The crucial problem in the philosophy of psychiatry is to determine under which conditions certain behaviors, mental states, and personality traits should be regarded as symptoms of mental illnesses. Participants in the debate can be placed on a continuum of positions. On the one side of the continuum, there are naturalists who maintain that the concept of mental illness can be explained by relying on the conceptual apparatus of the natural sciences, such as biology and neuroscience. On the other side (...) of the continuum, there are normativists who maintain that the appropriate characterization of the concept of mental illness cannot avoid reference to epistemic, moral and other social values. Although, this article is primarily an introduction to the debate, we stress the importance of the normativist positions. (shrink)

Background Although simulation-based learning using simulated patients is a standard part of training in medical school, it is not yet used to the same extent in the teaching of medical ethics. There are good reasons to use simulation-based teaching, especially in clinical ethics, to gain practical experience through the situation-specific combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the learning process. However, there are certain prerequisites regarding the design of simulations with actors in medical ethics education. Topics Using a concrete example, (...) this article aims to provide an overview of the development and conception of simulation and role scripts for simulations with actors to teach clinical ethics, which is an important subfield of medical ethics. The special requirements and specifics of these simulations are addressed. Conclusion Although there are some limitations with regard to integrating simulations into clinical ethics, simulation-based training of knowledge, skills, and attitudes can and should play a role in medical–ethical theory and clinical–ethical practice, not only for medical and nursing students but also in the further training of clinical ethicists. (shrink)

Simulationen mit Simulationspersonen gehören in der medizinischen Lehre zum Ausbildungs-Standard. In der medizinethischen Lehre ist dies bisher nicht in gleichem Umfang der Fall. Für ihren Einsatz, insbesondere in der klinischen Ethik, können gute Gründe angeführt werden, wie beispielsweise die Möglichkeit konkreter Erfahrungen als Lehrelement und die situationsspezifische Verbindung von Wissen, Können und Haltungen in einem Lernprozess. Die Konzeption von Simulationen mit Simulationspersonen in der medizinethischen Lehre ist jedoch voraussetzungsreich. Es müssen die mehrdimensionalen Lernziele und die Anforderungen an die medizinethische Lehre (...) berücksichtigt werden. Der Beitrag möchte anhand eines konkreten Beispiels einen Überblick über die Entwicklung und Konzeption von Drehbüchern bzw. Rollen-Skripten für Simulationen mit Simulationspersonen für die Lehre in der klinischen Ethik als wichtigem Teilbereich der Medizinethik geben. Dabei wird auf die besonderen Voraussetzungen und Spezifika dieser Simulationen eingegangen. Abschließend wird kritisch diskutiert, welchen Stellenwert das Training von kommunikativen Fertigkeiten in der medizinethischen Theorie und klinisch-ethischen Praxis haben kann und soll. Der Beitrag schließt mit der Überlegung, ob nicht auch in der Fortbildung von klinischen Ethiker*innen Simulationspersonen zum Einsatz kommen sollten. (shrink)

Higher education institutions in the United Kingdom are increasingly demanding that social work lecturers are ?registered? with the UK regulatory body, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) as a requirement of appointment for the post of social work lecturer. There are many compelling reasons for such an expectation but this paper argues that such action should not be undertaken uncritically. Using Colnerud's five categories of norms a number of tensions for the lecturer are explored that indicate that the current GSCC (...) codes of practice do not fully recognize the role of the social work lecturer. (shrink)

Gender affirming hormone treatment is an important part of the care of trans adolescents which enables them to develop the secondary sexual characteristics congruent with their identified genders. There is an increasing amount of empirical evidence showing the benefits of gender affirming hormone treatment for psychological health and social well-being in this population. However, in several countries, access to gender affirming hormone treatment for trans adolescents has recently been severely restricted. While much of the opposition to gender affirming hormone treatment (...) for trans adolescents has in part been ideologically motivated, it also reflects a debate about whether there are harms that outweigh the benefits of the treatment. Accordingly, a systematic and comprehensive philosophical analysis of the ethics of gender affirming hormone treatment for trans adolescents is needed. Herein, I offer such an analysis that draws on the four principles of biomedical ethics by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress. Based on the considerations of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice, I argue that the provision of access to gender affirming hormone treatment for consenting trans adolescents is ethically required and that the current restrictions to such treatment are ethically wrong. (shrink)

Universities are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the economic and social relevance of the research they produce. In the UK, for example, recent developments in the UK under the Research Excellence Framework (REF) suggest that future funding schemes will grant “significant additional recognition…where researchers build on excellent research to deliver demonstrable benefits to the economy, society, public policy, culture and quality of life” (HEFCE 2009 ). Having conceded that this and similar developments are likely to continue into the future, this (...) paper explores the problematic ethical terrain facing philosophers of education under increasing pressure to produce work that has unambiguous, demonstrable practical value on terms offered by various funding regimes. A preliminary ethics of relevance is developed through an examination of the debate between John Rawls and Jurgen Habermas on the relationship between philosophy, public policy and public reason. The paper then articulates and defends a principle of legitimate relevance . This principle is then applied to the case of directing disciplinary competence in philosophy of education for the educational policy process as a means to producing social and economic benefits. (shrink)

