published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

Teachers are perceived by society and in law to be in a position of trust. As a result of the daily interaction with their students, educators have the opportunity to be influential and they are expected to behave in a responsible, ethical and moral manner. Being viewed as a moral compass of society is a significant responsibility and the implications of such a statement are substantial upon not only teachers but also impact on teacher education programs. This study investigates how educational law impacts on beginning teachers in light of the many legal and ethical boundaries that educators will experience throughout their career. The literature review discusses the delicate balance between an educator’s mission and the requirement to follow policies and procedures; documented court cases, which have an impact on educators; and, finally, the educational law component within the teacher education framework. Six participants were interviewed in this study of which two are teachers in their first three years of teaching, two recent graduates, a principal and an official with a teacher union who is a member from the Counseling department. All four of the teachers completed a two-year initial teacher education program. In addition, the principal is a member of the Partnership Advisory Council of the program. Maintaining the delicate balance between an educator’s mission and the law will continue to be a challenge. The direct and indirect statutory rules and regulations which impact on the education system and the supporting landmark court case decisions clearly bring to question the level of preparedness of teacher candidates and indicate a need to examine the role teacher education programs play in preparing future teachers. The major themes include the impact of educational law on the professional and personal lives of beginning teachers, the role of initial teacher education programs, and the legal enablers and barriers for educators. The key findings for each of the themes are discussed. Educators find themselves in a very complex role. The teacher education programs in Ontario need to examine the importance of including meaningful and insightful dialogue about the legal and ethical aspects of being a teacher.

When it comes to potential children, is to love them to leave them be (nonexistent)? I examine the possibility of virtuous reproduction, as well as some more basic theoretical issues surrounding the nature of moral goodness and obligation generally. Currently, there is a large body of literature in the field of reproductive ethics on questions of what considerations and practices ought to guide reproductive decision-making. The appropriate use of testing technologies to inform such decision-making, for instance, has been widely debated. Much smaller and less visible is the debate surrounding the prior question of whether reproduction itself is morally appropriate or desirable. I am particularly interested in how consequentialist strategies for including considerations of beneficence in reproductive decision-making have shaped moral approaches to reproduction. The principle of procreative beneficence (PPB), which mandates potential reproducers to select the best possible child, highlights the problematic nature of these strategies. The limited conceptual resources and problematic normative foundations of such strategies have stymied the development of a robust discussion on the ethics of reproduction itself. Other types of ethical approaches, loosely defined as deontological, offer superior accounts of what is at issue in reproduction, but also draw on some flawed background assumptions regarding, for instance, the nature of the moral agent and the scope of the moral sphere. The question of the morality of reproduction itself thus leads to an examination of far more basic issues in ethical theory: namely, the significance of meta-ethical commitments, and the desirability of a normative framework that offers a rich and agent-focused account of moral goodness and badness. I argue that a virtue-centred ethics, grounded in neo-Aristotelian naturalism, accomplishes just that. And it is well-equipped to provide a meaningful and helpful analysis of the morality of reproduction, both holistically, in terms of the potential virtuousness of reproduction generally, and in terms of how the virtues of courage and benevolence may be expressed in reproduction. I conclude that a virtue-centred assessment of reproduction offers a sound and practical form of evaluation and that a virtuous character may indeed be expressed through reproduction. / Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-17 10:44:50.827

In post-traditional societies, identity has been pervasively understood as a ‘thing’ one needs to and can endeavour to achieve or create. Many studies about identity in the humanities and social sciences have increasingly been approached in both reified and impersonal ways. These trends in understanding identity have made a significant impact on research into education and identity. This thesis aims to demonstrate the complexity of personal identity on a theoretical level and endeavours to rethink the theoretical understanding of personal identity in relation to the notion of learning. Based on Paul Ricoeur and Charles Taylor’s theories of personal identity, this thesis argues that personal identity needs to be understood both as sameness and as selfhood at a conceptual level. Ontologically, the former belongs to the category of ‘thing’, ‘substance’ in terms of permanence in time. The latter belongs the category of ‘being’ in terms of permanence in time. This thesis will argue that this conceptual understanding of personal identity suggests that identity is largely ‘shaped’ by social, cultural, traditional, moral and ethical dimensions in the human world over time, rather than merely being a result of personal endeavour as an individual creation or/and an adaptation to constant social changes. The moral and ethical dimensions of personal identity also suggest that the need for and ‘meaning’ of personal identity to a person in his/her life cannot be simply approached in an objective manner through impersonal terms. Rather, personal identity constitutively depends on self-interpretation, which highlights the role of narrative in understanding personal identity. This thesis further argues that a new understanding about reflexive learning relevant to personal identity can be drawn from this theoretical understanding of personal identity and narrative. This new understanding is based on a person’s reflexivity not only in the dialectical frameworks between sameness, self and others, but also in different moral frameworks. What this presents us with is a different view of lifelong learning as an alternative to lifelong learning implied in the notion of a ‘reflexive project of the self’.

