Where lies social responsibility?

L. Krasner's article, "Behavior Control and Social Responsibility" (see record 1963-00116-001) bypassed several points of view which might clarify some of the issues discussed, and at the same time tone down what seems to be an exaggerated claim for urgency in dealing with problems of social responsibility. In the matter of considering moral and ethical issues, it is important to proceed with calmness and careful consideration rather than to become overly excited about finding the "right" solution. Even the "psychologist-researcher" is human and when he turns his hand to such things as communicating to the lay public he may fall into the pattern of the "sensationalists and popularizers," though obviously not so crudely. First among three basic questions and answers presented by Krasner is that concerning whether or not human behavior is controllable. His answer is to the effect that there is overwhelming experimental evidence that human behavior is controllable. Such a statement seems exaggerated in the face of other evidence from both experimental and clinical impressions. Krasner states that there is a "subtle but important" difference between the "psychology of behavior control" and the science of psychology. There are several objections to some of Krasner's implications that the behavioral scientist is not or at least is less bound by an ethical and moral system. There seem to be no logical grounds for distinguishing in principle between an ethics for behavioral scientists and an ethics for behavior controllers. The atomic scientists produced a bomb as scientists employed by their government while at war. They did their job effectively. As informed private citizens they held some moral reservations as to the consequences of their scientific endeavors. The behavioral scientist and the behavior controller can also perform their professional tasks dispassionately and efficiently, but as people they might well look to the ethical and moral issues involved. They can choose to take appropriate ethical and moral action as private citizens who have the advantages of specialized knowledge. The behavioral scientist and the behavior controller are not to be compartmentalized into a patchwork of separate roles, rather they are to see themselves as integrated individuals functioning in various ways which on occasion may bring about a conflict in ethical and moral values. Then they should be enabled to resolve the conflicts for themselves on a rational basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating role of safety-specific trust on the relation between safety-specific leadership and safety citizenship behaviors.

The authors examined whether safety-specific trust moderates or mediates the relationship between safety-specific transformational leadership and subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. Data from 139 subordinate-supervisor dyads were collected from the United Kingdom construction industry and analyzed using hierarchical regression models. Results showed that safety-specific trust moderated rather than mediated the effects of safety-specific transformational leaders on subordinates' behavior. Specifically, in conditions of high and moderate safety-specific trust, leaders had a significant effect on subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. However, in conditions of low safety-specific trust, leaders did not significantly influence subordinates' safety citizenship behavior. The implications of these findings for general safety theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral issues in psychotherapy.

"The first moral obligation of the psychotherapist is to be competent. The more skillful he becomes, the better he fulfills his main ethical responsibility." 4 typical examples of moral issues which arise frequently in the practice of psychotherapy are specified. "One of the falsehoods with which some therapists console themselves is that their form of treatment is purely technical, so they need take no stand on moral issues… . The illusion that our art transcends morality has kept us from forthright study of the ethical and religious disciplines. We psychologists would take a dim view of any experts in philosopy and religion who might hang out a shingle to practice psychotherapy. We would deplore their lack of training in our discipline. My thesis is that scholars in religions and ethics have a right to take an equally dim view of most psychotherapists." The "meaning and contribution of psychotherapy will be enlarged as its practitioners add to their growing technical competence a broader and deeper realization of life's persistent ethical problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Superiors' evaluations and subordinates' perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership.

Transformational leaders are postulated to be responsible for performance beyond ordinary expectations as they transmit a sense of mission, stimulate learning experiences, and arouse new ways of thinking. Transactional leaders achieve performance as merely required by the use of contingent rewards or negative feedback. Previous research has shown that subordinates' perceptions of transformational leadership add to the prediction of subordinates' satisfaction and effectiveness ratings beyond that of perceptions of transactional leadership. The present study replicates the previous augmentation effects using subordinates' effectiveness ratings but was unable to confirm the augmentation hypothesis with independently attained superiors' evaluations as the criteria because of smaller sample size, although trends in the correlations were in the hypothesized direction. Transformational leadership obtained from their subordinates' ratings significantly differentiated top performing managers (identified as such through other sources) from ordinary managers as hypothesized. Results are discussed as they relate to a domestic work force that is becoming better educated and is more concerned about interesting work and self-development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taking the reins: The effects of new leader status and leadership style on team performance.