The four principles approach to biomedical ethics points to respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice as the norms that should guide moral agents working in the biosciences, and particularly in health care. While the approach is well known, it is not without its critics. In this paper, which is primarily aimed at health professionals and students (from various disciplines) who are studying health care ethics, I consider four problems with the four principles, which respectively claim that the approach is (...) imperialist, inapplicable, inconsistent and inadequate. In keeping with the aims of the ‘five-minute focus’, the primary objective is to introduce these debates, rather than seek to resolve them. However, I will suggest that the approach does have its merits, not least for time-pressed clinicians who are keen to keep an eye on the ethical dimensions of their practices, and for students training in the health care professions, provided that they appreciate that the approach provides only a starting point for, and not the end point of, moral deliberation. (shrink)

One of the key learning objectives in any health professional course is to develop ethical and judicious practice. Therefore, it is important to address how medical and pharmacy students respond to, and deal with, ethical dilemmas in their clinical environments. In this paper, we examined how students communicated their resolution of ethical dilemmas and the alignment between these communications and the four principles developed by Beauchamp and Childress. Three hundred and fifty-seven pharmacy and medical students (overall response rate=63%) completed a (...) questionnaire containing four clinical case scenarios with an ethical dilemma. Data were analysed using multiple methods. The findings revealed that 73% of the qualitative responses could be exclusively coded to one of the ‘four principles’ determined by the Beauchamp and Childress' framework. Additionally, 14% of responses overlapped between the four principles (multiple codes) and 13% of responses could not be coded using the framework. The subsequent subgroup analysis revealed different response patterns depending on the case being reviewed. The findings showed that when students are faced with challenging ethical dilemmas their responses can be aligned with the Beauchamp and Childress framework, although more contentious dilemmas involving issues of law are less easily categorised. The differences between year and discipline groups show students are developing ethical frames of reference that may be linked with their teaching environments and their levels of understanding. Analysis of these response patterns provides insight into the way students will likely respond in ‘real’ settings and this information may help educators prepare students for these clinical ethical dilemmas. (shrink)

It is common to think of medical and ethical modes of thought as different in kind. In such terms, some clinical situations are made more complicated by an additional ethical component. Against this picture, we propose that medical and ethical modes of thought are not different in kind, but merely different aspects of what it means to be human. We further propose that clinicians are uniquely positioned to synthesise these two aspects without prior knowledge of philosophical ethics.

Background The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare professionals in Barbados in relation to healthcare ethics and law in an attempt to assist in guiding their professional conduct and aid in curriculum development. Methods A self-administered structured questionnaire about knowledge of healthcare ethics, law and the role of an Ethics Committee in the healthcare system was devised, tested and distributed to all levels of staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados (a (...) tertiary care teaching hospital) during April and May 2003. Results The paper analyses 159 responses from doctors and nurses comprising junior doctors, consultants, staff nurses and sisters-in-charge. The frequency with which the respondents encountered ethical or legal problems varied widely from 'daily' to 'yearly'. 52% of senior medical staff and 20% of senior nursing staff knew little of the law pertinent to their work. 11% of the doctors did not know the contents of the Hippocratic Oath whilst a quarter of nurses did not know the Nurses Code. Nuremberg Code and Helsinki Code were known only to a few individuals. 29% of doctors and 37% of nurses had no knowledge of an existing hospital ethics committee. Physicians had a stronger opinion than nurses regarding practice of ethics such as adherence to patients' wishes, confidentiality, paternalism, consent for procedures and treating violent/non-compliant patients (p = 0.01) Conclusion The study highlights the need to identify professionals in the workforce who appear to be indifferent to ethical and legal issues, to devise means to sensitize them to these issues and appropriately training them. (shrink)

This article questions a number of widely held views of the role of values in psychotherapy. It begins with a discussion of the now largely discredited view that psychotherapy can be value free. It also broadens this challenge to question the popular idea that values form an inescapable part of the therapeutic encounter. While this view is correct in outline, it is necessary to reject the underlying conception of values as largely arbitrary preferences that the client and the therapist bring (...) to the encounter, as this fails to do justice to the inherently ethical nature of psychotherapy. It argues that we should recover the Greek notion of therapy as essentially concerned with the character of a person. In other words, the goal of therapy is virtue. (shrink)

