Showing papers on "Situational ethics published in 2000"

Motivating the Academically Unmotivated: A Critical Issue for the 21st Century:

Abstract: Interests and goals have been identified as two important motivational variables that impact individuals' academic performances, yet little is known about how best to utilize these variables to enhance childrens' learning. We first review recent developments in the two areas and then examine the connection between interests and goals. We argue that the polarization of situational and individual interest, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and performance and mastery goals must be reconsidered. In addition, although we acknowledge the positive effects of individual interest, intrinsic motivation, and the adoption of mastery goals, we urge educators and researchers to recognize the potential additional benefits of externally triggered situational interest, extrinsic motivation, and performance goals. Only by dealing with the multidimensional nature of motivational forces will we be able to help our academically unmotivated children.

Environmental Values, Beliefs, and Actions: A Situational Approach

Abstract: This study investigated the influence of the interaction between personal and situational variables in environmental behavior and the predictive power of values and beliefs. Three different kinds o...

The Winding Road from Employee to Complainant: Situational and Psychological Determinants of Wrongful-Termination Claims

Abstract: Structured interviews with 996 recently fired or laid-off workers provided data for analyses of the situational and psychological antecedents of both thinking about filing a wrongful-termination cl...

Investigating instrument-based pragmatic variability: effects of enhancing discourse completion tests

Abstract: A significant dilemma in sociolinguistic research concerns the methods used to collect data, the validity of different types of data and, '…their adequacy to approximate the authentic performance of linguistic action' (Kasper and Dahl 1991: 215). Manes and Wolfson (1981) claimed that the most authentic data in sociolinguistic research is spontaneous speech gathered by ethnographic observation. Difficulties in relying on this method are well-documented (Blum-Kulka et al. 1989, Aston 1995) and have led to the wide use of an elicitation procedure known as the discourse completion test (DCT). Justified criticisms have been levelled at the DCT, some labelling it an instrument that limits the capturing of authentic communication, and others making it look almost obsolete. However, there are to date no other sociolinguistic data collection instruments that have as many administrative advantages as the DCT, making it, practically speaking, a resource pragmatics testing and teaching will continue to rely on. Furthermore, a better understanding of communication in such a constructed context may help us gain a better understanding of authentic communication. This study investigates the effect of systematic modification to DCT situational prompts used to elicit requests on the responses of native and non-native speakers of English. Modification included enhancing the situational prompts by adding information on a number of social and contextual variables considered relevant to this study. Results indicate that enhancement did not affect the request strategy or amount of internal modification. However, enhancing situational prompts did produce significantly longer, more elaborated requests in both groups. These findings point to the importance of external modification of speech act production and the need for an instrument that can satisfactorily account for both variation and context. This study has implications for both teaching and testing in interlanguage pragmatics.

Processing alternative explanations of behavior: Correction or integration?

Abstract: Three experiments investigated how activation of knowledge about situational forces affects discounting in dispositional inference tasks. Each experiment varied a different knowledge activation factor--salience, accessibility, or specificity of situational information. In addition, all 3 experiments varied situational demands and cognitive load. The results showed that cognitive load eliminated discounting when situational information was low in salience, accessibility, or specificity. However, when situational information was more salient, accessible, or specific, it produced strong discounting effects even when perceivers were under cognitive load. These results are discussed in terms of correction and integration models of dispositional inferences from behavior.

Ethics-Related Responses to Specific Situation Vignettes: Evidence of Gender-Based Differences and Occupational Socialization

Abstract: This research presents findings from a study of gender-based differences in an ethical decision situation The study focuses on gender as it relates to situational factors and accounting experience The primary element of interest is how the gender of the actor (the person described in each vignette) influences the evaluation/assessment of the ethical/unethical decisions While previous research has provided evidence of ethical differences relating to the gender of the responding subjects, limited evidence has been presented relating to situational issues that may influence assessments of ethical decisions

