Professional Ethics - Are There Any Left
There are a variety of types of professional ethics, but they all boil down to the honesty of the individuals conducting the business. Think about the ethics involved in the medical field, law enforcement or how about ethical research. Most people think of corporate ethics when the term professional ethics is brought up, but the range is wide. Here are a few reasons why the implentation of ethics is so important across every profession in the world.
Think back a few years ago to the Rodney King beating or how about the recent police taser suspect that caught fire and burned to death. Were these officers justified in their actions, did they uphold the law or were they in the wrong? These are all questions that the general public has. The professional ethics of law enforcement immediately become jeopardized and highly scrutinized when something of this magnitude happens. Fortunately the law enforcement of the world has very strict legal, ethical and moral guidelines to follow when enforcing the law. This has been brought to light with these type cases that reinforce the need for a strict set of guidelines for those upholding the business of law enforcement.
Law enforcement is not the only profession that must adhere to a strict set of professional ethics either. How about the medical profession, do we hold them to a very strict set of guidelines? Don’t you want your doctor to be on the up and up, thinking of the good of your family rather than cutting corners or lining the pocket of a product that does not deliver the promise? How about falsifying records or not being trustworthy? No one wants to wonder about credentials, honesty or integrity when they are dealing with their health, much less their families.
Researchers also have a code of professional ethics that they must adhere to. After all no one wants to be guinea pigged or experimented on. Research must follow ethical guidelines to ensure that no one is harmed physically, emotionally or in any other manner during an experiment. If there were not ethical guidelines, researchers could lie to you about the experiment or fail to give you the details of a potential harmful outcome.
Professional ethics are important regardless of the profession or whom it involves. If guidelines and rules are not established, someone suffers and it is generally someone innocent. Everyone has the right to live in a world free of harm and/or deceit by those that they solicit for business. Would you intentionally visit a professional or business in which you knew that they had no regard for ethics? Most people would not and for very good reason.
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