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13 Ethical Consideration in Community Relations

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17 views

13 Ethical Consideration in Community Relations

Uploaded by

shobitanadeola2005
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ETHICAL CONSIDERATION IN COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Since community relations involve in engaging with key critical community stakeholders that in
some cases may be relying of the community relations professional for its professional
competences and judgements, it is important that such professional operates within sound ethical
environment. Ethics is also important in community relations because most of the problems that
community relations is called upon to solve usually arise not from illegal acts, but from unethical
conduct or behaviour.

Both the community relations practitioner and the organisations for whom he/she works must
emphasize the observance of ethical values in their conduct. Ethics therefore is about the values
each and everyone of us holds dear as a moral obligation The values can be personal, social or
community, and national values, those things that an individual holds dear and feels worth
defending. Philosophers have suggested that personal values form the foundation of other value
that an individual exhibits. Being ethical minded implies that the community relations
professional weight the implication of its actions before acting it out.

Public relations ethics and to a great extents community relations are designed to set the
standards for the conducts of professional in the society and among their clients. Right conduct
suggests that actions are consistent with moral values generally accepted as norms in a society or
culture. Because public relations and community relations have impact well beyond the
boundaries of client or organizations, individual practitioners must be concerned with both the
intended and unintended consequences of the function.
When ethical community relations is practiced, it helps provide the following to the society;
1. it improves professional practice by codifying and enforcing ethical conduct and
standards of performance;
2. it improves the conduct of organizations by stressing the need for public approval;
3. it serves the public interest by making all points of view articulate in the public forum;
4. it serves our segmented, scattered society by using communication, and mediation to
replace misinformation with information, discord with rapport; and
5. it fulfills its social responsibility to promote human welfare by helping social systems
adapt to changing needs and environments.
Community relations being an aspect of broad public relations subscribes to general PR ethics
and go to the extra mile to observe sound ethical values in relating with different community
stakeholders in its area of operations.

1. Honesty: To be truthful in all endeavours, to be honest and forthright with one another
and with customers, communities, supplies and shareholders.
2. Integrity: To say what we mean. To deliver that we promise, and to stand for what is
right.
3. Respect: To treat one another with dignity and fairness, appreciating the diversity of the
people and the uniqueness of each members of the community.
4. Trust: To build confidence through team work and open candid communication with
different stakeholders within and among the community.
5. Responsibility: To speak up without fear or retribution and report concerns in the work
place, and the community across board and act as mediator in building consensus around
any issues of concern..
6. Citizenship: To obey all the laws of the country, state, local government including the
community in which the organisation operates.
7. Religious neutrality: the community relations practitioner must ensure that s/he respects
the religious belief of the community of operation and not try to use its official position to
evangelise the people.
8. Fair practices: the community relations professional must not take advantage of the
educational or economic situation of the people to deal with them in an unfair manner
when negotiating with them.

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