Bioethics for clinicians: 18. Aboriginal cultures

Abstract: Although philosophies and practices analogous to bioethics exist in Aboriginal cultures, the terms and categorical distinctions of "ethics" and "bioethics" do not generally exist. In this article we address ethical values appropriate to Aboriginal patients, rather than a preconceived "Aboriginal bioethic." Aboriginal beliefs are rooted in the context of oral history and culture. For Aboriginal people, decision-making is best understood as a process and not as the correct interpretation of a unified code. Aboriginal cultures differ from religious and cultural groups that draw on Scripture and textual foundations for their ethical beliefs and practices. Aboriginal ethical values generally emphasize holism, pluralism, autonomy, community- or family-based decision-making, and the maintenance of quality of life rather than the exclusive pursuit of a cure. Most Aboriginal belief systems also emphasize achieving balance and wellness within the domains of human life (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual). Although these bioethical tenets are important to understand and apply, examining specific applications in detail is not as useful as developing a more generalized understanding of how to approach ethical decision-making with Aboriginal people. Aboriginal ethical decisions are often situational and highly dependent on the values of the individual within the context of his or her family and community.

Going equipped - Criminology, situational crime prevention and the resourceful offender

Abstract: In showing more interest in the crime event than the offender, situational crime prevention has tended to be at the margins of mainstream academic criminology. Yet offenders can only exploit potential crime opportunities if they have the resources to take advantage of them. To understand how crime patterns are generated, situational crime prevention must also consider offender resources and their distribution and social-technical change. Resources have been central to much traditional offendei-centred criminology but mainly for understanding what motivates offending. Consideration of crime-resource needs, availability, development, distribution and change provides a potential bridge between traditional offender-centred criminology and situational crime prevention.

Ethics of Tomorrow's Business Managers the Influence of Personal Beliefs and Values, Individual Characteristics, and Situational Factors

Abstract: Cheating is a common problem on today's college campuses. This study examined the determinants of college students' attitudes toward various forms of cheating. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students who are idealists, older, economics majors, or middle children tend to behave more ethically than do other students. Students who are male, tolerant, relativistic, and opportunistic tend to behave less ethically than other students. The opportunity to cheat is able to explain cheating more than any of the other determinants.

Peer reporting of coworker wrongdoing: A qualitative analysis of observer attitudes in the decision to report versus not report unethical behavior

Abstract: An employee who observes unethical behavior by a colleague will often question whether the incident warrants reporting. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may affect peer reporting of questionable behavior committed by a colleague. One hundred ninety‐seven (N = 197) registered nurses responded to a survey regarding reports of unethical behavior by coworkers. Results revealed that individual characteristics of the observer (such as personal ethics), situational factors (such as severity of the wrongdoing), and organizational issues (such as compliance or non‐compliance with policy and procedures) contributed to the reporting or not reporting of a coworker's wrongdoing. Discussion and implications suggest that various individual, situational, and organizational issues may affect an employee's decision to either report or not report unethical behavior committed by a coworker

Gender and emotion: Engendering gender differences in shame and guilt: Stereotypes, socialization, and situational pressures

Abstract: Characteristics of shame and guilt During the past decade, shame and guilt have increasingly captured the attention of many social scientists. One sign of this growing interest is the proliferation of instruments available to measure the two constructs (see table 12.1 for a brief overview of the instruments most widely used to measure adults' self-reports of guilt and shame). Although the instruments differ greatly, they reflect a growing consensus regarding fundamental differences between the two emotions in terms of their situational antecedents, appraisals, experiential aspects, and action tendencies. Shame involves a focus on one's global self – who I am and who I do not want to be – with its source being an unwanted identity . Because of the focus on one's own or others' (imagined) evaluation of the self as inferior or deficient, the ashamed person feels exposed, small, passive, and unable. We frequently hide or privately manage shame, because of its painful nature. At the same time, “being” ashamed communicates an awareness that we are somehow inadequate and need to defer or change lest someone launch further attacks on our identity and bases for our mutual relationships. While shame involves the global self, some construe guilt as a reaction to a specific act of omission or commission that violates moral standards. We prefer to view guilt as arising from people's belief that their behavior somehow disadvantages a valued other. Immoral deeds (e.g., infidelity) can provoke guilt in some people, some of the time. But many guilt-inducing events do not necessarily involve unethical behaviors (e.g., outperforming your best friend on an exam; getting invited to a party when your friend did not).