New leaders face a challenging task when they take charge of their teams. They have to determine how best to guide the work process, and they must understand how their behaviors will affect the members of their team. This research examines how a newly assigned team leader's status moderates subordinates' reactions to different leadership styles to affect assessments of the leader's self-confidence and effectiveness, and how this impacts team performance. Across 2 experimental studies, results demonstrate that low-status leaders are rated as more effective when they use a directive style, whereas high-status leaders are viewed as more effective when they use a participative style, and this relationship is mediated by perceptions of self-confidence. In addition, teams whose leaders are viewed more favorably perform better on a complex group task. These findings imply that low-status individuals are able to enhance their level of personal power by drawing on whatever positional power they hold, whereas high-status individuals are better off relying solely on their personal power to influence others. This research also provides a clear demonstration that assessments of new leaders' behaviors are subject to an appraisal that is clouded by observers' status perceptions and attributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraining the Golem: Boosting performance by changing the interpretation of low scores.

The Golem effect is the negative impact on subordinates' performance that results from low leader expectations toward them. The effects of low expectations were studied experimentally by preventing the natural formation of low expectations toward individuals who had obtained low test scores in some units and by refraining from doing so in other units. Randomly selected squad leaders (n?=?17) were led to believe that low scores on a physical fitness test were not indicative of subordinates' ineptitude. Control squad leaders (n?=?17) were not told how to interpret the test scores. Two posttests showed that low-scoring personnel in the experimental squads improved more than those in the control squads, maintained the difference, rated their squad leaders more favorably, and were more satisfied, but they were not significantly more anxious. The potential for low scores on valid tests to produce unintended Golem effects is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Non-fatal acute renal failure due to wasp stings in children

Annals' 25th anniversary is a cause for celebration, but the future imposes a new set of ethical questions and moral dilemmas for emergency physicians. Each physician will need to make personal choices consistent with the courage, judgment, integrity, and dedication of past leaders when dealing with the moral dilemmas of the future.     

Bioethics and Canadian dentistry

Formal ethical reflection and analysis have become expected components of clinical decision making for all health professionals. The implicit acceptance of professional ethics as the sole determinant of "the right and the good" has been replaced by an expectation for more broadly-based understanding of ethical issues. Dentists, like physicians, must be clear about professional ethics and competent in interdisciplinary and interprofessional discussions of the right and good. Modern bioethics is providing approaches to these issues to help practitioners make ethical clinical decisions. These approaches may not be appropriate for dentistry, especially as practised in Canada. Clearly, there are fundamental questions concerning dentistry as a profession, patient-dentist interactions and dental health that must be addressed to form a basis for an ethic relevant to professional practice. The answers to these questions have profound implications for the initial and continuing education of Canadian dentists and for dentistry itself. Some possible starting points for a truly Canadian ethic for dentistry are suggested from a non-dentist, physician ethicist.     

Psychologist as teacher and mentor: Affirming ethical values throughout the curriculum.

