual allegiance of the therapist, the therapeutic use (and abuse) of power, and issues of dependency and suggests ways to maximize the clinician's exercise of ethical choices. Ethical dilemmas in psychotherapy are not entirely soluble; ultimately, the therapist, guided by his or her profession as a group, will be able to find answers to the complex problems that inevitably arise.

Professional Ethics: Setting, Terrain, and Teacher

Abstract: Traditionally, when the professional hung out his shingle and declared himself ready to take clients, he professed or avowed a technical competence based on a tradition of learning; and, further, he declared himself to be morally accountable for this expertise, and ready in some measure to place it at the service of human need. The professional, to be sure, accepted pay for his work, but presumably he did not, in the fashion of other knowledge merchants—the magician or the wizard—use his knowledge primarily to acquire personal power, or to exhibit virtuosity. He joined knowledge and competence with moral substance, the power of knowledge with some measure of philanthropy. So goes the ideal.

Ethics and medical decision-making.

Abstract: There is a tendency for physicians to approach ethical problems in a manner similar to that in which they approach medical problems. Instead of disease categories (such as congestive heart failure or diarrhea), the physician substitutes moral quandaries (such as euthanasia or abortion). The goal is to learn what the "right" rules are for this particular problem at this particular moment. Although this method has important practical and instructive value, it can produce an empirical attitude toward ethics akin to that found in students who strive to learn medicine solely by algorithms. Using theoretical models as a center for discussion, this article has attempted to approach medical ethics as a decision-making process derived from the physician-patient relationship model in use. What is the type of physician-patient relationship that forms the soundest base for making ethical decisions? It must be realized that the contractual relationship cannot be ignored, for in our consumer-oriented society it will surely remain as a protection for the patient against the incompetent or immoral physician. It should not become the sole guide of physician behavior, however, lest we be satisfied with mediocre behavior as the maximal standard. Likewise, although technical competence is required for one to make the right and good decision, it is insufficient alone as a guide for moral behavior. Given the medically correct facts, a multitude of responses are available which necessitate a moral choice. Physicians need a guiding principle that goes beyond any aesthetic code of behavior, or protection of self-interest, and which enables them to deal with all the unexpected ethical questions faced in providing care to patients. Moral principles such as truth-telling, promise-keeping, and protecting the patient when he is vulnerable, help the physician to act in a moral manner, but lack the encompassing nature of the covenantal promise. The covenantal model includes a donative element that empowers the physician to go beyond any specific prescriptions of behavior in repayment of his gifted position. It inspires fidelity to the patient and the profession and respect for the patient's rights as an individual without either falling prey to the presumptuous attitude of the parental model or the legalistic tone of the contractual model.

Professional ethics: new principles for physicians?

Abstract: Several of the current attempts to formulate systems of medical ethics come from professional organizations of physicians. The American Medical Association (AMA), probably the most influential such group, has drafted a new version of its Principles of Medical Ethics. This document reflects the contemporary uncertainty within organized medicine and the rest of the profession over the definition of its ethical mandate. The AMA's Principles of Medical Ethics is, officially, a document of its House of Delegates, the organization's plenary body. In December 1977 the House of Delegates initiated a review of the existing list of principles. The result thus far is a draft revealing the current controversies over the role of the professional in modem society and the inadequacies of the earlier documents. The AMA has had a formal set of principles for its members since its organizational meeting in Philadelphia in 1847. The original document reveals how quickly such professional statements date. Both AMA members and outsiders are now faintly amused at the quaint language, including the instruction that physicians "should study ... in their deportment, so to unite tenderness with firmness, and condescension with authority." The code, at the time, consisted of three long sections outlining the duties of physicians and even the obligations of patients, and also structuring professional relations and the relation of the profession to the public. That code was revised in 1903, 1912, and 1947. In 1957 a major revision resulted in a short list of ten principles, which are now under discussion.

Professional values in a bureaucratic structure

Abstract: For the purposes of this paper a bureaucratic organisation is defined as an organisation that relies on rules and non professional control structures. Thus librarians working for local authorities are employed in complex organisations in which final authority, indeed the final responsibility rests with non professionals. The non professional rules, OK?

Corporate Codes of Conduct: A Survey of Current Practice.

Abstract: This paper draws on a survey of 673 chief financial officers of U.S. corporations to examine the prevalence of corporate codes of conduct and associated administrative practices. A content analysis...