Additive Effects in the Perception of Sarcasm: Situational Disparity and Echoic Mention

Abstract: In 2 experiments, we tested the prediction that perceptions of sarcasm are influenced critically by 2 factors: the size of the situational disparity between speakers' beliefs, desires, or expectations and actual outcomes; and the memory cues presented by the ironic utterance that directs perceivers' attention to the situational disparity. Experiment 1 verified the prediction that the perception of sarcasm increases with an increase in the size of situational disparity. Experiment 2 investigated the relation between situational disparity and another cue to speakers' sarcastic intentions, echoic mention. The experiment found additive effects of the magnitude of situational disparity and the memory cueing capability of the utterance, suggesting that the factors make independent contributions to the perception of sarcasm.

Student-Centered Teaching: Making It Work

Abstract: I recently taught a new course at a two-year technical school. I knew from my investigation of the program that learners were typically exposed to authority approaches to learning. At the first session, I asked learners to complete an "interests and background" form and one of the questions I asked was, "Do you need help with tests, writing, or public speaking?" One of the students checked off yes next to help with tests and wrote in, "Thank you. No one has ever asked before." Why don't we ask our students what they need? What does it take to be more focused on those needs, to be more "student-centered?" Ultimately, being student-centered is more of an attitude than an activity. Appreciating student-centered teaching means starting at the source. Student-centered teaching, responsive teaching, and individualized instruction are concepts in adult education that flow directly from humanistic educational philosophy. "The goal of humanistic education is the development of persons--persons who are open to change and continued learning, persons who strive for self-actualization, and persons who can live together as fully-functioning individuals" (Elias and Merriam, 1984, p. 122). Humanistic education values the student as a whole person, a person who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. "The role of the teacher in a humanistic education setting is that of facilitator, helper, and partner in the learning process" (Elias and Merriam, 1984, p. 125). Student-centered then is the total orientation of the teacher to the learner. This includes the teacher's attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values system. The need for individualizing instruction, is a recognition of the belief that learners differ in all respects: intellectual, cognitive, affective, and situational. Only from the humanistic perspective can the full import of student-centered teaching and individualized instruction be realized. Learners can be said to differ in respect to intellectual ability, styles and methods of cognitive processing, personality, ways of making meaning, physical characteristics, socialization, developmental characteristics, educational attainment, and more. This is not by any means an exhaustive list of individual differences. Paradoxically, generalizations about learners are useful not so much to guide your teaching as to guide your understanding of the individual participants in each program. Effective teaching depends on being student-centered to the learners in your course or program, not to all learners. Fortunately, the list of differences that you can hope to assess or appreciate in any given group of learners is manageable. These include learner needs, preferences for different cognitive and learning styles, preferences for different teaching styles, physical differences, and preferences for learning environments: cognitive, emotional, and physical. Student-centered teaching begins long before learners enter the picture. You can readily engage in a self-assessment process regarding your own proficiencies. Numerous recommendations have been made regarding the skills and proficiencies required for student-centered teaching. Two broad categories of instructor proficiency can be identified: content mastery and teaching style. Hiemstra and Sisco (1991) and Knox (1986) discuss a number of strategies for becoming an effective instructor including understanding good instruction and effective instructional planning. "For instructors whose aim is to empower participants with the desire and ability to guide their continued learning beyond the program, instructional mastery and style are intertwined components of the teaching/learning transaction" (Knox, 1986, p. 40). A high-level of content mastery allows for the possibility that you will be able to accomplish the subject matter objectives and also be student-centered to learners, including individualizing instruction. As Knox (1986) says, "a very proficient instructor may be able to respond to unanticipated questions and directions of inquiry and to encourage learners to pursue their varied interests related to the content" (Knox, 1986, p. …

The Impact of Customer Characteristics and Moral Philosophies on EthicalJudgments of Salespeople