Ovaj je zbornik nastao kao rezultat istraživanja provedenog unutar istoimenoga znanstveno-istraživačkoga projekta na kojemu su urednici istovremeno bili i glavni istraživači, a ostali autori članovi istraživačke skupine. Kao svjedoci različitih vrsta otklona od prevladavajućeg, uobičajenoga, normalnoga, pozitivnog ili ponašanja koje se karakterizira kao asocijalno, zapitali smo se – što postojeće čini normom, treba li odstupanje od norme nužno smatrati devijacijom i kakvi su poželjni društveni odgovori na odstupanja od normi. Često se smatra ispravnim upravo ono što je prevladavajuće, a ono (...) što predstavlja otklon označava se kao devijacija u negativnome značenju onoga što nije ispravno, nije posve ispravno, ili čak onoga što treba sankcionirati. Naš je početni stav bio da ono što prevladava ne smije biti neupitna norma, kao što ni ono što je otklon nije po automatizmu devijacija. Međutim, ne smatramo ni da prevladavajuću normu, samom tom činjenicom što je prevladavajuća, nužno treba kritizirati te da je svaki otklon po sebi poželjan. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je istražiti različite oblike deficita i devijacijau u domeni formiranja vjerovanja individualnih, grupnih, kolektivnih i institucijskih epistemičkih aktera (socijalna epistemologija) i u domeni društvenog i institucijskoga djelovanja (filozofija politike i filozofija psihijatrije). Nastavno na to, pokušali smo identificirati vrijednosti postojećih normi, koliko odgovaraju poželjnim vrijednostima te koji su poželjni društveni odgovori na otklone od normi. (shrink)

Der Beitrag diskutiert Möglichkeiten emotionalen Lernens in einzelfallbezogenen Lernarrangements wie etwa klinische Ethikberatungen und Workshops, die mit Einzelfällen arbeiten. Es wird ein didaktisches Rahmenkonzept entwickelt, das vor allem auf die Ermöglichung emotionalen Lernens abzielt. Dabei werden entsprechende Lernziele formuliert, emotionale Themen in diesen Lernarrangements benannt und Methoden dargestellt, wie Erwachsenenbildner diese emotionalen Themen so bearbeiten können, dass ein emotionales Lernen ermöglicht wird. Dabei wird auch ein konzeptueller Rahmen für diese Lernarrangements benannt, der von einem deliberativen Ethikverständnis ausgeht. Emotionales Lernen als (...) Förderung der Sozial- und Selbstkompetenz wird dabei als eine Schlüsselqualifikation verstanden, die gegen die Fach- und Methodenkompetenz abgegrenzt wird. (shrink)

Der Beitrag diskutiert Möglichkeiten emotionalen Lernens in einzelfallbezogenen Lernarrangements wie etwa klinische Ethikberatungen und Workshops, die mit Einzelfällen arbeiten. Es wird ein didaktisches Rahmenkonzept entwickelt, das vor allem auf die Ermöglichung emotionalen Lernens abzielt. Dabei werden entsprechende Lernziele formuliert, emotionale Themen in diesen Lernarrangements benannt und Methoden dargestellt, wie Erwachsenenbildner diese emotionalen Themen so bearbeiten können, dass ein emotionales Lernen ermöglicht wird. Dabei wird auch ein konzeptueller Rahmen für diese Lernarrangements benannt, der von einem deliberativen Ethikverständnis ausgeht. Emotionales Lernen als (...) Förderung der Sozial- und Selbstkompetenz wird dabei als eine Schlüsselqualifikation verstanden, die gegen die Fach- und Methodenkompetenz abgegrenzt wird. (shrink)

Der Beitrag diskutiert Möglichkeiten emotionalen Lernens in einzelfallbezogenen Lernarrangements wie etwa klinische Ethikberatungen und Workshops, die mit Einzelfällen arbeiten. Es wird ein didaktisches Rahmenkonzept entwickelt, das vor allem auf die Ermöglichung emotionalen Lernens abzielt. Dabei werden entsprechende Lernziele formuliert, emotionale Themen in diesen Lernarrangements benannt und Methoden dargestellt, wie Erwachsenenbildner diese emotionalen Themen so bearbeiten können, dass ein emotionales Lernen ermöglicht wird. Dabei wird auch ein konzeptueller Rahmen für diese Lernarrangements benannt, der von einem deliberativen Ethikverständnis ausgeht. Emotionales Lernen als (...) Förderung der Sozial- und Selbstkompetenz wird dabei als eine Schlüsselqualifikation verstanden, die gegen die Fach- und Methodenkompetenz abgegrenzt wird. (shrink)

The Jubilee Centre’s new report, Virtuous Medical Practice, examines the place of character and values in the medical profession in Britain today. Its findings are drawn from a UK-focused multi-methods study of 549 doctors and aspiring doctors at three career stages, first and final year students and experienced doctors.