TY - JOUR
T1 - Contextualising professional ethics
T2 - the impact of the prison context on the practices and norms of health care practitioners
AU - White, Karolyn L. A.
AU - Jordens, Christopher F. C.
AU - Kerridge, Ian
PY - 2014/9
Y1 - 2014/9
N2 - Health care is provided in many contexts - not just hospitals, clinics, and community health settings. Different institutional settings may significantly influence the design and delivery of health care and the ethical obligations and practices of health care practitioners working within them. This is particularly true in institutions that are established to constrain freedom, ensure security and authority, and restrict movement and choice. We describe the results of a qualitative study of the experiences of doctors and nurses working within two women's prisons in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Their accounts make clear how the provision and ethics of health care may be compromised by the physical design of the prison, the institutional policies and practices restricting movement of prisoners and practitioners, the focus on maintaining control and security, and the very purpose of the prison and prison system itself. The results of this study make clear the impact that context has on professional practice and illustrate the importance of sociology and anthropology to bioethics and to the development of a more nuanced account of professional ethics.
AB - Health care is provided in many contexts - not just hospitals, clinics, and community health settings. Different institutional settings may significantly influence the design and delivery of health care and the ethical obligations and practices of health care practitioners working within them. This is particularly true in institutions that are established to constrain freedom, ensure security and authority, and restrict movement and choice. We describe the results of a qualitative study of the experiences of doctors and nurses working within two women's prisons in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Their accounts make clear how the provision and ethics of health care may be compromised by the physical design of the prison, the institutional policies and practices restricting movement of prisoners and practitioners, the focus on maintaining control and security, and the very purpose of the prison and prison system itself. The results of this study make clear the impact that context has on professional practice and illustrate the importance of sociology and anthropology to bioethics and to the development of a more nuanced account of professional ethics.
KW - prisoners
KW - health care
KW - human rights
KW - professional practice
KW - professional ethics
KW - nursing ethics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942944895&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11673-014-9558-8
DO - 10.1007/s11673-014-9558-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 25008354
SN - 1176-7529
VL - 11
SP - 333
EP - 345
JO - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
JF - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
IS - 3
ER -