Part 2: Ethics and the Practitioner

Chapter List

Chapter 7: Your Staircase to Respect

Chapter 8: The Good, the Bad and the (Almost) UglyEthics Codes

Chapter 9: Sex and the Single (or Not) PR PractitionerConflict of Interest

Chapter 10: You Against the World

Now that we have examined some aspects of an ethical framework that lies beneath the real, everyday issues, we need to look at you, the person and public relations practitionerto the personal aspects of ethical decision-making that underlie those professional decisions.

Sometimes taking a good, close look at who we are as moral individuals can be a very eye-opening experience. Everything from how evolved we are, morally speaking, to our level of respect for others as manifested in our manners, is a part of our personal ethics. Then, of course, there is the matter of how we react to ethical standards expected of us by our profession.

You are faced with those professional codes of ethics, but what are you really supposed to do with them? You know, on a gut level, what decision you'd make in hypothetical ethical dilemmas, but do you know what your decisions say to the world about you as a moral person? And what about conflicts? Do you even recognize when you as an individual are facing a conflict of interest in your work situations? Many people don't. How do you handle specific crises of conscience?

Part 2 is designed to help you to answer these questions for yourself.