Abstract: This study considers customer characteristics as situational influences on a salesperson'sethical judgment formation. Specifically, customer gender, income, and propensity to buy were considered as factors which may bias these judgments. Additionally, the gender of the salesperson and their moral value structure were examined as moderating effects. An experiment using real estate agents reading hypothetical sales scenarios revealed differences across (1) customer gender, (2) customer income, and (3) level of the respondent'sidealism. Significant interactive effects with these factors were also found involving respondent gender and level of idealism. These and previous findings which consider situational effects on ethical decision-making, indicate that a more contingent approach to ethics studies is warranted.

Situational trust and co-operative partnerships between physicians and their patients: a theoretical explanation transferable from business practice

Abstract: A model to explain interpersonal trust development, and its consequences for co-operative behaviour in doctor/patient partnerships derived from the context of business relationships is applied to patient/physician relationships. Threshold barriers exist against all human behaviours or actions and trust is the process by which barriers to co-operation and compliance are overcome. Dispositional trust (a psychological trait to be trusting) is dominant in the early stages of a relationship and contributes to the weight of subsequent trust development. Co-operative behaviour or compliance ultimately requires a secure situational trust emerging from consultations, which is carried forward as learnt trust and modified in each subsequent consultation. The model comprises three types of situational trust (calculus-based, knowledge-based, and identification trust) and five co-operation criteria from which to determine an individual's tendency for co- operative behaviour. These model components can be identified and mapped from a range of qualitative data, with the aim of enhancing co-operative behaviour and efficiently achieving optimal patient compliance.

When will grievants desire voice?: a test of situational, motivational, and attributional explanations

Abstract: Justice research has established that voice enhances procedural justice—a phenomenon known as the ‘voice effect’—through both instrumental and non‐instrumental mechanisms. However, limited research attention has been devoted to the underlying motivational bases for the operation of one or the other explanatory mechanism in a given situation. We report the findings of two laboratory studies examining situational, motivational, and attributional underpinnings for the voice effect. We found that motivation to voice varied with characteristics of the authority to whom a grievance is directed. In both studies, an interaction revealed that non‐instrumental motivation for voice is more important when instrumental motivation is lacking or unavailable. In Study 2, we introduce the role of social attributions into research on the voice effect, finding that grievants' judgments about their objectives in using voice vary with the attributions they make about the motives behind the authority's actions. We discuss implications of our findings for both theory and practice.

Situational evaluation of teaching on campus

Abstract: To provide a broader context for the evaluation of teaching, more inquiry-based methods of evaluation are considered.

Toward a Methodology for Managing Information Systems Implementation: A Social Constructivist Perspective

