CAN NHS FAMILY THERAPY BE ETHICAL?

DAVID STEARE

Enough about me…

Family therapy: An art of how many lenses?

Structural, Strategic, Narrative,SFBT, Collaborative, Dialogical,

Postmodern, Critical Realism, etc?

John Macmurray’s ‘Law’:“You shall not use a person for your own ends, or indeed for any ends,

individual or social.”

Is ticking boxes and rule compliance ethical?

“It was as though the personhood of both the practitioners and users

had become equated with the organisational system and the

policy discourses that shape it.”

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY: ETHICAL PRACTICE IN THE NHS

Being

Applying Reflecting

Experience

Sharing and Conversatio

n

Process and Reflection

GeneraliseKnowledge

Application

Adapted Ethicability Framework

(from Professor Roger Steare, Cass Business School)

Who We Are

(Character)

What We Do(Culture

and Behaviour)

What We Are About(Principles

)

How We Decide What’s Right

(Perception)

PREPARATION1. Time Out!2. How Do We Feel?3. What Are We Afraid Of?4. Who’s Involved?5. What Do We Know?6. Have We Perceived Generously?7. What Are Our Motives and Intentions?8. What Sort Of Dilemma Is This?9. Are We Being Solution Focused?10. Is Our Decision Safe, Fair &

Constructive?

Decide What’s R.I.G.H.T

Rules – What Are The Rules?

Integrity – How Do Our Principles Guide Us?

Good – Who Would Benefit And How?

Harm – Who Will Be Harmed And How?

Truth – Are We Being Honest And Responsible?

Rehearsing Our Decisions

How would we feel in their shoes?How can we act with compassion?What would build trust and respect?What would be most useful?What would stand the test of time?Have we the courage to do what’s

right?What can we learn from this dilemma?

Referencing…Lynn Hoffman (1990) Constructing Realities: An Art of Lenses. Family Process 29. 1. 1-12

John Macmurray (1935) Reason And Emotion. London: Faber & Faber

Stanley Milgram (1974) Obedience to Authority: An Experimental view. London: Tavistock

Andrew Cooper & Julian Lousada (2005) Borderline Welfare: Feeling and Fear of Feeling In Modern Welfare. London: Tavistock

Roger Rowett (2013) Zen and the Art of Appreciative Inquiry: A glass half full approach to organisational development. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Roger Steare (2006/2013) Ethicability: How to Decide What’s Right and Find the Courage to Do it (5th Revised Edition). Roger Steare Consulting

Jonathan Haight (2001) The Emotional Dog and its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgement. Psychological Review 108, 4, 814-834

Deanna Geddes & Ronda Callister (2007) Crossing the Line(s): A Dual Threshold Model of Anger in Organizations. Academy of Management Review 32, 3, 721-746