ETH402 Vulnerability and the Ethics of Intervention (8)

Using a problem-based focus, this subject explores our ethical duties towards vulnerable adults and children, with a particular focus on the professional responsibilities of health and human services workers, and justice professionals. We will consider the ethics of intervention into the lives of vulnerable people, canvassing issues of legal capacity, autonomy, paternalism, coercion, privacy and human rights. The subject also examines associated legal duties of care, including good samaritanism.

Availability

Session 2 (60)
Online
Wagga Wagga Campus

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: ETH402. Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
  • be able to develop and apply an ethical approach to professional practice;
  • be able to analyse whether paternalistic intervention in the lives of vulnerable adults and children is ever morally permissible, and whether in terms of duty of care there is ever a professional responsibility to intervene;
  • be able to evaluate when an individual's right to self-determination entails that they must be left alone, and how human rights, more generally, govern the duty to intervene and the duty to respect others' autonomy;
  • be able to consider when it is necessary to respect the 'dignity of risk' of vulnerable parties (i.e. their right to take reasonable risks), while considering the impact on families and the wider community in allowing risky choices;
  • be able to identify and evaluate ways of protecting the dignity of a vulnerable party in the course of paternalistic intervention, by harnessing the party's own agency as far as possible, and minimising distress;
  • be able to consider legal requirements that determine whether someone is capable of giving consent, and when intervention is permissible in cases where it is not possible to obtain consent; and
  • be able to critically evaluate opposing viewpoints, and engage in productive debates, concerning law and policy regarding paternalistic intervention.

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:
  • What does respect for autonomy require?
  • When is paternalism morally permissible?
  • Should parents or carers be licensed?
  • How strict is the requirement to respect patient confidentiality, when third parties are at risk?
  • When is 'good samaritanism' morally required?
  • The ethics of whistleblowing
  • Moral choices when preferences change as a result of cognitive disorders such as dementia
  • Moral choices with patients with 'body integrity identity disorder'
  • Moral luck and clinical intervention

Indicative Assessment

The following table summarises the assessment tasks for the online offering of ETH402 in Session 2 2020. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated and can also differ to suit the mode of study (online or on campus).

Item Number
Title
Value %
1
Short essay 1
35
2
Short essay 2
40
3
Review exercise
25

The information contained in the CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: May 2021. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.

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