Abstract: Introduction And Review of the Implementation Literature Implementation of information systems has been a topic of considerable interest to practitioners as well as academic researchers for over two decades. In a broad sense, implementation refers to all that must be done by a specific organization for it to be able to harness the capabilities of a particular information technology as envisioned. A number of prominent operations research/management science (OR/MS) and information systems (IS) researchers have recognized that behavioral issues rather than technological issues seem to be at the root of problems related to implementation (Schultz and Slevin, 1975; Ginzberg, 1978; Lyytinen and Hirschheim, 1987; etc.). Consequently, much of the research on implementation in the fields of OR/MS and IS has focused on the related human aspects. Different scholars have tried to address the problem of implementation in different ways, thus deriving different insights and prescriptions for successful implementation. Among the first to analyze implementation were Churchman and Schainblatt (1965), who viewed implementation as "the problem of determining what activities of the scientist and the manager are most appropriate to bring about an effective relationship between the two". They recommended a relationship of "mutual understanding" between that scientist (i.e., the IS professional) and the manager (i.e., the user) wherein each would come to understand the other through a dialectical process (see Figure 1a). While Churchman and Schainblatt's approach was a novel and useful way of framing implementation, it had at least three serious limitations: first, the approach completely ignored the system (technology) that was to be implemented; second, it provided almost no guidance on how to achieve the state of mutual understanding; and third, the approach did not incorporate the fact that "scientists" and "managers" do not (and cannot) operate isolated from the context of implementation. The next wave of research (Lucas, 1975; Schultz, Ginzberg and Lucas, 1984; DeSanctis, 1984; Leonard-Barton, 1988) thus focused on identifying a broad range of factors that affect implementation outcome (see Figure 1b). Factors identified are classified as: * individual variables such as needs, cognitive style, personality, demographics, decision-style, and expectancy contributions; * organizational variables such as differentiation/ integration, extent of centralization, autonomy of unit, culture, group norms, reward systems, and power distributions; * situational variables such as user involvement, nature of analyst-user communication, organizational validity, and the existence of critical mass; and * technological variables which include the type of technology (MIS, TPS, CASE tools, EMS, etc.), and characteristics of technology such as transferability, implementation complexity, divisibility, and cultural content. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] As scholars started understanding the role of different factors, they came to the realization that implementation was not a static phenomenon as implicitly assumed by those conducting factors research, and that implementation would be better understood as a process mediated by certain conditions such as project management, presence of a champion and top management support (see Figure 1c). While some scholars adopting the "process view" saw implementation as diffusion of innovation, most viewed it as a process of changing the institutionalized way of doing things within an organization (Ginzberg, 1978; Galbraith, 1979), and thus, existing process models of organization change (e.g. Lewin/Schein model, Kolb/Frohman model) were often used to conceptualize the implementation of information systems. The process view of implementation was further developed by scholars influenced by the "socio-technical" school of thought (e.g., Bostrom and Heinen, 1977; Markus, 1983; Robey, 1987), and this "interactionist" approach arguably remains the dominant one for the study of implementation of IS in organizations (see Figure 1d). …

Words and Deeds: A Focus Theory of Norms

Abstract: The paper presents a view of social norms as situationally contingent. We tend to obey a norm when it is made salient, and thus we can focus upon it. In turn, the salience of a norm is contingent upon the situation we are in. We respond, often in an entirely automatic way, to situational cues that focus our attention on a salient norm. And we are able to focus on a particular norm because situational cues activate a cognitive schema that tells us how to behave appropriately in the present context. I present the results of several experiments that lend credibility to this view. My conclusion is that the claim that norms influence behavior is vindicated by the experimental results. To use social norms in an explanatory and predictive role, however, we need much more knowledge than we presently have about which situational cues focus our attention on which norms.

The formation of entrepreneurial intentions

Abstract: This book examines the relationship between a person's intentions to start a business and specific personal and situational factors.

Situational mechanisms of peer group interaction in collaborative meaning-making: Processes and conditions for learning

Abstract: This paper discusses a case study that investigated situational mechanisms of peer group interaction in collaborative activity. Its goal was to highlight the processes and conditions for meaning-making and to characterise the complex relations of social and cognitive processes emerging in peer-mediated collaborative learning. The pedagogical framework derives from situated views of cognition which aim to engage the learner in activities which encourage problem posing and solving, negotiation and knowledge construction. Twenty 12 year-olds participated in the study. Each student worked in solo and in dyadic conditions on two tasks from their mathematics and language curriculum. Data were gathered by means of videotapes, direct observations, transcriptions, stimulated recall interviews, questionnaires and evaluations of the students’ task productions. Social interaction was analysed at a micro-analytic level within a three-dintensional analytic framework focusing on the communicative function, the nature of collaboration and cognitive processes. The results highlight the interactional and discursive processes inherent in peer-mediated collaborative learning and reveal situational features of students’ social activity which either support or inhibit successful collaboration. The ways in which the logic of peer interaction is reciprocally established in students’ evolving interactions and is shaped by their social and cognitive activity is highlighted. The results inaicate that the complexity and openness of the task, student initiation in meaning-making, and the opportunity to use different semiotic tools are important for supporting dialogic meaning-making in solo and in collaborative activity.

