Trust

A fundamental issue related to ethics in social groups including a CoP is that of trust. The authors of this paper establish cognitive and affective issues related to building trust. Cognitive levels of developing trust relate to assessment of integrity, perceived competance, responsibility and professionalism.

Trust is also dependent upon the individual's personal ability to trust, particularly 'swift trust'or the ability to decide whether to trust so as to engage in a social group. This is important for entry into a CoP, particulalry in a virtual one. It is not related to the longevity of the CoP which is more an issue of buiding trust over time.

My thoughts:

I see this as a fundamental issue for group ethics. I suspect that there are gender, cultural, age issues and of course individual personality traits that will apply to the ability to develop trust.
Trust is also about developing boundaries.
Unfortunately many think about trust as a dichotomy of trust or no-trust. Either position is fraught with danger. There is a spectrum of trust, a starting position that one takes and a development of more/or less trust over time. We each have our own starting position but this varies with the social cues we receive from the group. Our memory and previous experiences have great roles in the development of trust. This assumes that all our decsions are made objectively and in full consciousness, which if course is not true. Many people use a compulsive repetition of previous situations particualrly when they have been abusive, thus trusting too much and introducing unsafe, coercive, threatening and seductive behaviour. CoPs will not survive thir input. The psychopath can take on any chameleon form of trust building leading unsuspecting people into danger and few people are sufficiently able to detect this person in real life let alone in a virtual community.They cause real damage.

Reference:

Raja,J.Z,, Huq, A. & Rosenberg, D. (2006) The Role of Trust in Virtual and Co-located Communities of Practice, Encylcopaedia of Communities of Practice, Ideas Group Inc Retrived USQ Library Database, 2/1/2007

Code of ethics/social drivers

Grieves' paper comments that ethical issues arise in the context of social relationships. They arise due to power differentials:

1. reward power
2. coercive power
3. legitamate power
4. referent power
5. expert power

Ethical issues arise when there is a conflict of values and a conflict of interests

If we use Humanist and Democratic values we have a template for ethics in a CoP

We need to take responsibiity for

1. professional development and competancy
2. clients and significant others
3. to the professsion
4. social issues

We also need to act as a role model

develop a code of ethics

distribute it to everyone

provide ethics training

specify special issues likely to happen

monitor and audit ethics

reward and punish behaviour

have support from top managment

I think that a Humanist approach is too narrow. It does not include the environment except to fulfill our needs. A feminist approach clearly does.

The rigidity of ethics training and audits will only happen in rigid groups that are not really the essence of a CoP.

This account does not address the self interest nature of unethical behaviour. It seeks to contol it by social pressure. This would only serve to make unethical behaviour go underground. Both individual and social moral development needs to be addressed.

Reference:

Grieves, J. (2006) Communities of Practice and Development for Ethics and Values, Encyclopaedia of Communities of Practice Ideas Group Inc. Retrieved from USQ Library 2/1/2008