Argues that those involved in mentoring and teaching graduate students in professional psychology training programs must be concerned with 2 extracurricular issues when they consider how to influence students' ethical behavior. First, they must be ethical in their own interactions with students. Second, they must deal responsibly with students when students engage in unethical or unprofessional conduct. It is argued that the implicit attitudes and explicit behavior of faculty communicate as much as course content about being ethical. Last, strategies are identified for handling these special responsibilities on the basis of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists (American Psychological Association, 1990) and the broader ethical principles underlying those standards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic links, family ties, and social bonds: rights and responsibilities in the face of genetic knowledge

Currently, some of the most significant moral issues involving genetic links relate to genetic knowledge. In this paper, instead of looking at the frequently addressed issues of responsibilities professionals or institutions have to individuals, I take up the question of what responsibilities individuals have to one another with respect to genetic knowledge. I address the questions of whether individuals have a moral right to pursue their own goals without contributing to society's knowledge of population genetics, without adding to their family's knowledge of its genetic history, and without discovering genetic information about themselves and their offspring. These questions lead to an examination of the presumed right to genetic ignorance and an exploration of a variety of social bonds. Analyzing cases in light of these considerations leads to a surprising conclusion about a widely accepted precept of genetic counseling, to some ethical insights into typical problems, and to some further unanswered questions about personal responsibility in the face of genetic knowledge.     

Psychology and the ethics of social policy.

Psychology's ability to resolve or moderate social conflicts stemming from competing moral positions depends on whether psychology is conceptualized as a mental or behavioral science. Knowledge claims from the direct observation of consciousness cannot yield consensual agreement about valid ethical principles or correct social policies. As a behavioral science, psychology is unable to validate moral principles because of the logical impossibility of inferring ethical imperatives from empirical data. Behavioral evidence can nevertheless assist society in choosing among competing social policies by revealing their empirical consequences. To do this successfully, psychology must use natural science methodology with the aim of seeking empirical and theoretical truth, not political goals or ethical ideals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bioethics for clinicians: 10. Research ethics

Medical research involving human subjects raises complex ethical, legal and social issues. Investigators sometimes find that their obligations with respect to a research project come into conflict with their obligations to individual patients. The ethical conduct of research rests on 3 guiding principles: respect for persons, beneficience, and justice. Respect for persons underlies the duty to obtain informed consent from study participants. Beneficence demands a favourable balance between the potential benefits and harms of participation. Justice requires that vulnerable people not be exploited and that eligible candidates who may benefit from participation not be excluded without good cause. Studies must be designed in a way that ensures the validity of findings and must address questions of sufficient importance to justify the risks of participation. In any clinical trial there must be genuine uncertainty as to which treatment arm offers the most benefit, and placebo controls should not be used if effective standard therapies exist. Researchers have a responsibility to inform themselves about the ethical, legal and policy standards that govern their activities. When difficulties arise, they should consult the existing literature and seek the advice of experts in research ethics.     

The internal morality of medicine: explication and application to managed care

Some ethical issues facing contemporary medicine cannot be fully understood without addressing medicine's internal morality. Medicine as a profession is characterized by certain moral goals and morally acceptable means for achieving those goals. The list of appropriate goals and means allows some medical actions to be classified as clear violations of the internal morality, and others as borderline or controversial cases. Replies are available for common objections, including the superfluity of internal morality for ethical analysis, the argument that internal morality is merely an apology for medicine's traditional power and authority, and the claim that there is no single, "core" internal morality. The value of addressing the internal morality of medicine may be illustrated by a detailed investigation of ethical issues posed by managed care. Managed care poses some fundamental challenges for medicine's internal morality, but also calls for thoughtful reflection and reconsideration of some traditionally held moral views on patient fidelity in particular.     

Nursing students' responses to ethical dilemmas in nursing practice

In literature as well as in nursing practice a growing concern about nurses' ethical competence can be observed. Based on the cognitive theory of moral development by Kohlberg, this research examined nursing students' ethical behaviour in five nursing dilemmas. Ethical behaviour refers not only to the ethical reasoning of nursing students but also to the relationship between reasoning and behaviour. Kohlberg's definition of morality was refined by adding a care perspective. The results show that the majority of students can be located in the fourth moral stage according to Kohlberg's theory, that is, the conventional level of moral development. This finding implies that students are still guided by professional rules, norms and duties, and have not (yet) succeeded in making personal ethical decisions on the basis of their own principles and acting according to such decisions.     

Rejoinder to Robinson's "Ethics and advocacy."

