scholarly journals Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia through an ethical lens: A study of non-state actors involved in aid distribution

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Melati Nungsari ◽  
Chuah Hui Yin ◽  
Nicole Fong ◽  
Veena Pillai
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
High Morbidity ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
Vulnerable Households ◽  
The Impact

Background: Globally, vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent responses, such as lockdown measures and mass vaccinations. Numerous ethical challenges have arisen at different levels, be it at the policy-making level or on the ground. For example, policymakers have to contain a highly contagious disease with high morbidity using scarce resources, while minimizing the medium- to long-term social and economic impacts induced by containment measures. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Malaysia by using an intersectional framework that accounts for overlapping forms of marginalization.   Methods: This study utilizes in-depth qualitative data obtained from 34 individuals and organizations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia. We utilize four principles of ethics to guide our coding and interpretation of the data – namely beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy. We utilize a frequency analysis to roughly understand the types of ethical issues that emerged. Using hermeneutic content analysis (HCA), we then explore how the principles interact with each other. Results: Through the frequently analysis, we found that although beneficence was very prevalent in our dataset, so was a significant amount of harm – as perpetuated through injustice, the removal or lack of autonomy and maleficence. We also unearthed a worrying landscape of harm and deep systemic issues associated with a lack of support for vulnerable households – further exacerbated during the pandemic. Conclusions: Policy recommendations for aid organizations and society to mitigate these ethical problems are presented, such as long overdue institutional reforms and stronger ethical practices rooted in human rights principles, which government agencies and aid providers can then use in the provision of aid to vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia through an ethical lens: A study of NGOs and organizations involved in aid distribution

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Melati Nungsari ◽  
Hui Yin Chuah ◽  
Nicole Fong ◽  
Veena Pillai
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
High Morbidity ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
Vulnerable Households ◽  
The Impact

Background: Globally, vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent responses, such as lockdown measures and mass vaccinations. Numerous ethical challenges have arisen at different levels, be it at the policy-making level or on the ground. For example, policymakers have to contain a highly contagious disease with high morbidity using scarce resources, while minimizing the medium- to long-term social and economic impacts induced by containment measures. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Malaysia by using an intersectional framework that accounts for overlapping forms of marginalization.   Methods: This study utilizes in-depth qualitative data obtained from 34 individuals and organizations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia. We utilize four principles of ethics to guide our coding and interpretation of the data – namely beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy. We utilize a frequency analysis to roughly understand the types of ethical issues that emerged. Using hermeneutic content analysis (HCA), we then explore how the principles interact with each other. Results: Through the frequently analysis, we found that although beneficence was very prevalent in our dataset, so was a significant amount of harm – as perpetuated through injustice, the removal or lack of autonomy and maleficence. We also unearthed a worrying landscape of harm and deep systemic issues associated with a lack of support for vulnerable households – further exacerbated during the pandemic. Conclusions: Policy recommendations for aid organizations and society to mitigate these ethical problems are presented, such as long overdue institutional reforms and stronger ethical practices rooted in human rights principles, which government agencies and aid providers can then use in the provision of aid to vulnerable populations.

Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 796-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Ethical Frameworks ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conducting Research

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.

scholarly journals Ethics of Corporeal, Co-present Robots as Agents of Influence: a Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJung Moon ◽  
Shalaleh Rismani ◽  
H. F. Machiel Van der Loos
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Physical Interaction ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Natural Tendency ◽  
Ai Ethics ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Purpose of Review To summarize the set of roboethics issues that uniquely arise due to the corporeality and physical interaction modalities afforded by robots, irrespective of the degree of artificial intelligence present in the system. Recent Findings One of the recent trends in the discussion of ethics of emerging technologies has been the treatment of roboethics issues as those of “embodied AI,” a subset of AI ethics. In contrast to AI, however, robots leverage human’s natural tendency to be influenced by our physical environment. Recent work in human-robot interaction highlights the impact a robot’s presence, capacity to touch, and move in our physical environment has on people, and helping to articulate the ethical issues particular to the design of interactive robotic systems. Summary The corporeality of interactive robots poses unique sets of ethical challenges. These issues should be considered in the design irrespective of and in addition to the ethics of artificial intelligence implemented in them.