This thesis emerges in the context of recent developments in the field of charity fundraising. In particular, in order to increase, or simply maintain, fundraising levels charities have had to develop innovative devices which both take charity giving into the spaces in which individuals carry out their daily activities, and provide mechanisms through which they are able to give to charity in their daily lives. This thesis focuses on one such attempt. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate both the practices of constructing alternative giving and the materials which result from this, and the practices of giving and receiving an alternative gift. Alternative giving refers to a fundraising device which is built around a range of gift cards or certificates produced by the charity, each of which represent one particular item or service provided by the charity to its beneficiaries. The cards or certificates are then sold at a price which is designed to mirror the actual cost of providing the item or service represented and are intended to be used by the purchaser as a gift for a friend or relative. As such, alternative giving, as a form of fundraising used by international development charities, raises a number of questions, particularly in terms of how it affects the relationships between individuals and charities, and individuals and the specific beneficiary. Therefore, this thesis draws on literatures around ethics, governmentality, consumption and gift theory to examine the implications of alternative giving for these relationships. Having drawn these literatures into conversations with empirical research based around interviews with charities and those engaging in alternative giving, and a range of textual materials surrounding this, the thesis argues that practices of alternative giving are carried out by ethical subjects who are situated within broad sets of social relations, and which matter to how connections in the charitable act are manifest.

'Community' has long proved an integral element in commonsense thinking about a range of social problems and experiences, and with respect to crime the general conclusion is that more community will mean less crime. This study comprises a critical exploration of the resonance of community to New Labour's youth justice policy and to the lives of young offenders. The concept of community is of particular interest, as since its election in 1997 New Labour has been committed to forge a new political ideology of the 'Third Way', wherein communitarian ideas have proved central to the government's ambitions to revive and emphasise individual's responsibilities and obligations to civil society. Thus evident in the array of civil and criminal orders, which constitute the youth justice system in England and Wales, are constructions of community as both a 'moral resource' and as a 4moral claimant'. The former assumes that communities have inherent capacities in preventing and controlling youth crime, while the latter prioritises the community's right to demand the punishment and exclusion of those young people who fail to live up to their communal responsibilities. Given that communitarian responses are but the latest manifestation of the constant search for solutions t o youth crime, consideration is initially accorded to the historical shifts and continuities in both youth justice and community safety policy and practices. It is argued that a movement towards increasingly punitive, exclusionary and defensive responses to crime and young offenders has prevailed in recent years, and it is within this context that New Labour's prioritisation of communitarian thought has occurred. Attention then turns to the specificities of the government's commitment to communitarianism,within youth justice. Not only do New Labour emphasise young people's responsibilities to the community - rather than the community's, or indeed, the state's responsibilities to the young person- but it has also demonstrated its willingness to define. legislate and sanction with respect to those responsibilities it considers essential to the membership rights of the 'law-abiding' community. As such it is contended that the government's vision of community is essentially narrow, defensive and divisive. The analysis then draws upon semi-structured qualitative interviews with a sample of young offenders and Youth Offending Team practitioners to explore the resonance of community to the lives of young offenders and to their experiences of youth justice supervision. It is argued that community is a salient feature of the lives of young offenders which often provides for inclusionary experiences. However, the government's faith in the community to act as a 'moral resource' in preventing and controlling crime does not adequately account for the complex, transitory and ambiguous nature of young offenders' experiences of communal life. Furthermore, the punitive repercussions of the government's commitment to honouring the community's role as a 'moral claimant' serve to undermine the practitioner's ability to exploit the resources the community may have to offer to with regard to encouraging and motivating young people to desist from offending. Additionally, the emphasis on intolerance is likely to promote the community's disapproval and hostility towards young offenders. It is concluded that New Labour's commitment to communitarianism, and its particular envisaging of community, conjures a powerful exclusionary potential which is unlikely to engender positive outcomes for either the young offender or the 'law abiding' community.

