On the Matter of Ethics

[TexasTowelie]

By Carol Morgan



It’s taken many years for me to appreciate the excellent graduate training I received at Texas Tech under Drs. Camille DeBell and Gerald Parr. At the time, I was frustrated with the amount of time devoted to counselor ethics, but over time, my frustration turned to gratitude.

There is a vast difference between ethics and morality. Morality is very clear; it defines the differences between good and evil. Think of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello: his treachery, his lack of kindness and decency; all point to a man who lacked morality.

Ethics is cloudier, nebulous and less-defined. Think of Jean Anouilh’s play, Becket. King Henry demands that Becket become the Archbishop and Becket tearfully remarks: “My Lord, if I become Archbishop, I can no longer be your friend.” If you’ve read the play, you remember he accepted the King’s offer and in the process became his former friend’s deadly enemy because of his determination to preserve the rights of the church against the King’s power.

He recognized the predictable conflicts of friendship versus position.

So what’s the ethical lesson in Becket? It’s never good idea to mix business with pleasure or friendship.

Dual relationships and conflicts of interests are an important part of every professional code of ethics. That’s why therapists don’t date their clients, why doctors don’t treat members of their own family, and why an attorney doesn’t defend a member of his family in court. There are too many emotionally complicated ties bound up in those intimate relationships which prevent us from acting professionally and rationally.

That same principle should also apply to anyone in politics, service or employment to the City of Lubbock, the state of Texas or the nation. There will always come a time when they must ask themselves: “Am I acting in the best interest of the people I pledged to serve or am I serving my friend, my family, my colleague, or my business associates? Am I serving myself? ” The answer is always unclear.

I’m sure it’s overwhelming to be elected to political office. One day you’re the average Joe-Jane and overnight you’re showered with football tickets, invitations to galas and a chair at the head table in a skybox. People who wouldn’t give you the time of day, now refer to you as their “friend”. It’s a little bit like being the new kid in school. And just like the new kid, now that’s you’ve been adopted by the “cool kids”, you couldn’t possibly go back to hanging out with the nerds.

Some don’t see anything wrong with free football tickets and all the patronage-seeking-trappings that come with the new position. It’s a normal part of doing business, right? It’s always been that way, correct? This is the bottom line: A vice doesn’t magically become a virtue just because everyone agrees that it’s acceptable. Ethical service shouldn’t be driven by “group-think”.

Those pleasurable experiences at the football game, the gala, or the fishing trip, color our personal regard for the gift-givers in subconscious ways that we fail to realize. Especially when “everybody” does it.

This latest kerfuffle over city boards, city council, and the emotional, monetary, or authoratative perks associated with it, proves that we all need to listen to our intuition and our conscience and act above the noise and human distractions. Spending time in daily reflection or prayer or meditation is not a luxury; it’s required. What is the “thing” that drives us? What's our motivation? Why am I doing this? These are questions we must ask ourselves regularly. If we’re truthful with ourselves, the answer is never flattering.

All of us are motivated by ego, money or power, but it’s the degree to which we’re fueled by these human faults that determines whether we become Iago or Beckett.

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Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org You can also contact her by email at: [e-mail]

Source: http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-10-02/matter-ethics

Cross-posted in Good Reads forum.