Disability Ethics

Dr Paul Jewell

Faculty of Health Sciences

&

School of Education

Flinders University

http://www.disabilityethics.net/

http://www.hbe.com.au/teaching-ethics-care-think-and-choose.html

Ethics

- the study of how people should treat each other.

This includes the notions of right and wrong, values, relationships, justice, fairness, consequences, autonomy, rights and respect.

Professionals

people with high levels of expertise and responsibilities in the provision of services.

The term professionals can mean practitioners, professionals, providers, managers, policy makers and government officials.

Professional Ethics

the standards that should guide professionals’ interactions with clients within their professional roles and responsibilities.

Professional ethics includes ethical standards that should guide practitioners, professionals, providers, managers, policy makers and government officials.

Clients

the recipients of professionals’ services.

Students.

Parents.

Contractors/funders.

Other parts of the community.

3 reasons for Professional Ethics

• Special Responsibility

• Knowledge, power, authority

• Regulated role

A Community Approach

This approach starts from the idea that it is human nature for people to care about each other, form relations with each other and come to agreements about how to treat each other.

 

Dr Paul Jewell, Flinders University

9

A Consequences Approach

• What makes an action right/wrong is whether it has good/bad consequences, whether it increases/decreases the welfare of the people affected by it. • By ‘good’, we could mean happiness, well-being, pleasure, interest or satisfaction.

10

A Principles Approach

Universally applicable rules. EG if someone says it is never right to lie, they are appealing to principle.

Some common principles are:

Respect others’ autonomy

Always tell the truth.

Keep your promises.

Don’t use people.

Virtue Ethics

According to Virtue theory, the right thing to do is what a good person would do. To become a good person, one should develop habits of behaviour which then constitute the character of a virtuous person.

E.G. an honest character is someone who consistently and reliably tells the truth.

12

Community policy is for schools to produce

• ’ literate, numerate, problem-solving, creative, well-mannered, well-presented and healthy individuals meeting the specialist demands of the economy….’

Universal Design?