This study examined the ethical decision-making process as it transpired in the everyday context of the therapeutic space. In-depth interviews explored the subjective experiences of six South African psychologists, practicing as psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and their efforts to resolve real-life ethical dilemmas. The theoretical framework used to interpret the data subsumed professional literature in psychology on principle-based ethical decision-making as well as contemporary psychoanalytic debates on the phenomenon of countertransference enactments. A review of ethics codes, survey research and seminal decision-making frameworks suggests that ethical dilemmas have traditionally been resolved by recourse to an objective and impartial “principle ethics” perspective. Empirical evidence shows, however, that logical thinking and the rational application of codes, principles and standards are often insufficient to secure ethical action. The establishment of reflective space and the core theoretical notion of “ethical decision-making enactments” were proposed in order to address the subjective, irrational and unconscious dimension of professional decision-making. This study used a broadly hermeneutic research method which transformed participants‟ descriptions of engagement with real-life dilemmas into a psychoanalytically informed interpretive account of ethical decision-making. Twelve aspirational ethical principles were found to guide participants‟ daily analytic work. Beneficence was the principle most strongly identified with and nonmaleficence was the most neglected ethical principle. Unprocessed countertransference responses were shown to drive earlier prereflective phases of the ethical decision-making process. Mature ethical judgment was predicated upon the retrospective analysis of enactment phenomena. Dissatisfaction was expressed by all participants with regard to the role of professional resources in aiding the resolution of stressful ethical dilemmas. Risk factors for compromised professional decision-making included the paucity and perceived irrelevance of postgraduate ethics training, supervisory failure to confront the ethical and countertransference dimensions of common dilemmas and professional isolation. Rather than eliciting the hope of emotional support and greater insight, professional resources on the contrary mostly appeared to induce anxiety, mistrust and fearfulness. Based on the data and the literature, a pragmatic psychoanalytically informed ethical decision-making model was finally generated. The model, which considers both principle ethics as well as countertransference phenomena, offers a preliminary contribution to professional dialogue on the development and evaluation of empirically based decision-making frameworks. Practical recommendations are made for both the revision of the current South African ethics code and for improving the postqualifying ethics education of psychoanalytic practitioners and supervisors. The limitations of the data are discussed and directions for future research initiatives are proposed.

Ethics is not a new or modern discipline. It was developed thousands of years ago and still remains relevant today. Ethics is applied in all spheres of modern life from philosophy to business and religious environments and even around dinner table conversations. It is applicable to all areas of life. This research is aimed at investigating whether ethical conduct among new entry level emerging contractors can contribute to and ensure their sustainable competitiveness within the South African construction industry. This research is also aimed at determining whether education and knowledge of entrepreneurship, business, project and construction management and building contracts can contribute to new entry level emerging contractors’ ethical conduct and sustainable competitiveness. The literature reviewed and results of quantitative and qualitative research amongst professional consultants in South Africa formed the basis of the study. Ethics is a sensitive topic within the industry and therefor it is difficult to gather data directly from contractors, as they are reluctant to participate in fear of revealing their identities and having it negatively influencing their personal and business credentials. Therefor unbiased respondents who were not directly linked to emerging contractors and who were unafraid to give objective opinions were questioned. These unbiased respondents included consultants within the industry. The study revealed that ethics is an important factor in any business environment and that the correct application thereof can partially contribute to the sustainable competitiveness of new entry level emerging contractors and this in turn can promote the long term survival of a business. Furthermore, knowledge of good management practices and building contracts can contribute to a successfully run business. However, the average new entry level emerging contractor has insufficient experience and knowledge of the management of construction projects, as well as building contracts.

Over the last decade, practice ethics in adult education has become an increasingly visible topic of interest and concern in the literature of the field. However, relatively little research has been done in the whole area of ethics and codes of ethics. This study was undertaken to broaden the empirical data base within the field and provide further insight into the area of practice ethics. The purpose of the study was to examine the views of adult educators in British Columbia about the need for a code of ethics for the field of adult education and to identify the issues, concerns and dilemmas experienced by them. The study is an approximate replication of a 1991 study by McDonald in the state of Indiana. Using survey methodology, three groups of adult education practitioners (N = 460) received a mailed questionnaire that included items related to the study topic and demographic characteristics. A 60% return rate was achieved. The major findings generated by this study confirm positive practitioner views about codes of ethics and support the findings reported in the Indiana study. The findings of this study include: • The majority of adult educators surveyed believe there should be a code of ethics for the field of adult education. • Less than a majority of adult educators surveyed knew of the existence of, or were currently operating under, a code of ethics. • The majority of adult educators surveyed indicated an overall positive view about the general functions of a code of ethics. • Issues related to the learner are most frequently cited as needing to be addressed in a code of ethics for the field of adult education. • The professional association was the most frequently identified organization that adult educators believe should create, disseminate and enforce a code of ethics. • The majority of adult educators either disagree or are unsure about the regulating function of a code of ethics. • The majority of adult educators surveyed cited examples of ethical issues/concerns/dilemmas from their practice settings. • The most frequently cited ethical issues/dilemmas relate to confidentiality concerns and learner/adult educator relationship issues. Historically, the debate about the need for a code of ethics for the field of adult education has been focused within the academic community. This study contributes a practitioner perspective to the ongoing debate. The strong message conveyed by British Columbia adult educators about the need for a code of ethics also clearly reflects the growing trend of code development by professional associations in Canada and the United States. Continued emphasis on educational efforts to address the issues arising from this study and further research in the area of practice ethics are suggested. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

M.A. / With the more popular practice of communication through emails, cellular phones, and instant online messaging, the pace at which organisations communicate and function has increased dramatically over the past decade, as information is speedily available. Organisations need to adapt to the latest technology applications in order to be more efficient and to increase productivity ...