Moral courage will no longer be an option for Nursing Home Administrators (NHA) to lead ethically with the projections for the future needs of healthcare services and the governmental involvement in containing the costs of care in the United States. The estimated increase in the 65 year and older population over the next 40 years and the accompanying impacts necessitate that healthcare will need to make significant changes from the care and services that currently exist. This growth in population of older adults will also be coupled with increased disability and declining resources. Due to these trends, persons in leadership positions in nursing homes are going to be increasingly faced with balancing competing needs and the equitable distribution of resources. For a leader to be able to function effectively within this healthcare environment requires moral courage in making the difficult decisions that are being presented. Healthcare has always been posed with ethical dilemmas at times but the rapid changes and increases in need will not allow for occasional situations to arise that necessitate difficult decisions. These will become the norm for the daily operations for care delivery and the leadership of nursing homes must possess the ability to act courageously as an advocate for the patients and residents within the limited resources. <br>Like most other healthcare professions, NHAs are not proficiently trained to think in ethical terms, particularly on a day-to-day basis. In addition, there are inadequate ethical guidelines in the professional associations and licensing standards for administrators. Many NHAs do not possess the skills, knowledge, or character to enact moral courage. Without moral courage the residents and patients will not have the ethical representation by the leadership which poses a concern for upholding the best interests of the residents and patients who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as valued and unique individuals. To think ethically requires education and skill development if not already intrinsic to the person. Ethical actions must follow through the decision making process and moral courage is the conduit for ethical leadership for the Nursing Home Administrator. <br>To understand these ethical concepts within the healthcare realm of nursing homes and the leadership perspective is to first review the background for this need for moral courage. The heart of holding a leadership position in any healthcare organization is to manage all operational aspects that provide and support the care of the patients and residents. The historical review of healthcare in the U.S. will look at the progression to the current implementation of healthcare reform which is necessitating decisions surrounding competing needs. This evolving healthcare situation is ripening challenges for moral courage in the forms of limited education in ethics, conflicts of interest, and resource allocation. The typical scenario for ethical dilemmas has been deciding between patient and financial benefits however decisions will increasingly involve choices among competing patient needs when each patient could benefit. Past examples are summarized which outline poor ethical choices among healthcare leaders which will further support an increasing need for moral courage in decision making. <br>In healthcare moral courage is rooted in providing care to patients in a caring manner. The relationship between moral courage and patient care will be assessed by defining morality and courage. Courage will be further explored from a philosophical perspective within its defining qualities of gaining insight, being motivated to act with courage, and to experience a need to help another which connects it very appropriately to care. The provision of care is the core function of nursing homes which can get lost or forgotten within the organizational complexities. The NHAs who possess the attribute of courage can utilize it through acts of caring. This caring nature can be exhibited by going beyond the self for the leadership and recognizing the sanctity and dignity of all human life which can be displayed in morally courageous decisions. For NHAs to act ethically, they must recognize patients as persons first who are in need of care. To come from the point of the patient is the foundation for decisions, ethically, in which the leader must maintain a human connection. The ethics of care brings together several points that are paramount to ethical decision making for the leadership. This theory includes basic principles for moral development and the relationships between the patients and the caregivers. Although the ethics of care is relationship-based, ethical leadership is still bound to upholding the rights of the patients which are supported by traditional ethical theories based in justice. The combination of the relationships with the patients, and being an advocate for their rights, aligns moral courage with caring actions. <br>Moral courage is the core of ethical leadership in nursing homes and starts with a review of determinates that contribute to the NHA leading morally. While there are contributors to strong ethical leadership such as values, competencies, emotional awareness, and accountability, there are also challenges that can lead to moral compromise. There are a variety of leadership styles which will be discussed along with secondary distinctions formulated on traits, which will offer differing approaches in enacting moral courage. Some styles lend themselves more readily to promoting an ethically grounded nursing home. Several models for ethical decision making will be explained which can be applied to morally courageous resolutions. <br>The actions and decisions of the leadership of all organizations define the ethical climate and their morally courageous decisions set the expectations for the rest of the organization to follow. The combination of written guidelines and the actions of the leadership flow into a level of trust. The nature of the ethical climate will be apparent through both internal and external means and in the value placed on the decisions surrounding quality of care and safety within nursing homes. Compliance and ethics programs serve as another level of support for providing positive ethical environments. These programs can offer nursing homes a constant mode of checks and balances to insure that an atmosphere is maintained which promotes moral courage throughout the organization. <br>A barrier for leaders to be effective in making decisions requiring moral courage is the need to comprehend and develop a level of competency to do so. Several strategies will be covered that include ethics education, leadership mentoring, and case study reviews that can be utilized for training and development purposes. Also models for assessing and carrying out decisions based in moral courage will be explained as other resources for leadership development. The author also offers a model of moral courage for consideration. <br>For the future of nursing homes moral courage will become a requirement in executive leadership for ethical decision making in the best interests of patient care. Given the demographic changes that are evolving along with the anticipated growth and resource allocation, the challenges surrounding ethical dilemmas will become increasingly problematic. Leaders will need to be tethered to a virtuous foundation of courage and care that never loses sight of the patient as person with the sanctity and dignity in all human life. As decisions are navigated through moral courage, which is translated through behaviors and actions of the NHA, they will necessitate that the leadership have the ability to operate beyond self-interests. Where the competencies do not exist there will be a need for leadership development and an even greater need for strength of character among the highest levels of healthcare organizations to establish positive ethical climates. The NHA leaders beginning now and into the future will need to balance the care requirements against resource limitations and financial viability in a more demanding way than ever before in this ever-changing healthcare delivery system. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Health Care Ethics / PhD; / Dissertation;