Learning to work, working to learn: theories of situational education

Abstract: Universities are coming under increasing pressure to provide education that is more relevant and pertinent to the needs of the workplace. In this chapter, the author explores the changing nature of education and how its interface with the workplace creates new learner identities and pedagogical practices. The author suggests that the work-based approach has seen a shift in the university away from education to learning, and identifies some of the issues that can serve to provide an ongoing critique of the learner/worker. He concludes that work-based learning needs to ensure that its participants have enough scope to engage in such a critique.

Toward a public health of situations: the re-contextualization of risk

Abstract: This paper reviews the role of situational variables in health risk behaviors and the literature on the impact of context and situation in public health. Three postulates for a situational model are presented: that the situation can account for additional variance in explanation of health risk behaviors; that the power of the situation is reciprocal to the degree of individual autonomy; and that the situation is definable and measurable. A situational presentation methodology is presented for measuring situations in public health with preliminary data on its efficacy in the context of sexual behavior and injecting drug use as HIV transmission risks. Interventions which maximize the use of situationally-based information are discussed. It is concluded that situational presentations may offer additional explanatory power in public health and a means for intervening at a situational level.

Making ethical choices: A comprehensive decision-making model for Canadian psychologists.

Abstract: This paper proposes a theoretical augmentation of the seven-step decision-making model outlined in the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. We propose that teleological, deontological, and existential ethical perspectives should be taken into account in the decision-making process. We also consider the influence of individual, issue-specific, significant-other, situational, and external factors on ethical decision-making. This theoretical analysis demonstrates the richness and complexity of ethical decision-making.

East German political attitudes: Socialist legacies v. situational factors a false antithesis

Abstract: This paper introduces the two main competing approaches that attempt to explain east German political attitudes in post‐unification Germany, the ‘situational thesis’ and the ‘socialisation thesis’. Furthermore, the paper suggests that these ‘either/or’ approaches are in fact inseparable and only make sense when taken together. Political attitudes in east Germany are influenced by the past, the recent past and the present. The result of both the socialisation process in the GDR and the traumatic transformation process following unification is weak civic participation and a lack of trust in formal institutions. Without trust and without a vibrant civil society, economic performance will remain low.

EDUCATION for Caring Practice

Abstract: IN NURSING EDUCATION, we voice commitment to two main epistemological domains: behaviorism and personal meaning. The former domain provides the dominant frame of reference in our classrooms, while the latter is rarely used. The struggle between the two creates conflict for those thoughtful nurse educators who believe that learning is not necessarily defined as a change in behavior, that teacher-dominated classrooms are not the ideal, and that the classroom application of behaviorism does not create critical, independent thinkers (1). These educators view curriculum "as an array of personal encounters.... One encounters the outside world in school, and uses the experiences as an instrument of self-realization. It's an intimate affair" (2, p. 274). This self-realization allows students to find relevance in the curriculum instead of in the school's power to grant grades or certificates. Relevance stems from learning embedded in personal context that is rich in meaning for the learner (3). * In this situation, student and teacher work together to create meaning. Each player is open to and trusting of the other, honest and authentic, and willing to accept the possibility of transformation through sharing of perspectives (4). Together we collaborate to set the curriculum, classroom rules, and procedures that meet class members' needs, and we deal as a group with problems and possibilities to form a true community (5). Values are articulated through reflecting upon one's own and others' actions and allowing meaning to emerge. * This vision of nursing education served as a foundation for a junior-level undergraduate elective entitled Concepts of Caring, which explores caring in nursing by functioning as a community and uses stories as a foundation of scholarship. At least two, and sometimes three, faculty teach this class, which has been conducted with as few as six students and as many as 20. The Class as Community "The pedagogy of caring in nursing begins with knowing self as caring and cared for, and progresses to knowing others as caring and worthy of care, knowing nursing as a uniquely lived form of caring, and creating personal and social environments to sustain caring nursing situations" (6, p. 154). Accordingly, the class was designed as a power-sharing community in which participants (teachers and students) felt cared for and supported and learned to know themselves and others as caring persons and caring nurses. Faculty and students were to remain open to and accepting of information exchange of even the most personal kind while emphasizing the safety and confidentiality in the community. In addition, initial instructor suggestions about curriculum, along with receptivity to students' proposals, were intended to craft a course in which participants' needs and voiced desires were honored, although no one knew exactly how learning about caring would emerge. Faculty also planned to promote authenticity, or genuineness, as a way "to know self and others" (6, p. 152). The concept of authenticity is defined by Daniel (7, p. 191) through Reeder's work (8) as "listening to the discourse ... of our embodied selves, making it possible to hear the desires of another." Daniel believes that this embodied discourse frees us to grow in our own way. Faculty planned to be self-disclosing and "real" in their class participation to assist in the development of trust and set the stage for the extraction of meaning from dialogue among students and faculty. Constructing Concepts of Caring The course was designed to consider the concept of caring through caring and being cared for. Instances of noncaring were also explored as contrary cases. Caring was not exhaustively defined but simply presented as situational, so that students could investigate the concept inductively and construct their own personal meanings. To develop students as persons, as well as to furnish a foundation for scholarly inquiry and the development of nursing knowledge, literature from the humanities was integrated into the course (9,10). …

