Shadow Codes on Engineering Ethics

To update a previous post on the American Psychological Association’s (APA) stance on participation in national security interrogations, check the APA’s timeline. Specifically, in January the Department of Defense responded to APA’s October 2015 “letters to President Barack Obama and other key federal officials to notify them of APA’s new policy that includes a prohibition … More Updates with the American Psychological Association and Prisoner Interrogation

During a rally in Turin last summer, Pope Francis admonished people who manufacture weapons or invest in the weapons industry. Specifically, he denounced them as hypocrites. From the Reuters article: “It makes me think of … people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn’t it?” … More Weapons Manufacturing

Multiple reports over the past five years have detailed the cooperation between the American Psychological Association and United States Department of Defense in prisoner interrogation equivalent to torture during the early part of this century. As outlined here, there’s substantive evidence of unethical behavior conducted by psychologists. How does this pertain to engineering? The Newsweek article mentions a … More Psychologists and Ethics Education

In March 2015, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) adopted a policy stating that it “discourages pharmacist participation in executions on the basis that such activities are fundamentally contrary to the role of pharmacists as providers of health care.” Are there similarly relevant policies that engineering professional societies could (or should?) adopt to maintain ethical consistency … More Pharmacists and Lethal Injection

Earlier this year, as reported in this New York Times piece, the American Institute of Architects denied a petition that would have rebuked individuals involved in the designing of solitary-confinement and death chamber facilities. The story – and issue at large – highlights relevant considerations for engineers and areas for revision in their respective codes of ethics. Do … More Prisons and Architects – A Transferable Lesson?