Ethics Start at Home

At first blush, a student of professional ethics might turn to a myriad of professional associations and government agencies in an attempt to locate applicable sources of ethical guidance. These agencies and foundations are not without merit and certainly provide a solid first source from which to start formulating a personal or team ethic. Many professions have associations which provide ethical frameworks; state bar associations for lawyers, medical and teaching boards, societies for certified public accountants, among others.
While the consideration of a professional associations code of ethics is certainly a resource from which to start, "any bureaucratization of what constitutes ethics runs the risk of absolving the student/researcher from moral reflection once the ethics consideration form is approved." (Askins, 2008)

Another source in the formation of a professional ethic is through interactive instruction with ones mentors, teachers and collaborators. In Canada, for instance, students at Ryerson University learn about reviewing protocols
through a variety of processes, including mentorship, consultation with other Board members, workshop participation, independent study and others. (Walton, Karabanow, & Saleh, 2008) At their university, the researcher suggest that the quality of ethical review boards are not only enhanced by a collaboration that include expert faculty and students but that the mix provides better for the spirit of laws governing ethical review boards.

Perhaps the most critical source upon which one must rely to decide a question of ethics is introspective in nature. In the final analysis, one must draw on the cultural teachings, the personal faith and ones own "gut" as the source of ones ethics. Indeed, what leads any individual to make what he or she sees as a reasonable judgement about the truth of a value claim is not evidence such that any reasonable person would find sufficient--but evidence that the individual finds personally sufficient to support or oppose the program put forward. (Broidy & Jones, 1998)