The Prevention of Police Corruption and Misconduct: A Criminological Analysis of Complaints Against Police

Abstract: The reform measures recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (referred to as the "Fitzgerald Inquiry") radically transformed the face of policing in Queensland. The most significant of these recommendations was the establishment of an external oversight body, the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC), which has independence from executive government and holds the power to investigate not only police but any public servant or politician. Other recommendations included "Whistleblower" legislation, increasing sanctions for serious misconduct, lateral recruitment and promotion by merit rather than seniority. The first main research question tested in this thesis is whether these reform measures have produced improvements in the following areas: the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes for dealing with complaints against police; public confidence in those processes and the public standing of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) generally; standards of police behaviour; the incidence of corrupt conduct; and police attitudes towards reporting misconduct by their fellow officers. These Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms were strategies primarily derived from two schools of thought describing the nature and cause of police corruption: deterrence based theory (including "individual" or "rotten apple" theory) and cultural (also labeled "cultural" or "socialisation") based theory. To date most strategies used to combat police corruption have been underpinned by these theories. A third theory - situational based theory (sometimes titled "environmental" or "opportunity" theory) - which has had success in crime prevention, has been scarcely used in the area of police corruption. However, an extensive body of research has affirmed the effects of situational factors on police behaviour, suggesting the potential for the application of situational crime prevention initiatives in combatting police corruption. The second research question proposed in this thesis is whether situational based theory could also be beneficial in the prevention of police corruption. Data drawn upon to test the first research question were interviews and surveys with police officers, public attitude surveys and statistics from the processing of complaints against police. Although each source has limitations, collectively the data are sufficiently comprehensive - and robust - to defend conclusions about the general direction of the changes which have occurred. These data indicate that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have, at least to some degree, had their intended impact on the QPS. These reforms have contributed to an apparent improvement in public confidence in the complaints system and the QPS generally. Moreover, the available evidence suggests that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have resulted in a weakening of the police code of silence. As far as the specific issue of corruption in the QPS is concerned, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from existing data sources. However, the weight of the available evidence is that such conduct is less pervasive and occurs at lower levels than was the case in the pre-Fitzgerald Inquiry QPS. It is very difficult to ascertain which reform components were the most effective and which were not helpful at all, as these reform measures were initiated simultaneously. For example, the negative elements of the police culture may have been eliminated or reduced but whether it was the cultural strategies or one of the deterrence based strategies influencing officer behaviour remains unknown. The second main research question the thesis poses is that the use of situational crime prevention techniques has potential for contributing to the prevention of police corruption. A situational analysis of complaints against police data, including the development of a typology for classifying types of police corruption and misconduct, was used as an example of how this may be accomplished in Queensland. The study provides some, albeit limited, support for the hypothesis that situational crime prevention methods are applicable to police corruption. Based upon three years of complaints data, enough homogenous cases were gathered to enable the analysis of four categories of police corruption - Opportunistic Thefts, Driving under the Influence, Assault (while off-duty), and Theft from Employer. Given that this study only used three years of complaints data held by the CJC and more than nine years of data exist, productive situational analyses of many other categories of corruption is probable. This study also illustrated that complaints against police data are being under utilised by the QPS and the CJC. For future research in the situational analysis of complaints data, I recommend improving the gathering of data from complaints files for storage in electronic form to enable situational prevention analysis to be conducted more readily. A geographical example was used to illustrate