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This study examines ethical dilemmas in the workplace and how organizational members move to resolve these challenges. Existing research was reviewed to gain insight and determine current views of ethical dilemmas experienced at work. A study was then conducted with Supply Corps Officers in the U.S. Navy to better understand the dilemmas they face in their daily work life. Officers were asked to think of a critical incident when they faced a moral challenge and how they responded. Data procured from critical incident interviews is suggestive of how officers describe ethical dilemmas, how they identify options for action, and finally how they select a course of action. The dilemmas generally involved issues with financial accountability, fairness in performance evaluations, fraternization, homosexuality in the service, employee drug and alcohol abuse, fraudulent use of government property and funds, conflict between personal and military values, and managing important relationships. This initiative, supported by the Chief of the Supply Corps, is designed to be a promising start toward creating an informed strategy, one that will ultimately lead to the design of enhanced educational programming regarding moral behavior in the military. / Lieutenant Commander, Supply Corps, United States Navy

Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Joy Kozar / China is the world’s largest apparel producer, exporter, and maintains the largest domestic apparel market. Since economic reform in the 1980s that opened up the Chinese market for foreign investors, China’s domestic apparel market has attracted many foreign (Western) apparel brands (Shenkar, 2005). More than 10,000 different international apparel brands share China’s domestic apparel market, including brands from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, Britain, and South Korea, among others. Around 2,000 Chinese domestic apparel brands have experienced difficultly surviving in China’s domestic apparel market. Besides the large number of foreign (Western) apparel brands, counterfeit apparel products have grown faster than China’s government can control. As a result, China has become the world’s largest counterfeit market. This has become a secondary threat to China’s domestic apparel market and national economy. Additionally, because of economic growth and modernization in China, Chinese consumers have accepted more Westernized values, but also retained their traditional face-saving values. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how their attitudes toward counterfeit apparel products, China’s domestic apparel brands, and foreign (Western) apparel brands are influenced by their level of perception about knowledge and attitudes toward counterfeit apparel products, face-saving values, materialistic values, and ethical values. This study utilized a sample of males and females between the ages of 18 and 64, who reside in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wuhan, China. A questionnaire was utilized as part of this study and data was collected online by SOJUMP Survey Company. A total of 1,192 participants (736 males and 456 females) participated in this study. There are in total nine significant relationships that have been found in this study. First, the researcher found a positive relationship between Chinese consumers’ perception about knowledge of counterfeit apparel products and their attitudes about counterfeit apparel products. Second and third, the present study also discovered that Chinese consumers with favorable attitudes of foreign apparel brands or negative attitude of China’s domestic apparel brands would similarly hold positive attitudes of counterfeit apparel products. Fourth, the present scholar concluded that Chinese consumers with favorable attitudes of China’s domestic apparel brands tend to hold negative attitudes of counterfeit apparel products. Fifth and sixth, it was found that Chinese consumers with high level of face-saving values show positive attitudes of foreign (Western) apparel brands and counterfeit apparel products. Seventh, Chinese consumers with high level of face-saving values also possess strong materialistic values. Consequently Chinese consumers with strong materialistic values tend to hold positive attitudes of counterfeit apparel products and foreign (Western) apparel products, but negative attitudes of China’s domestic apparel brands. The findings of this study show that Chinese consumers have a very low level of perception about knowledge of counterfeit apparel products. It is necessary to connect educators, government, apparel industry, and brand owners to develop and enhance anti-counterfeit educational programs. These programs should clearly explain the perception about knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), trademark, and the negative causes of counterfeit products are warranted. Also, it is better for China’s domestic apparel brand companies to develop better brand images and improve product quality to meet Chinese consumers’ face-saving standards and materialistic values.