Situational ethics

About: Situational ethics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4023 publications have been published within this topic receiving 145379 citations.

Helping agents' attitudes towards alcohol-related problems: situations vacant? A test and elaboration of a model.

Abstract: Summary An elaboration of Cartwright's (1980) model explaining agents' negative attitudes to responding to alcohol-related problems (ARPs) is presented Rather than Role Support, Experience, Education and Self-esteem per se being seen as the main variables with effect on therapeutic attitude, it is argued that the effects of these factors are best viewed as contingent upon situational influences operating within agents' occupational contexts An attempt was made to isolate some of these influences by comparing the work situations of 24 Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) and 24 Social Workers Correlational data suggested that an index of Situational Constraint, although it was not independent of Role Support and Experience, could reliably predict levels of attitudes towards ARPs It was found that CPNs expressed significantly more positive therapeutic attitudes towards drinkers than either ‘long-term’ generic, or medical, Social Workers, but were also working under less Situational Constraint It is concluded that social workers do not attain such deep levels of involvement in ARPs as CPNs owing to their more constraining work environments They are, therefore, less open to ARP educational events and are less likely to develop role support contacts Recommendations for future role support provision and training programmes are briefly outlined

Choice under restrictions

Abstract: Nearly every decision a person makes is restricted in some way. While we are painfully aware of some of these restrictions, others go largely undetected. This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding how restrictions interact with situational and individual characteristics, as well as goals to influence behavior. Implications for overlooked research opportunities in choice modeling are presented and discussed.

Toward a bifurcated theory of emotional deterrence

Abstract: Since Hobbes (1957 [1651] and Beccaria (1963 [1764]), scholars have theorized that the emotion of fear is critical for deterrence. Nevertheless, contemporary deterrence researchers have mostly overlooked the distinction between perceived sanction risk and fear of apprehension. Whereas perceived risk is a cognitive judgment, fear involves visceral feelings of anxiety or dread. Equally important, a theory explicating the influence of deterrence on both criminal propensity and situational offending has remained elusive. We develop a theoretical model in which perceived risk and fear are distinguished at both the general and situational levels. We test this theoretical model with data from a set of survey-based experiments conducted in 2016 with a nationwide sample of adults (N = 965). We find that perceived risk and fear are empirically distinct and that perceived risk is positively related to fear at both the general and situational levels. Certain background and situational factors have indirect effects through perceived risk on fear. In turn, perceived risk has indirect effects through fear on both criminal propensity and situational intentions to offend. Fear's inclusion increases explanatory power for both criminal propensity and situational offending intentions. Fear is a stronger predictor than either self-control or prior offending of situational intentions to offend.