THE PROBLEM WITH SITUATIONS

Clearly, weighing all possible circumstances and their sequellae requires a significant amount of judgement on the part of the individual charged with making the final decision. Therein lies one of the main problems with the situational approach to making ethical decisions. The judgement capabilities of those charged with making ethical decisions can vary considerably. Not everyone has the same capability to reason things out in such a systematic and ultimately defensible way. Then, of course, since someone is making the decision, there is an opportunity for the less moral among us to abuse that power.

Another oft-mentioned problem with this approach is the clear possibility that because of the belief that circumstances alter cases, there is more possibility that decisions will be unfair. If your organization has a particular policy and uses a situational approach to apply it, there may come charges of unfair practice from those who do not like the decision made in their cases.

Although there are clearly drawbacks to both approaches, in a close examination of them in the context of making everyday ethical decisions in a field like public relations that deals with such disparate groups of people, a situational approach seems to have a wider appeal . The dogmatic approach of the rule-based devotees seems to run counter to the culture of the field.

In any case, because such a degree of judgement seems to be required in applying a situational approach, there is a clear need for ethics education for all public relations practitioners as one key to ensuring that when the time comes to make such an important judgement, your background and experience allow you to make a decision that is at least morally defensible, even if not everyone agrees with you (which is generally the case).