Peace officers across this country have allowed a hostile environment to be created with offenders who are in their custody. An overview of the issues to be addressed in this study will begin with sexual boundary violations among peace officers and offenders, such as physical intimacy and emotional commitment that meets the sexual needs of the peace officer.

In recent years, considerable interest has been stimulated concerning potential conflicts of interest between a company's management and their independent auditors. Many researchers examined the association between corporations who changed their present auditors, and factors such as auditor's opinion on the financial statements, management changes, mergers, financial distress, etc. Some of these research efforts resulted in findings that were inconsistent with each other. The current research was therefore undertaken with the objective of developing a theoretical model of auditor change process and to explain the justification for considering certain specific factors that may be present in an auditor-client relationship. The research design and the methodology for analyses were developed on the basis of the theory on power conflicts found in political science literature and by the use of Wrong's power model on authority relationship. Sources of power such as the size of an audit firm, size of a corporation, the stock exchange membership, the ability of an auditor to qualify the opinion on the financial statements, the ability of the management of a corporation to terminate the audit contract following the issue of a qualified opinion, and change of a corporation's CEO were identified and converted into independent variables. Data were collected from secondary sources on a sample of 200 corporations, 100 companies that had changed their audit firm at least once during the period 1983-85, and 100 corporations that did not change their audit firm during this period. The resulting data were analyzed using the MDS-ALSCAL procedure and logit regression with maximum likelihood estimators. The findings of this research support the power model and its relevancy to the study of auditor-client relationship. The variables, client size, stock exchange membership, and audit firm size were found to have a significant association with corporations who changed their audit firms. However, the variable, change of CEO, was not found to be a significant cause of audit firm changes.

This thesis is a qualitative study that examines the correlation between the activist movement #MeToo and the possible effects it had on journalists’ professional conduct with regard to ethics, through the theoretical framework of journalism culture and patriotic journalism. The analysis is based on six semi- structured interviews with journalists that were involved in publications during the height of the #MeToo movement in Sweden. The study indicates that the movement influenced the informants, several found it difficult to differentiate the personal and work-related impact it had on them at the time. Their intense coverage of the movement was fueled by the engaged public, as well as the activist movement itself, which could be interpreted as market orientation or interventionism – or both. Their expressed solidarity with the movement’s values and goals, as well as the fact that their own industry had a specific #MeToo- campaign, positioned the journalists between their solidarity to the society and their professional identity.

This bachelor's thesis aims to shed light on the professional ethical dilemmas that may arise in public libraries, what tools the librarians use, and what role experience plays in ethical thinking. With a theoretical framework based on Dreyfus and Dreyfus, as well as Säljö, we paint a picture of how ethical learning takes place in accordance with the five-step model, as well as how different tools can be used at the different levels of learning. Our findings suggest that experience is not equal to be an ethical expert, and that the tools that the librarians uses are useful on the lower levels of awareness, but that the librarians tends to act with more intuition when he/she grows more in their experience, although there are some cases where the expert still uses rules.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This research provided understanding of the concept civic-minded professional. A civic-minded professional is one who is(a)skillfully trained through formal education, with (b) the ethical disposition as a social trustee of knowledge, and (c) the capacity to work with others in a democratic way, (d) to achieve public goods. Forty-four items were developed for the Civic-Minded Professional scale based on a multi-disciplinary literature review. The scale was part of an online survey distributed to a national sample of faculty in higher education (n=373)to evaluate the reliability (alpha = .95) and validity of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the scale to thirty-two item and five factors (i.e., voluntary action, citizenship, social trustee, identity and calling, consensus building).

This study examines the ethical challenges that Swedish social workers may facedue to the proposed “Informationsplikt” (Duty of Disclosure). Rooted in the Tidö-Agreement between government parties and the Swedish Democrats, thisobligation mandates public officials, including social workers, to verifyindividuals legal right to reside in the country and report undocumentedimmigrants to the police. Amid widespread criticism and demonstrations againstwhat is colloquially referred to as the “Angiverilagen” (The Informer Act),professionals have voiced concerns about the potential ethical implications ofenacting this proposed legislation. Through qualitative interviews with six socialworkers, this research investigates how this proposed law as a part of bureaucraticregulations intersects with personal values and professional ethics among socialworkers. The findings reveal a conflict between the reporting obligation andsocial workers personal and professional values. Respondents express acommitment to upholding their clients’ rights and dignity, while expressingapprehension that this mandatory reporting may compromise these principles.Discussions about potential strategies, such as seeking legal loopholes withinexisting legislation or contemplating civil disobedience or resignation, shed lighton the difficulties social workers may encounter in navigating these ethicalchallenges in the future. Overall, this study underscores the tension betweenfollowing laws and regulations and the core tenets of social work ethics,emphasizing the importance of social workers navigating these complexities withintegrity and ethical reflection.