COM 202 Interpersonal Communication
Ethical Considerations
Following are various issues that have ethical implications relevant to interpersonal exchanges between individuals, group or organization members, and/or between institutional members/ representatives/constituents. While these ethical issues are not directly raised in yout texts, they are open for inclusion in our class discussions. Do not feel constrained by these suggested discussion items; feel free to raise/inquire about other ethical issues as well.
1. Confidentiality -- What is confidentiality? What can/ought be kept confidential? Are confidentiality
assurances by individuals/groups/organizations always binding? What are conditions that may warrant/excuse others
from keeping confidentiality?
2. Secrecy -- What is secrecy? When is it necessary/required/ desired to have secrets; whether as individuals, groups, or organizations? How long should such secrets be kept? Under what conditions can/should secrets be abrogated? Who should be the secret holders? What should secret sharers' sanctions be?
3. Privacy -- What is privacy? How important is privacy? What matters are subject to privacy and therefore subject to limited sharing/access. When is individual, collective, or institutional privacy transcendant?
4. Deception -- What is deception? In what forms and for what motives does decepotion occur? Is deception always wrong? If not, when is deception accaeptable/desired/needed? Is silence considered deceptive? Is omission of useful/needed/ pertinent data deceptive? What are acceptable sanctions for deception?
5. Conflicts of interest -- What are conflicts of interest? Are there times/circumstances when conflicts of interest are acceptable/unavoidable? If so, ho are these dtermined? Who decides? What are appropriate snctions for undesired/ unacceptable conflcts of interest?
6. Hidden agendas -- What is a hidden agenda? Can personal or collective hidden agendas be avoided/diminished? Should individuals/groups/organizations be suspected of hidden agendas until it is clear they do not exist OR should others be assumed not to have hidden agendas unless shown otherwise?
7. Plagiarism -- What is plagiarism? Why does it occur? What are plagiarism's effects? Who hgets hurt by plagiarism? What are appropriate sanctions for corporate/gevernment/ academic plagiarism?
8. Disinformation -- What is disinformation? Why is it a problem; to whom is it most problematic? What are its deleterious effects?
9. Civility -- What is vivility? Iss civility always an option? If not, when is a civility breach acceptable/necessary?
10. Preparedness -- Why are some people unprepared for conversations of meetings? What are the effects of such behavior? What are reasonable/productive reaction s to such behavior?
11. Disconfirmation -- What is disconformation? Why do people disconform others? What are common effects/consequnces of disconforming others?
12. Embarrassment -- Why do people embarrass others? How can embarrassment be diminished/avoided? What are typical effects of embarrassment?
13. Over disclosure -- Why do some folks overdisclose to others? What effects on others does oversisclosure have? How can overdisclosure be minimized/avoided?