Police ethics

Police are an essential part of the justice system. They are the frontline actors in keeping the peace, social stability and cohesion. Thus good governance relies on honest policing. However, there will always be at least a small group of corrupt police officers, even though Australians are culturally averse to corruption (Khatri, Tsang, & Begley, 2006). There have been many cases where the allegations of police corruption have reached to the highest levels of a state police force (Blanch, 1982) and, in the case of the Fitzgerald Inquiry (Fitzgerald, 1989), ended in a commissioner being convicted of corruption.

Mediation ethics in Australia : a case for rethinking the foundational paradigm

In contemporary Western society, including Australia, professional mediation practice has developed with a specifically defined foundational approach - a problem-solving, facilitative method, in which the mediator's intervention is centred on providing the parties with a series of formal steps to assist their communication and to steer them towards a self-determined and mutually agreeable resolution of the issues in dispute. Facilitative mediation developed, in part, as a response to the adversarial system of law and justice. In that system the parties are said to lose control of their dispute, and a decision is imposed on them which invariably puts one party in a losing position. Facilitative mediation has offered an alternative to this inevitable outcome by offering the parties a democratic, cost-effective, party-centred, empowering, interests-based and principled option for resolving their dispute.

Double standards in special medical research : questioning the discrepancy between requirements for medical research involving incompetent adults and medical research involving children

Medical research represents a substantial departure from conventional medical care. Medical care is patient-orientated, with decisions based on the best interests and/or wishes of the person receiving the care. In contrast, medical research is future-directed. Primarily it aims to contribute new knowledge about illness or disease, or new knowledge about interventions, such as drugs, that impact upon some human condition. Current State and Territory laws and research ethics guidelines in Australia relating to the review of medical research appropriately acknowledge that the functions of medical care and medical research differ. Prior to a medical research project commencing, the study must be reviewed and approved by a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). For medical research involving incompetent adults, some jurisdictions require an additional, independent safeguard by way of tribunal or court approval of medical research protocols. This extra review process reflects the uncertainty of medical research involvement, and the difficulties surrogate decision-makers of incompetent adults face in making decisions about others, and deliberating about the risks and benefits of research involvement. Parents of children also face the same difficulties when making decisions about their child’s research involvement. However, unlike the position concerning incompetent adults, there are no similar safeguards under Australian law in relation to the approval of medical research involving children. This column questions why this discrepancy exists with a view to generating further dialogue on the topic.

Countering the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder epidemic: a question of ethics?

Recently in Australia, another media skirmish has erupted over the problem we currently call “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder”. This particular event was precipitated by the comments of a respected District Court judge. His claim that doctors are creating a generation of violent juvenile offenders by prescribing Ritalin to young children created a great deal of excitement, attracting the attention of election-conscious politicians who appear blissfully unaware of the role played by educational policy in creating and maintaining the problem. Given the short (election-driven) attention span of government policymakers, I bypass government to question what those at the front line can do to circumvent the questionable practice of diagnosing and medicating young children for difficulties they experience in schools and with learning.

Ethics, Law and Health Care : a Guide for Nurses and Midwives

Understanding ethics and law in health care is an essential part of nurses’ and midwives’ professional standards. Ethics, Law and Health Care focuses on teaching applied ethics and law in a manner that illustrates the real world applications of these core components of the nursing and midwifery curriculum and practice. It equips readers with the ability to recognise and address legal and ethical issues that will arise in their professional practice. The book uses the four principles of biomedical ethics (autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice) together with the use of both the Nursing and Midwifery Codes of Ethics and Codes of Professional Conduct, issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, as a central means through which to analyse and approach ethical and legal issues. Ethics, Law and Health Care is scaffolded to assist readers in understanding legal and ethical principles, to integrate them in the context of a particular issue within professional practice, and provide them with a decision-making framework to take action in a professional context by utilising the Codes as well as state and federal law. Aided by pedagogical features such as case studies, review questions, further reading and a glossary of common terms, this book is an essential resource for students, academics and practitioners.

