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Case Western Reserve University

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Programs for the Topic ‘Professional Standards’


Friday, February 11th, 2011


Divided Loyalties: Professional Standards and Military Duty – Panel Three

Moderator

Michael Benza, Visiting Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University
School of Law

Panelists

Peter A. French, PhD, Lincoln Chair in Ethics, Arizona State University (Participating via DVD)

Shannon E. French, PhD; Inamori Professor in Ethics and Director, Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, Case Western Reserve University

Friday February 11, 2011, 8:45 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Sponsored by An Interdisciplinary Symposium funded in part by the Arthur W. Fiske Memorial Lectureship Fund at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Panel three examines the ethical, legal, and professional obligations of chaplains/religious advisors serving in the military.

There has always been some tension between the ethical, legal, and professional obligations of professionals and the requirements of military service. This tension has been increased by the War on Terror. Physicians, mental health professionals, lawyers, and law enforcement/corrections officers serving in the military have been placed in situations in which their professional ethics, obligations, and legal duties may contradict military necessity or directives, or even place the role of professional in direct conflict with the role of military personnel.

As the management of armed conflict, the law of war, and the professionalization of the military has increased, this tension has similarly increased. Military professionals have been asked to bring their expertise, skills, and professional talents to the prosecution of military action not just as military personnel but as doctors, mental health professionals, lawyers, and law enforcement/corrections officers. Doctors and mental health professionals are charged with supervising and controlling interrogations, lawyers are asked to provide legal opinions and advise on the treatment of prisoners, and law enforcement and corrections officers must guard and control prisoners. While performing these duties military necessity can impose conflicting duties and concerns. The need for information, validation, or security may require different loyalties and focus than the professional duty. The need for information about an upcoming attack that could save the lives of comrades may directly contradict the need for care or treatment of a prisoner.

This symposium brings together professionals, ethicists, theorists and practitioners from medicine, mental health care, the law, law enforcement, and the military to explore these complicated and timely issues in an open and frank discussion.

Continue Reading – Divided Loyalties: Professional Standards and Military Duty — Panel Three