Political Pressures in the Life of Ethicists: Opportunities for Professional Moral Development.

This symposium highlights the political conflicts, clashing views, ethically problematic laws and regulations and competing pressures that ethicists encounter in professional practice. Viewed through the lens of Rest's Four Component Model of Morality, the stories illustrate the capacities required for effective professional practice: Are ethicists sensitive to the full range of ethical issues? Are they equipped to reason through complex situations in a principled manner? Do they have a strong ethical and professional identity? Do they have the perseverance, character, and implementation abilities needed to translate their convictions into action? The stories also reveal unsettled problems with respect to the role and responsibilities of the ethicist in contemporary society.

An evidence-based guide for ethics instruction.

Drawing from multiple sources of evidence, this paper updates previous descriptions (IOM, 2002) of measurement strategies and teaching techniques to promote four theoretically derived abilities thought to be necessary conditions for the responsible conduct of research. Data from three samples (exemplary professionals, professionals disciplined by a licensing board, and graduates who completed an ethics program designed to promote the four interrelated abilities) suggest that development of a moral identity that is consistent with the norms and values of a profession is the driving force that gives rise to ethical sensitivity, ethical reasoning, and ethical implementation. Evidence from the cited studies supports the usefulness of the theoretical model to (a) deconstruct summary judgments about character and see them as abilities that can be assessed and developed; (b) guide the design assessments that are sensitive to the effects of interventions; and (c) augment previous IOM recommendations for the development of meaningful learning activities.

Gender difference in ethical abilities of dental students.

Walker's comprehensive review of claims of gender difference and gender bias in moral cognition concluded 1) that gender explains a negligible amount of the variability in moral reasoning development, 2) that accumulated evidence does not support claims of gender polarity in moral orientations (i.e., an ethic of care and an ethic of justice), and 3) that future research should focus on the range of psychological processes that engender moral maturity.

The status of ethics teaching and learning in U.S. dental schools.

The purpose of this study was to gather and analyze information about the status of ethics teaching and learning in U.S. dental schools and to recommend a curriculum development and research agenda for professional ethics in dental education.

A case of collegial communication and a patient who does not pay.

Four individuals who teach ethics in dental schools comment on a case in which negative financial information is revealed by one dentist when transferring records of a potential patient to another dentist. All commentators find varying degrees of ethical problem with disclosing such information. Professional codes discourage this practice.

Authorship and publication practices in the social sciences: historical reflections on current practices.

An historical review of authorship definitions and publication practices that are embedded in directions to authors and in the codes of ethics in the fields of psychology, sociology, and education illuminates reasonable agreement and consistency across the fields with regard to (a) originality of the work submitted, (b) data sharing, (c) human participants' protection, and (d) conflict of interest disclosure. However, the role of the professional association in addressing violations of research or publication practices varies among these fields. Psychology and sociology provide active oversight with sanction authority.

Enhancing professionalism using ethics education as part of a dental licensure board's disciplinary action. Part 2. Evidence of the process.

Pretest scores were analyzed for 41 professionals referred for ethics assessment by a dental licensing board. Two were exempt from instruction based on pretest performance on five well-validated measures; 38 completed an individualized course designed to remediate deficiencies in ethical abilities. Statistically significant change (effect sizes ranging from .

Enhancing professionalism using ethics education as part of a dental licensure board's disciplinary action. Part 1. An evidence-based process.

This paper describes a process and procedures for interacting with individuals who have violated the rules of professional conduct and includes descriptions of each of the assessment measures used to conduct a baseline assessment of four ethical capacities that are necessary conditions for reflective, ethical practice. The process and assessment methods are theoretically grounded in Rest's Four Component Model of Morality--a model that asserts that moral failing can result in a deficiency in any one of four abilities or capacities that are necessary for ethical behavior. Following descriptions of five well-validated assessment strategies, a synopsis of an educational intervention is presented.

Hugo A. Owens: dentist, civil rights leader, politician.

For 44 years Dr. Hugo A. Owens was a distinguished practitioner and community leader in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Factor analysis as a tool for survey analysis using a professional role orientation inventory as an example.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this article is to illustrate how confirmatory factor analysis can be used to extend and clarify a researcher's insight into a survey instrument beyond that afforded through the typical exploratory factor analytic approach. The authors use as an example a survey instrument developed to measure individual differences in professional role orientation among physical therapists, the Professional Role Orientation Inventory for Physical Therapists (PROI-PT).

Sample: Five hundred three physical therapists responded to a mail survey instrument that was sent to a random sample of 2,000 American Physical Therapy Association members.

The defining issues test and the four component model: contributions to professional education.

This article reviews studies examining the effect of professional education on ethical development. Most studies limit assessment to the measurement of moral judgement, observing that moral judgement plateaus during professional school unless an ethics intervention is present. Whereas interventions influence the shift to postconventional reasoning (the DIT P score), a more illuminating picture of change may emerge if researchers examined DIT profiles.

Organized dentistry as an agent for helping others: the leadership of Donna J. Rumberger.

Dr Donna Rumberger graduated from New York University College of Dentistry in 1980 and has practiced dentistry in Manhattan ever since. Even before her graduation, she was active in organized dentistry, always viewing it as a conduit for helping other people. Working with the American Association of Women Dentists, she was cofounder of the Smiles for Success Foundation, a program started in New York City that helps women advance from welfare into the workforce with restored, healthy smiles.

Serving the poorest of the poor: the story of Jeremiah J. Lowney.

Since 1966, Dr Jerry Lowney has practiced orthodontics in Norwich, Connecticut, where he has been active in both community and professional organizations, including the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors for Higher Education. Since his first volunteer trip to Haiti in the mid-1980s, during which he provided dental services for the poor, he has returned to that country at least three times each year. Over time the nature of his activities has changed.