Sexualities and sensitivities: Queer(y)ing the ethics of youth research in the field

In contemporary Western societies, the years between childhood and young adulthood are commonly understood to be (trans)formative in the reflexive project of sexual self-making (Russell et al. 2012). As sexual subjects in the making, youthful bodies, desires and sexual activities are often perceived as both volatile and vulnerable, thus subjected to instruction and discipline, protection and surveillance. Accordingly, young people’s sexual proximities are closely monitored by social institutions and ‘(hetero)normalising regimes’ (Warner 1999) for any signs that may compromise the end goal of development—a ‘normal’ reproductive heterosexual monogamous adult...

Acting to let someone die

This paper examines the recent prominent view in medical ethics that withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (LST) is an act of killing. I trace this view to the rejection of the traditional claim that withdrawing LST is an omission rather than an act. Although that traditional claim is not as problematic as this recent prominent view suggests, my main claim is that even if we accepted that withdrawing LST should be classified as an act rather than as an omission, it could still be classified as letting die rather than killing. Even though omissions are contrasted with acts, letting die need not be, for one can let die by means of acts. The remainder of the paper is devoted to establishing this claim and addresses certain objections to it.

Design and ethics in digital mental health promotion

This chapter presents a case study of Participatory Design as a design framework for developing interactive digital tools for promoting children’s resilience. The author argues for a participatory methodology as an ethical approach that involves children as co-designers in the process from which they are traditionally excluded, namely the creative design process and the process of mental health promotion.

Gender studies : Intersex by Catherine Harper

Intersex is the condition whereby an individual is born with biological features that are simultaneously perceived as male and female. Ranging from the ambiguous genitalia of the true 'hermaphrodite' to the 'mildly or internally intersexed', the condition may be as common as cleft palate. Like cleft palate, it is hidden and surgically altered, but for very different reasons. Intersex draws heavily on the personal testimony of intersexed individuals, their loved ones and medical carers. The impact of early sex-assignment surgery on an individual's later life is examined within the context of ethical and clinical questions. Harper challenges the conventional and radical 'treatment' of intersexuality through non-consensual infant sex-assignment surgery. In doing so, she exposes powerful myths, taboos and constructions of gender - the perfect phallus, a bi-polar model of gender and the infallibility of medical decisions. Handling sensitive material with care, this book deepens our understanding of a condition that has itself only been medically understood in recent years.

A little learning is a dangerous thing? The ethics of teaching accidental tourists in higher education

This paper raises questions about the ethical issues that arise for academics and universities when under-graduate students enrol in classes outside of their discipline - classes that are not designed to be multi-disciplinary or introductory. We term these students ‘accidental tourists'. Differences between disciplines in terms of pedagogy, norms, language and understanding may pose challenges for accidental tourists in achieving desired learning outcomes. This paper begins a discussion about whether lecturers and universities have any ethical obligations towards supporting the learning of these students. Recognising that engaging with only one ethical theory leads to a fragmented moral vision, this paper employs a variety of ethical theories to examine any possible moral obligations that may fall upon lecturers and/or universities. In regards to lecturers, the paper critically engages with the ethical theories of utilitarianism, Kantianism and virtue ethics (Aristotle) to determine the extent of any academic duty to accidental tourists. In relation to universities, this paper employs the emerging ethical theory of organisational ethics as a lens through which to critically examine any possible obligations. Organisational ethics stems from the recognition that moral demands also exist for organisations so organisations must be reconceptualised as ethical actors and their policies and practices subject to ethical scrutiny. The analysis in this paper illustrates the challenges faced by lecturers some of whom, we theorise, may experience a form of moral distress facing a conflict between personal beliefs and organisational requirements. It also critically examines the role and responsibilities of universities towards students and towards their staff and the inherent moral tensions between a market model and demands for ‘good' learning experiences. This paper highlights the tensions for academics, between academics and universities and within university policy and indicates the need for greater reflection about this issue, especially given the many constraints facing lecturers and universities.

