Professional Ethics

Rarely discussed in ethics courses is the topic of excuses. McDowell argues convincingly that not only do excuses offer the most illuminating way to understand the true nature of ethical problems, they also suggest ways of solving them. When professionals are accused of acting unethically, when are their excuses valid and when are they not? Professionals know what's ethical, but social and economic pressures create conflicts in compliance. McDowell explores what they are--readably, persuasively, sympathetically, without didacticism. Professionals in all fields, struggling to be both successful and ethical, will find the book challenging, provocative, yet reassuring. It will also be an important resource in graduate courses in business and professional ethics.

Written for practitioners in law, medicine, nursing, accounting, and securities and insurance marketing, this volume explores the dilemma encountered by professionals who have a commitment to being ethical but who also live in a competitive environment that subjects them to financial pressures toward enhancing income. McDowell offers an unusually frank discussion of the ethical principles that should govern decisions in this difficult area and analyzes the pressures that drive some professionals to sell unnecessary or excessive services.

Closer regulation of psychological counselling means that an awareness of the professional, legal and ethical considerations is vital. The Handbook of Professional and Ethical Practice brings together leading therapists and psychologists who have a wealth of knowledge and experience of their subjects. Each chapter places particular emphasis on the current codes of practice and ethical principles underpinning safe ethical practice and the implications for practitioners. Comprehensive coverage of the legal, clinical and ethical considerations involved in research and training is provided and the reflective questions at the end of every chapter serve to prompt further discussion of the issues. The following subjects are covered: · Professional Practice and Ethical Considerations · Legal Considerations and Responsibilities · Clinical Considerations and Responsibilities · Working with Diversity - Professional Practice and Ethical Considerations · Research, Supervision and Training This innovative handbook provides a supportive guide to the major professional, legal and ethical issues encountered by trainees on counselling, clinical psychology and psychotherapy courses, as well as providing an invaluable resource for more experienced therapists and other members of the helping professions.

Lawyers' ethics have been condemned for centuries, but they received little scholarly scrutiny until the last few decades. Ethics in Practice brings together leading experts in the emerging field of legal ethics to discuss the central dilemmas of practicing law. This collection cuts across conventional disciplinary boundaries to address the roles, responsibilities, and regulation of contemporary lawyers. Contributors address common concerns from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, and organizational behavior. Topics include the nature of professions, the structure of practice, the constraints of an adversarial system, the attorney-client relationship, the practical value of moral theory, the role of race and gender, and the public service responsibilities of lawyers and law students. Unique in both its breadth and its depth, this book redefines debates that are of enduring significance for both the profession and the public.

Professionalism and Ethics in Teaching presents a thought-provoking and stimulating study of the moral dimensions of the teaching professions.After discussing the moral implications of professionalism, Carr explores the relationship of education theory to teaching practice and the impact of this relationship on professional expertise. He then identifies and examines some central ethical and moral issues in education and teaching. Finally David Carr gives a detailed analysis of a range of issues concerning the role of the teacher and the managements of educational issues. Professionalism and Ethics in Teaching presents a thought-provoking and stimulating study of the moral dimensions of the teaching professions.

Academic professionals are expected to restrain self-interest, promote the ideals of public service, and maintain high standards of performance, while society grants the profession autonomy to regulate itself through peer review. Hamilton conveys the need for ethical leadership from within the peer collegium--leadership that will foster a culture of high aspiration and peer review.

The notion of conflict of interest is more relevant today than ever. Ethical sensitivities about the relationship between professionals and those they serve is a source of constant debate. This book sets a new standard for work on this perennial topic, collecting a set of practical essays by top applied ethicists on a wide variety of professions and occupations. Some conflicts of interest arise because a profession takes on many roles while serving one goal; others take on one role but serve multiple goals. Some conflicts are internal to the profession; others (such as family or business connections) are external. The essays in this volume address such diverse conflicts in a comprehensive way, in an attempt to make useful comparisons across professions. Containing fifteen original chapters by noted scholars of applied ethics, this volume systematically explores professions including law, medicine, journalism, engineering, financial services, anthropology, film, physical therapy, and literary criticism. An introductory chapter surveys and contextualizes work on the topic, while the concluding chapter offers us a new way to compare conflicts of interest across professions and occupations. Conflict of Interest in the Professions will be of great practical interest to scholars of applied ethics and law, as well as to professionals in the fields discussed

Taking medical and legal practice as key examples, the authors develop a rigorous articulation and defence of virtue ethics, contrasting it with other types of character-based ethical theories and showing that it offers a promising new approach to the ethics of professional roles. They provide insights into the central notions of professional detachment, professional integrity, and moral character in professional life, and demonstrate how a virtue-based approach can help us better understand what ethical professional-client relationships would be like.

Of Durkheim's key works the most neglected is Professional Ethics and Civic Morals . This is not only careless it is also negligent for the book makes a seminal contribution to our understanding of the State. Durkheim's characterization of the State as the ultimate moral force in society is an important contrast to the views outlined by both Marx and Weber.