Questions D. N. Robinson's (see record 1985-12952-001) argument that the American Psychological Association should not be an advocate for moral or ethical positions in important social issues because it lacks the appropriate moral authority. The present author stresses the importance of involvement in issues of social responsibilities and ethics and notes that such involvement has opened up new areas of investigation and sources of funding. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching ethics: The utility of the CPA code.

Teaching professional ethics can take 2 very different forms, reflecting different fundamental assumptions about ethical rules, and leading to different problem-solving strategies in professional life. In this article, the author outlines and contrasts the 2 approaches, which he calls the overriding principle approach and the moral dilemma approach. The first reifies ethical principles and underpins them with rationales drawn from moral philosophy. The second sees principles as templates of default options, which may or may not fit the facts of the case and the context in which a decision must be made. In the moral dilemma approach, for instance, there is always some circumstance in which following a particular moral rule would produce the wrong result. The Canadian Psychological Association Code of Ethics has different advantages and disadvantages for teaching professional ethics depending on one's fundamental approach. The author concludes that although he believes its rhetoric and its ordering of rules seems to reflect the overriding principle approach, the Code is actually more relevant to the moral dilemma approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child abuse and dentistry: what you should know

Dentistry must become more aware of its moral, legal and ethical responsibilities in recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. All dental professionals must be aware of the seriousness of the problems of child maltreatment, and understand that children do not just get hurt in abuse and neglect, they often die as a direct result of their maltreatment. It has been said that victims of child abuse and neglect fall into only two categories--those who lived through it, and those who did not.     

ECT and ethical psychiatry

The author discusses the right to receive ECT and describes voluntary and involuntary patients for whom the treatment seemed both ethical and humane. The right to refuse ECT must be respected in competent patients. However, problems arise when patients' decision-making ability is compromised by their illness. Informed consent questions include how much and what type of information patients should receive and how much those with disordered cognitive functioning can be expected to understand. The author believes that ECT should be fully voluntary whenever possible and that a court-appointed guardian should make such treatment decisions for incompetent patients.     

Is masturbation still wrong? Comments on Bailey's comments.

K. G. Bailey (1973), in commenting on the A. M. Zeiss et al (see record 1978-01520-001) article on masturbatory techniques in sex therapy, sees ethical, moral, philosophical, social, and psychological issues; it is argued, however, that Bailey lists no specific negatives except "potential side effects." He demands that therapy using directed masturbation must be "vastly superior" to conventional techniques or else it is unethical. No rationale for this discrimination is presented except potential side effects. The antiscientific nature of this argument is noted. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preserving moral integrity: a follow-up study with new graduate nurses

The purpose of this follow-up study was to describe, explain and interpret how new graduate nurses perceived their adaptation to the 'real world' of hospital nursing and what they perceived as major influences on their moral values and ethical roles in the 2 years following graduation. The method was qualitative, specifically grounded theory. The earlier study took place when informants were senior nursing students. The follow-up study began after the informants had been practising for 1 year. Research questions guiding the study were: How do new graduate nurses describe their adaptation to the 'real world' of hospital nursing? What do they describe as factors influencing their moral values and ethical roles in hospital nursing? Preserving moral integrity was the basic psycho-social process that explained how these new graduate nurses adapted to the real world of hospital nursing. Six stages of this process were identified: vulnerability; getting through the day; coping with moral distress; alienation from self; coping with lost ideals; and integration of new professional self-concept. Moral distress was a consequence of the effort to preserve moral integrity. It is the result of believing that one is not living up to one's moral convictions. Data supported that the most pervasive attributes of moral distress were self-criticism and self-blame, as informants judged their actions against their moral convictions and their standards of what a good nurse would do. Moral distress was an acute form of psychological disorientation in which informants questioned their professional knowledge, what kind of nurses they were and what kind of nurses they were becoming. Theoretical explanations of these findings are grounded in social interaction and moral psychology theories.