A 3D virtual medical imaging suite : bridging the academic-clinical training boundary

Aims The Medical Imaging Training Immersive Environment (MITIE) system is a recently developed virtual reality (VR) platform that allows students to practice a range of medical imaging techniques. The aim of this pilot study was to harvest user feedback about the educational value of the application and inform future pedagogical development. This presentation explores the use of this technology for skills training and blurring the boundaries between academic learning and clinical skills training. Background MITIE is a 3D VR environment that allows students to manipulate a patient and radiographic equipment in order to produce a VR-generated image for comparison with a gold standard. As with VR initiatives in other health disciplines (1-6) the software mimics clinical practice as much as possible and uses 3D technology to enhance immersion and realism. The software was developed by the Medical Imaging Course Team at a provider University with funding from a Health Workforce Australia “Simulated Learning Environments” grant. Methods Over 80 students undertaking the Bachelor of Medical Imaging Course were randomised to receive practical experience with either MITIE or radiographic equipment in the medical radiation laboratory. Student feedback about the educational value of the software was collected and performance with an assessed setup was measured for both groups for comparison. Ethical approval for the project was provided by the university ethics panel. Results This presentation provides qualitative analysis of student perceptions relating to satisfaction, usability and educational value as well as comparative quantitative performance data. Students reported high levels of satisfaction and both feedback and assessment results confirmed the application’s significance as a pre-clinical training tool. There was a clear emerging theme that MITIE could be a useful learning tool that students could access to consolidate their clinical learning, either during their academic timetables or their clinical placement. Conclusion Student feedback and performance data indicate that MITIE has a valuable role to play in the clinical skills training for medical imaging students both in the academic and the clinical environment. Future work will establish a framework for an appropriate supporting pedagogy that can cross the boundary between the two environments. This project was possible due to funding made available by Health Workforce Australia.

Ethics in Research with Children

Widespread scholarly interest in ethics in research with children, as an extant field of inquiry and practice, is a relatively new phenomenon. The discipline of ethics can be traced back to the Hippocratic school, but its contemporary applications in the everyday worlds of children and those around them are gaining greater attention from theorists, practitioners, and those involved in policy. Heightened international awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1979) gave significant impetus to increasing international awareness of children’s rights to provision, protection, and participation in everyday contexts, including those in which research occurs. Understandings of research ethics and of children’s involvement in research relate to broader understandings of children and childhood drawn from developmental science, sociology, human geography, health sciences, and children’s human rights to participation and protection. Key understandings pertain to children’s competence to participate in research, to operate as reliable informants with respect to their own lives, to provide voluntary informed consent and dissent in research, and to make meaningful decisions about the nature and extent of their participation. The field is international and interdisciplinary, although bounded by legislative, policy, and jurisdictional requirements governing research—its conduct and dissemination. So, too, the burgeoning work of ethics committees, whether in relation to health research or social research, is evidence of a sharpened focus on governance of child research. Oxford Bibliographies offers a suite of perspectives, resources, and strategies to guide the researcher, practitioner, and policymaker and serves to challenge readers to interrogate conceptual understandings, methodologies, and dissemination of research with and about children. Exploration of the suite opens up new possibilities for considering children’s rights to participation in matters that affect their lives and for children to be seen and heard in research.

Law, ethics and pandemic preparedness : the importance of cross-jurisdictional and cross-cultural perspectives

OBJECTIVE To explore social equity, health planning, regulatory and ethical dilemmas in responding to a pandemic influenza (H5N1) outbreak, and the adequacy of protocols and standards such as the International Health Regulations (2005). APPROACH This paper analyses the role of legal and ethical considerations for pandemic preparedness, including an exploration of the relevance of cross-jurisdictional and cross-cultural perspectives in assessing the validity of goals for harmonisation of laws and policies both within and between nations. Australian and international experience is reviewed in various areas, including distribution of vaccines during a pandemic, the distribution of authority between national and local levels of government, and global and regional equity issues for poorer countries. CONCLUSION This paper finds that questions such as those of distributional justice (resource allocation) and regulatory frameworks raise important issues about the cultural and ethical acceptability of planning measures. Serious doubt is cast on a 'one size fits all' approach to international planning for managing a pandemic. It is concluded that a more nuanced approach than that contained in international guidelines may be required if an effective response is to be constructed internationally. IMPLICATIONS The paper commends the wisdom of reliance on 'soft law', international guidance that leaves plenty of room for each nation to construct its response in conformity with its own cultural and value requirements.

Pandemic preparedness in Asia : a role for law and ethics?

Management of pandemic influenza relies on complex coordination of many different dimensions of the health and social care systems, emergency services, levels of national and local government, civil society, communications and media, and cultural expectations. Law is one small but important component of those arrangements, which touch on fundamental ethical debates. This review demonstrates that the Asian region is actively engaging those issues in diverse ways in light of their varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, but scope remains for prioritising further research into these relationships.