Ethical Dilemmas in Online Research

2011 ◽  
pp. 734-739
Author(s):  
R. Melville
Keyword(s):  
Data Privacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Internet Research ◽  
Online Research ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Uniform Code

Online research raises unique ethical concerns (Ess & AoIR, 2002), including the treatment and recruitment of participants, gaining consent, accessing electronic forms of data, privacy, and responsibility to the participants of online mediums (e.g., discussion lists and groups). Until the mid-1990s, very little attention was paid to ethical issues in online research for the following reasons: • This communication medium was a very recent phenomenon (Ess & AoIR, 2002; Mann & Steward, 2000) • Internet research posed different ethical challenges for researchers in comparison to conventional face-to-face settings • Existing ethical regulations and ethics review boards did not cover the new ethical issues raised by Internet research • It was too difficult to develop a uniform code of ethical conduct for Internet research given the diverse disciplines, countries, and cultural groups using the Internet (Ess & AoIR, 2002) • The complexity of Internet technology itself, which made adapting conventional ethical practices and processes problematic (Anders cited in Mann & Stewart, 2000; Mann & Stewart, 2000; Thomas, 1996; Whittaker, 2002)

Text Messaging and Private Practice: Ethical Challenges and Guidelines for Developing Personal Best Practices

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sude
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Message Service ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
The Impact

The impact of technology on mental health practice is currently a concern in the counseling literature, and several articles have discussed using different types of technology in practice. In particular, many private practitioners use a cell phone for business. However, no article has discussed ethical concerns and best practices for the use of short message service (SMS), better known as text messaging (TM). Ethical issues that arise with TM relate to confidentiality, documentation, counselor competence, appropriateness of use, and misinterpretation. There are also such boundary issues to consider as multiple relationships, counselor availability, and billing. This article addresses ethical concerns for mental health counselors who use TM in private practice. It reviews the literature and discusses benefits, ethical concerns, and guidelines for office policies and personal best practices.

scholarly journals Freedom in the Society of Control: Ethical challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 203-220
Author(s):  
Yevhen Laniuk
Keyword(s):  
Gilles Deleuze ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Automated Decision Making ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Society Of Control

AbstractThe Society of Control is a philosophical concept developed by Gilles Deleuze in the early 1990s to highlight the transition from Michel Foucault’s Disciplinary Society to a new social constitution of power assisted by digital technologies. The Society of Control is organized around switches, which convert data, and, in this way, exercise power. These switches take data inputs (digitized information about individuals) and transform them into outputs (decisions) based on their pre-programmed instructions. I call these switches “automated decision-making algorithms” (ADMAs) and look at ethical issues that arise from their impact on human freedom. I distinguish between negative and positive aspects of freedom and examine the impact of the ADMAs on both. My main argument is that freedom becomes endangered in this new ecosystem of computerized control, which makes individuals powerless in new and unprecedented ways. Finally, I suggest a few ways to recover freedom, while preserving the economic benefits of the ADMAs.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: Implementing Containment Measures and Their Ethical Challenges

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsuda Sornklin ◽  
Thitiwan Kerdsomboon ◽  
Yongyuth Yuthavong ◽  
Prasit Palittapongarnpim ◽  
Soraj Hongladarom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
National Science ◽  
Office Of Research Integrity ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
New Challenges

Abstract Containment measures have been implemented in Thailand after the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The top priority is to save people’s lives. Unavoidably, serious consequences that affected the people’s income, privacy, needs, equality, and equity emerged, presenting new challenges. In order to begin to investigate these complex ethical questions, the Office of Research Integrity of National Science and Technology Development Agency organized a meeting in order to bring together key experts in various fields related to the Covid-19 pandemic to discuss what was going on in Thailand and how to manage it properly. Three key ethical settings, each of which caused significant effects, were discussed in the meeting, namely public health, medical services, and research and clinical trial settings. Many key ethical issues were revealed during the meeting, as well as how best to address and manage them properly.

