Identify ethical, legal, and practical issues associated with individual actions.

Identification should include

  • legal standards by which actions are judged
  • difference between short- and long-term consequences of an individual's actions on self and others, locally and globally (e.g., recycling, dumping toxic materials down the drain)
  • opposing points of view regarding ethical issues.

Process/Skill Questions:

Thinking

  • Why is it important to evaluate the consequences of actions?
  • What criteria should be used to evaluate the consequences of actions?
  • How are individual rights, goals, and responsibilities influenced by the community’s rights, goals, and responsibilities?
  • How can exercising one’s individual rights affect society as a whole?
  • How do actions taken within the family affect society (e.g., failure to care for one’s children, risky behaviors)?

Communication

  • What questions help you evaluate the consequences of actions?
  • How can attitudes about personal responsibility be communicated to others?
  • What communication techniques help you differentiate among practical, legal, and ethical consequences?

Leadership

  • What leadership skills help you examine standards for ethical action?
  • What leadership techniques enable you to examine ethical issues and suspend judgment until opposing views are heard?

Management

  • What information is needed to examine the consequences of actions?
  • How can management strategies help improve your ability to examine the short-term and long-term consequences of actions?