Navigating the Study Packet Table of Contents | Overview | Framework | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6 | Lesson 7 | Lesson 8 | Lesson 9 | Lesson 10 | Authors/Acknowledgements | Appendix A | Appendix B | Appendix C | Appendix D | Appendix E | Appendix F | Download PDF Version The Table of Contents has longer descriptions of these links.

Lesson 10: Making Ethical Decisions

Applying an Ethical Decision Making Framework and the Code of Professional Conduct

Ethical dilemmas come at the most inopportune times! An interpreter has minutes or seconds to make a decision. That decision can alter the situation and affect the people involved. The next lesson will focus on the steps we take to make an ethical decision.

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
a. State the steps in an Ethical Framework
b. List the tenets of the Code of Professional Conduct
c. Apply the Ethical framework and Code of Professional Conduct to make a decision

Step 1: Prior Knowledge
Either you or someone you know has faced the challenge of an ethical dilemma. You will draw on your own personal experience or the experience of another person.

Activity: You are called to interpret for Heidi and Jeff Branch for the birth of their first child. Before the birth, you have a discussion with them on your role as the interpreter. They are looking for an interpreter who will be flexible and not strictly adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct. They want you to help during labor by giving back rubs and possibly take pictures during delivery. You are considering your response. Map out your process for making your decision and response to Heidi and Jeff. Please consider the following questions.

What is the Ethical Conflict?	What steps do you take in making a decision?	What resources do you use to make your decision?
Your Email (if you want answers sent to you)

---

Step 2: Developing an Ethical Decision Making Framework

Ethics is how a moral person would behave in a given situation. To make a good ethical decision, it is helpful to consider the following model.

1. Identify the ethical conflict
2. Identify the known facts of the situation
3. Identify the internal and external factors that may act as an influence
4. Identify the people who will be affected
5. Identify a corresponding Code of Professional Conduct Tenet(s)
6. Identify options for a resolution
7. Identify the consequences of each option
8. Make a decision
9. Reflect on your decision

Activity:

Note any of the steps you listed in Step 1. Consider any of the steps you did not list. Answer the following questions:

Identify significant steps not listed before.	How would the steps have affected or altered your decision?	Would your decision be the same or different? Why?
Your Email (if you want answers sent to you)

Step 3: Understanding the Code of Professional Conduct

As interpreters we have the Code of Professional Conduct as a guide to ethical dilemmas. You will draw on your understanding to help in the next activity.

Activity:

Look on the RID Website, www.rid.org and look up the Ethical Practices System, Code of Professional Conduct. Read through the code and become familiar with the structure and the tenets.

Note the Code of Professional Conduct tenet(s) (below) that would apply to the ethical dilemma in Step 1. Describe how they would apply. (You can use the form below the tenets.)

CPC TENETS

1. Interpreters adhere to standards of confidential communication.
2. Interpreters possess the professional skills and knowledge required for the specific interpreting situation.
3. Interpreters conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the specific interpreting situation.
4. Interpreters demonstrate respect for consumers.
5. Interpreters demonstrate respect for colleagues, interns, and students of the profession.
6. Interpreters maintain ethical business practices.
7. Interpreters engage in professional development.

List the tenet(s) that would apply.	How would the tenet(s) apply?
Your Email (if you want answers sent to you)

Step 4: Apply Your Knowledge

Having an ethical decision making framework in mind and a working knowledge of the NAD/RID Code of Professional Conduct, you are now armed to make ethical decisions.

Activity: Pick one or both of the following ethical dilemmas and use ethical-decisioning making process.

You can use the form below the descriptions of the dilemmas.

Dilemma #1

You are friends with Stacie and Scott Miller. They approach you and want your advice. They are expecting their first child in October. They are concerned about the clinic’s choice of interpreter referral agency. It is not a referral agency that works specifically with Sign Language Interpreters. They are also very concerned about the interpreter that the clinic has hired. She has a hard time understanding Stacie, but does not seem to notice. When Stacie schedules the next appointment, the interpreter schedules herself for the appointment. Stacie does not want to offend the interpreter, so does not say anything. During an ultrasound evaluation, Stacie was found to have a bicornuate uterus, which could result in a miscarriage. She feels she needs an interpreter who understands her signing style and has a good knowledge of her interpreting skills and limitations.

You know the interpreter well. You know that she did not interpret for six weeks because of a broken arm. She did not have short-term disability insurance. The only reason she is working with the other agency is because she is broke and needs the work. She is a little rusty after being off of work for six weeks.

---

Dilemma #2

You are called to relieve an interpreter in a birthing situation. You are informed by the referral agency that you will be interpreting for a Deaf doula, Jerri Middlebrook-Vogel and a “low functioning” Deaf mother. You leave for the assignment.

You arrive at the hospital. When you check in at the nurse’s station, you are told that the hearing impaired mom is in room #200. You go to the room and the interpreter, who has a CT, asks to speak to you privately. The interpreter says that she has never worked with a doula before, but she seems to be quite controlling. The interpreter feels that she has a better understanding of what the Deaf mom needs and has helped her by telling her how to breathe and what the baby monitor lines mean. The Deaf mom is “low functioning.” The interpreter wants you to call her as soon as the baby is born so she knows if it is a girl or boy.

You know the doula, Jerri Middlebrook-Vogel, very well. You have worked with her on two other labor and deliveries and had good experiences. You know that Jerri meets with the Deaf mom several times before labor and delivery.

You enter the hospital room. You know the Deaf mom and she is not “low functioning.” She is an emergent ASL user, who emigrated from Russia.

Jerri pulls you aside and respectfully states that the situation with the previous interpreter was not going well. The interpreter became too involved in the situation. This made it difficult for Jerri to do her job. She is looking to you to work with her and the rest of the team to make the remainder of the labor and delivery a positive one for the mother.

---

For the dilemma(s) you picked, answer the following questions. (If you wish to do both, you can return and just fill the form out again and e-mail the second set of answers to yourself.)

Which dilemma did you choose?	1. What are the facts?	2. What are the ethical issues?
3. What are the internal and external factors that may act as an influence?	4. Who will be affected by the situation?	5. What tenet(s) of the Code of Professional Conduct would apply?
6. What are some options for a resolution?	7. What are the consequences of each option?	8. What is your decision?
Your Email (if you want answers sent to you)

---

Table of Contents | Overview | Framework | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6 | Lesson 7 | Lesson 8 | Lesson 9 | Lesson 10 | Authors/Acknowledgements | Appendix A | Appendix B | Appendix C | Appendix D | Appendix E | Appendix F | Download PDF Version