Resources and constraints for addressing ethical issues in medical humanitarian work: Experiences of expatriate healthcare professionals

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Hunt, PT, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Work Experiences ◽  
Humanitarian Relief ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Emergency Assistance ◽  
Healthcare Practice ◽  
The Impact

Objective: International nongovernmental organizations frequently provide emergency assistance in settings where armed conflict or natural disaster overwhelm the capacity of local and national agencies to respond to health and related needs of affected communities. Healthcare practice in humanitarian settings presents distinct clinical, logistical, and ethical challenges for clinicians and differs in important ways from clinical practice in the home countries of expatriate healthcare professionals. The aim of this research was to examine the moral experience of healthcare professionals who participate in humanitarian relief work.Design: I conducted a qualitative research study using interpretive description methodology.Participants: Fifteen Canadian healthcare professionals and three human resource or field coordination officers for nongovernmental organizations were interviewed.Results: In this article, I present findings related to expatriate healthcare professionals’ experiences of resources and constraints for addressing ethical issues in humanitarian crises. Resources for ethics deliberation and reflection include the following: opportunities for discussion; accessing and understanding local perspectives; access to outside perspectives; attitudes, such as humility, open-mindedness, and reflexivity; and development of good moral “reflexes.” Constraints for deliberation and reflection relate to three domains: individual considerations, contextual features of humanitarian relief work, and local team and project factors.Conclusion: These findings illuminate the complex nature of ethical reflection, deliberation, and decision-making in humanitarian healthcare practice. Healthcare professionals and relief organizations should seek to build upon resources for addressing ethical issues. When possible, they should minimize the impact of features that function as constraints.

scholarly journals The Place of Ethics in Entrepreneurship: The Nigerian Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwaoma Ironkwe ◽  
Ordu Promise A
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Business Survival ◽  
Integrity Testing ◽  
Management Roles

Management and entrepreneurship practitioners now face more ethical issues every day of their working lives than ever. They face hard decision that does not have an ethical dimension or facet. This is an issue of ethical problems in the decision making process. Scholars have opined that leaders confront ethical issues as they carry out their management responsibilities (Ordu and Okoroafor, 2014). Leaders face the matters of morality; right and wrong, fairness and unfairness, and justice or lack of justice, actions or behaviours in their decision making process of planning, organizing, motivating, communicating, delegating or committing some other management roles. Furthermore, ethics, entrepreneurship and ethical perspectives in management are crucial and these features are indispensible for business survival. Managers today must be informed and this has been receiving attention from scholars and industry practitioners. The focus of this paper is to assist entrepreneurship practitioners to uphold ethical practices that are vital for business survival given the ethical problems prevalent in organisations especially in Nigerian context. Looking at the theories associated with stages of ethical consciousness of organization, various forms of business ethical code formation are highlighted as these are essential and needs to be in place if any entrepreneurial activity must survive. In addition, factors that influence unethical behaviours are explored. There are ethical challenges entrepreneurship may face given the Nigerian context. In conclusion, a way forward for overcoming the ethical challenges has been suggested: getting managers to be accountable and responsible, as well as designing an ethical management index and integrity testing etc.

scholarly journals The Impact of Ethical Practices on the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 209-218
Author(s):  
Obey Dzomonda ◽  
Olawale Fatoki
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
The Impact

 SMEs have become beacons of hope towards improving economic growth and development of many countries globally. However, the literature documents a high discontinuance rate among small businesses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of ethical practices on the performance of SMEs in South Africa. The study was based on a quantitative research design. The survey method was used as a data collection method. Using this method, self-administered questionnaires were used as the primary data collection tool. These questionnaires were hand delivered to the participants by the researcher. The random sampling method was used to obtain the participants. The population consisted of SME owner/managers in Polokwane municipality. 74 SME owner/managers participated in the survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, T tests and regression analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha was used as a measure of reliability. The findings showed that SMEs display unethical behavior and a weak performance. It was discovered that SMEs does not have policies in place to guide their ethical behavior. The T test results showed significant differences between gender and education levels with ethical practices of SMEs. The regression results showed that there is a positive relationship between ethical practices and performance of SMEs. Recommendations were made for SMEs to treat ethical issues seriously lest they risk incurring costs associated with lawsuits and negative brand reputation. 

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