Impaired Clergy: Applications of Ethical Principles

Impaired clergy present problems for themselves, for those whom they serve, and for the profession itself. An ethical decision-making model is described to assist professionals in clarifying ethical issues and deciding on an appropriate course of action.     

Family and Workplace Conflict Examining Metaphorical Conflict Schemas and Expressions Across Context and Sex

This investigation examined 620 metaphorical conflict expressions generated by 169 participants who either were employed full-time or had previous work experience. First-order metaphorical (schema) analyses indicated that participants predominately used “conflict is impotence” schemas. No sex differences emerged in either schemas or in second-order (linguistic) analyses of metaphorical expressions. However, participants reported different schemas, depending on the conflict context, but particularly for the supervisor and departmental member contexts. The supervisor context also exhibited a pattern of linguistic choices, suggesting that male and female respondents objectified their supervisors. Finally, respondents reported greater frequency and intensity of conflicts in family contexts than in any of the work contexts.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO SIMULATED EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE CASES

Personnel managers examined vignettes in which an employee had made a serious judgmental error. The employee was seen in a traditional male position (construction supervisor, production manager), or in a relatively more female-identified position (public relations officer, executive secretary), and was identified as male or female. Individuals employed in male-identified positions were viewed as more competent than those in traditional female positions. Overall, evaluations were correlated with recommended personnel actions. Punishing personnel action was least likely to be recommended, however, for males employed in traditional male positions. The results are interpreted as consistent with role theory and with certain attributional concepts. Implications are discussed for career strategy and for personnel policy.     

Exclusion and Essentialism in Feminist Theory: The Problem of Mothering

Accounts of mothering have both contributed to feminist theory's development and depended on certain of its central concepts. Some of its critics, however, argue that feminist theory is undermined by the problems of exclusion and essentialism. Here I distinguish between these two problems and consider their implications for questions about mothering. I conclude that exclusion and essentialism do not present insurmountable obstacles to theorizing motherhood, but do suggest new directions for such theorizing.