Case Studies in Ethics

Ethics Case Study 1 The Center for Alcohol Education, Inc., is a small, struggling nonprofit agency that targets the prevention of alcohol use among teenagers. Funding has never been adequate to support its projects, and its e ecutive director has been considering some layoffs to stay afloat. !ecently, the "ettleheim "re#ing Company has let it be $no#n that it #ill be providing grant dollars for responsible alcohol use. "ettleheim%s public relations director #as recently quoted in the ne#spaper as saying that current prevention efforts are one& sided and distort the facts about responsible alcohol use. '. (hould the Center for Alcohol Education, In., apply for one of these grants) *. +hat implications #ould the acceptance of a grant from "ettelheim "re#ing Company have on the Center) ,. +hich sections of the Code of Ethics guides the Center in their decision) Ethics Case Study 2 For the past tens years, the Institute on -rug Abuse .revention has been supporting the -/0%T -/ IT curriculum by providing technical assistance, free materials and training to teachers #illing to use it #ith their students. The Institute has been very successful1 over 233,333 students are e posed to the curriculum annually. !ecently, ho#ever, t#o separate universities completed large& scale studies on the -/0%T -/ IT curriculum and found that it did not change student drug&use behavior1 in fact, students drug use increased after the curriculum #as implemented. The e ecutive director has determined that it #ould ta$e at least t#o years to locate and begin supporting a ne# curriculum. If she stops facilitating training, she%s #orried about the reaction of the institute%s funders, #ho require that at least *33 teachers be trained annually. The director%s advisors are telling her to disregard the study and continue supporting -/0%T -/ IT1 after all, if so many teachers are using it, doesn%t that mean that it%s a good program) '. (hould the institute continue facilitating training on the -/0%T -/ IT curriculum) *. -oes the institute have any ethical obligation on the teachers #ho are currently using the -/0%T -/ IT curriculum and are una#are of the study) ,. +hich sections of the Code of Ethics guides the Institute in these decisions) Ethics Case Study 3 The 4ealth Advisory "oard, a community coalition of health professionals from a variety of agencies, has applied for a grant available to groups serving 5atino pregnant and parenting teens. The "oard has not previously served this group, but is in need of these funds to implement its drug abuse prevention curriculum in an urban school district and to supplement its current funds. Although the 4ealth Advisory "oard members are Caucasian and English spea$ing, they have selected a local (panish spea$ing foreign e change student from (pain to teach the curriculum. They have selected a program

developed in a predominantly #hite rural community that has demonstrated good outcomes and plan to adapt the program for this ne# focus group. They #ill advertise the program to students as a 5atino health and parenting program. The 4ealth Advisory "oard #ill serve as the governing body and #ill use their e pertise in designing and completing the program evaluation. '. -oes the 4ealth Advisory "oard have a reasonable plan) +hy or #hy not) *. +hich sections of the Code of Ethics, if any, is the Advisory "oard in conflict #ith) ,. +hat recommendations #ould you ma$e to the 4ealth Advisory "oard in the development of their proposal) Ethics Case Study 4 (pec, a prevention specialist, has conducted the first day of a four&day (ubstance Abuse .revention (pecialist Training 6(A.(T7 in 8iddleto#n. Follo#ing the conclusion of the first day, .rev joins several participants for dinner. At dinner, .rev orders a glass of #ine. '. +hat do you thin$ about the appropriateness of .rev (pec%s behavior) *. +hich section of the Code of Ethics, if any, guides this decision) Ethics Case Study 5 Five years ago, Carl #on the coveted most "eloved .revention .erson a#ard for his drug and alcohol prevention efforts among middle school students. (ince then, he has become quite a celebrity and chapters of his 9(ay 0o&"e A 4ero: club are being established all over the state. (ally%s ',&year old daughter, ;elly recently #on the presidency of her school%s chapter. .art of ;elly%s ne# duties involved going a#ay for the #ee$end for a planning session #ith Carl and the five other ne# presidents. The session #as to be held at Carl%s mountain cabin. (ally #as s$eptical, but finally said yes1 after all, Carl is a responsible adult and #ell&respected professional. After returning from the #ee$end trip, ;elly had e citing ne#s for her mother< Carl told her that he li$ed all the ne# girls, but that he thought that she #as the smartest and the prettiest and he #anted her to be his assistant ne t year. Concerned, (ally called Carl. 4e became very defensive, telling her that 9hero #orship #as natural for someone of ;elly%s age: and that (ally should 9lighten up.: 9"esides,: he said, 9if it $eeps ;elly off drugs, #hat difference does it ma$e): '. -oes (ally have anything to #orry about) *. +hat Ethical (tandards, if any, has Carl violated) Source: (.4 8o#rer, and T. 0. (trander, 0ational association addresses tough issues, The Journal of Primary Prevention, 13:1, 73-77. ;le#er Academic=.lenum .ublishers 6'>>).