further how complaints against police data could be more extensively utilised as a prevention tool. This analysis was conducted at an organisation unit level determined primarily by geographical factors. The complaint patterns of units of similar "task environments", as measured by unit size and type of duties performed, were compared in an attempt to identify those units experiencing the presence or absence of "bad apples" or a "negative culture". This study led to the conclusion that a divisional analysis of complaints data can provide information valuable in combatting police corruption. When task environment was held constant, it was possible to identify units experiencing the effects of possible "bad apples" and/or "negative cultures". Once these particular units were identified, intervention strategies to address the units' particular problem could be constructed. Future research in this area would involve ongoing divisional data analysis followed-up by individual assessment of officers identified as "bad apples", or a "compare-and-contrast" procedure to distinguish features requiring correction in units identified as having a "negative culture". The research findings presented in this thesis are that progress has occurred in a number of areas in addressing the problems identified by the Fitzgerald Inquiry, but that there is undoubtedly scope for more to be achieved. Despite the very significant increase in the resources and powers available to investigators post-Fitzgerald, it is still difficult to prove that a police officer engaged in misconduct, or that other officers were aware of this fact and had failed to take action, because of the constraints imposed by evidentiary and legal requirements. Thus, while it is vital to maintain an effective and credible independent complaints investigation system and ensure that there is a proper internal discipline process in place, the scope for increasing the "deterrent power" of the present system is limited. Putting more resources into complaints investigations might make a difference at the margins, but is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in the probability of a complaint being substantiated and a sanction imposed. Investing more resources in investigations has an additional cost in that such resources are then lost to other efforts to combat corruption that may provide more fruitful results in the long term. The value of an occasional substantiation is placed above the ability to engage in a large amount of prevention work. Inevitably then, three clear messages are apparent. First, continued effort must be made to modify the organisational climate of the QPS in terms of commitment to integrity. Recommended strategies to accomplish this end are to continue the recruitment of more educated, female and older officers to reduce police-citizen conflict and the negative elements of the police culture, and also to develop a comprehensive, integrated approach to ethics education for QPS officers at all ranks and positions. Second, other forms of deterrence against misconduct are needed such as the use of covert strategies like integrity testing which could be conducted in conjunction with the CJC. Third, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on developing and implementing preventive strategies. This thesis has shown that valuable prevention strategies can be gained from situational and divisional analysis of complaints data, and a range of proactive management options based upon situational crime prevention theory are recommended. These strategies have application in any police service.

How Do You Assess a Manager’s Decision‐Making Abilities? The Use of Situational Inventories

Abstract: Decision-making capabilities are absolutely crucial to a manager. Unfortunately, existing methods of assessing managers in this area for selection and development purposes (in-tray exercises, situational interviews, ability tests, etc.) leave a lot to be desired. This article focuses on an alternative for assessing managerial decision making – the situational inventory – and presents research findings and information on practical applications. Detailed findings are also presented for ‘Scenarios’, the UK’s first published situational measure of managerial judgement. Situational inventories work by presenting participants with realistic but difficult real-life management scenarios. Each scenario is accompanied by a number of possible responses which participants rate for effectiveness in dealing with the scenario. Participants’ ratings are then scored against a set of ideal answers, producing an assessment of current decision-making ability. Decision-making ability can be developed in individuals, making feedback invaluable to participants. Evidence that has been accumulating in the United States and the UK for at least 15 years is presented to support the general situational inventory approach. Additionally, specific evidence is presented for ‘Scenarios’. It was found to correlate significantly with a number of managerial performance and responsibility indicators while appearing to be largely separate from existing psychometric (ability and personality) tests.