Week 4 - Adriana Goracci A01

The article "Ethics and “Breaking Bad”: Developing and practicing ethical skills" written by Amy Block Joy emphasizes the importance of ethics training in government structures such as workplaces and schools.

She argues that the fact of just “knowing” ethical conducts it is not a sufficient way to prevent criminal conducts. In order to fully limit the acts of misconduct, it is necessary undergo a real ethical training. This way, employers not only will know what is the right thing to do, but according to the author, by having the confidence and the practice they will benefit of more motivation to speak up for something that is not right.

In her class: “Ethics, Morality and Breaking Bad”, Mrs. Joy makes her students reflect on the role of ethics by assigning each the power to do what is right in an hypothetical situation, and compare the answers between them. This exercise, not only better clarifies what is right form what is wrong, but it also helps the student to form a strong argument for his/her point and take a stand for his/her own beliefs and ideas. This practice of speaking up for what they believe is right will eventually result in the development of a better employee conduct and thus a safer workplace.

This is obviously a very important topic for Mrs. Joy, who not only wrote this article, but also a book regarding the flaws that characterize the university. Her personal experience in the academia has led her to realize the fear of speaking up that characterizes many employers, who are too afraid to lose their position and therefore keep a low profile. Her passion for the right is also reflected in her ethical learning class, which I hope she still teaches because I would be more than honored to attend.

Question: What followed after the "interview" of Amy Block Joy by the police?

References:

- Joy, Amy B. “Ethics and ‘Breaking Bad’: Developing and Practicing Ethical Skills.”Compliance & Ethics Professional, 1 May 2014, corporatecompliance.org.

- Leung, Opal. “Ethics as an Endangered Species!” Blogs.ubc.ca, 17 Sept. 2010, blogs.ubc.ca/opalleung/2010/09/17/ethical-future/.