New Approaches in Ethics for the Caring Professions Taking Account of Change for Caring Professions

by Hugman, Richard

• ISBN13: 9781403914712
• ISBN10: 1403914710
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-22
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This clear and persuasive book examines recent developments in ethics and applies these to the practice and organization of the caring professions. Its original approach focuses on what kind of ethical theory might be helpful for professional ethics, and explores debates from the perspectives of liberalism, feminism, ecology, postmodernism and constructivism. With ideas accessibly explained and implications explored using illustrative examples from practice contexts, it is essential reading for students and professionals.

Author Biography

Richard Hugman is Professor and Head of the School of Social Work at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Contemporary Professional Ethics	1	(15)
Ethics and the caring professions	1	(1)
The legacy of ethics in the caring professions	2	(8)
Main themes in contemporary professional ethics	10	(4)
Conclusion	14	(2)
Key Debates About Ethics	16	(15)
Universal or particular?	16	(5)
Binding or guiding?	21	(4)
Explicit or implicit?	25	(2)
Individual or social?	27	(2)
Conclusion	29	(2)
Why Professional Ethics?	31	(17)
Professions as social terrain	31	(3)
The content of caring professions	34	(3)
The focus of caring professions	37	(5)
The social relations of caring professions	42	(2)
The `social mandate' of caring professions	44	(3)
Conclusion	47	(1)
The Intelligence of Emotions and the Ethics of Compassion	48	(19)
Intelligence, emotion and compassion	48	(6)
Emotional rationality and practice	54	(4)
Emotion in the focus of caring professions	58	(2)
Emotion and the social relations of caring professions	60	(2)
Emotion in the `social mandate' of caring professions	62	(4)
Conclusion	66	(1)
Feminism and the Ethics of Care	67	(19)
Gender and care	67	(5)
Care in professional practice	72	(3)
The caring focus of `caring' professions	75	(3)
The social relations of professional caring	78	(3)
Care and the idea of a `social mandate'	81	(3)
Conclusion	84	(2)
Ecology and the Ethics of Life	86	(19)
Ecology and sustainability as ethics	86	(5)
Ecological practice in caring professions?	91	(3)
An ecological focus in caring professions?	94	(5)
Ecology and the social relations of caring professions	99	(2)
Ecology and the `social mandate' of caring professions	101	(2)
Conclusion	103	(2)
Postmodernity and Ethics Beyond Liberalism	105	(20)
Postmodern ethics	105	(7)
Postmodernity and virtuous practice	112	(4)
A postmodern focus for caring professions	116	(1)
Postmodern social relations in the caring professions	117	(4)
Postmodernity and the idea of a `social mandate'	121	(2)
Conclusion	123	(2)
Discourse Ethics: Constructionism or Critical Realism?	125	(15)
Discourse ethics and the caring professions	125	(5)
Objectivity, subjectivity and relativism in professional ethics	130	(2)
Constructionism and critical realism in ethics	132	(5)
Towards discursive ethics	137	(2)
Conclusion	139	(1)
Re-evaluating Professional Ethics	140	(13)
Challenges for ethics in the caring professions	140	(3)
Codes of ethics in the caring professions	143	(3)
Ethics or standards of practice?	146	(4)
Pluralism in professional ethics	150	(2)
Conclusion	152	(1)
Discursive Professional Ethics	153	(14)
The conditions for discursive ethics	153	(3)
Unsettling ethics	156	(6)
Coda: the role of ethics education	162	(3)
Conclusion	165	(2)
Glossary of Terms	167	(5)
Bibliography	172	(13)
Index	185