ASWA Goals and Code of Ethics

Goals

Members of the Anthropological Society of WA share the following goals:

1. Protection of clients and public in relation to professional standards of applied anthropologists and sociologists.

2. Protection of members of the Association from the adverse reputational effects of inferior work done by others operating in the field.

3. Establishment of a fee structure and standard working conditions for practitioners working in the field.

4. Provision of an authoritative, concerted voice in public matters of concern to the Association.

5. Forum for closer interaction between persons engaged in the application of social scientific knowledge and research techniques.

6. Promotion of courses of study and training appropriate to applied social scientific research and action.

7. Promotion of public and governmental acceptance of the importance of social scientific knowledge, and of the benefits to be derived from work done by practitioners in the field.

Code of Ethics

This Code of Ethics for Professional Anthropologists in Western Australia has been adopted by the Professional Committee. It is identical with the code of ethics of the Australian Anthropological Society, apart from the grievance procedures, which are governed by the constitution of the Anthropological Society of Western Australia Inc.

1.     PRELIMINARIES

1.1 Agreement to abide by these ethics is a condition of membership as a Professional Member of the Society.

1.2 The Society's Register of Professional Members will be a public document.

1.3 In this document, 'anthropologist' refers to anyone eligible for membership as a Professional Member of the Society; 'sponsor' refers to an employer, granting body or client which engages the services of an anthropologist; 'those studied' are the persons whose lives, in some aspect or other, are the subject of anthropological investigation; and 'gatekeepers' are officers of organizations which play a role in representing those studied.

2.     AGREEING TO WORK

2.1.      In the case of field research or major research utilizing unpublished fieldwork-based sources, members should not agree to be engaged in such work unless they are satisfied that the key interested parties (those studied, gatekeepers, sponsors and anthropologist/s) have reached agreement on the research and who is to carry it out.

3.     RELATIONS WITH THOSE STUDIED

3.1.      Where a conflict of views or interests arises among the parties mentioned in 1.3, the views and interests of those studied should be placed first, except where this would compromise a member's conscience or commitment to truthfulness. A member should endeavour to ascertain the views of those studied, as independently and impartially as possible, in such a context.

3.2.      Any voluntary revelation of personal identities or of confidential information should be solely by agreement with those whose identities or knowledge have been recorded by the anthropologist. In the case of deceased persons, members should have due regard to the interests and feelings of their surviving kin and fellow community members.

3.3.      Members should explain to those studied that, despite ever/ effort anthropologists may make to preserve the anonymity or privacy of individuals or the confidential status of information, there may arise legal contexts where these efforts fail.

3.4.      Research proposals should be properly explained to those being studied as early as practicable in the research process, and results of research should be communicated back to those studied or their next of kin. Anticipated practical consequences of the research should be properly considered and explained to those studied. Where necessary, interpreters should be used in such consultations to ensure adequate understanding on both sides.

3.5.      Due acknowledgement of the role of those studied should be made in any reportage based on field research.

3.6.      Those studied should receive a fair return for services rendered, or for objects acquired from them by request, and a member should not engage in exploitative relations with those studied.

3.7.      Members should seek joint status for researcher and those studied in planning and executing research as far as feasible; notwithstanding 3.6 above, research should involve an essentially collaborative relationship between anthropologist and those studied.

3.8.      Members should not knowingly or avoidably allow information gained on a basis of the trust and cooperation of those studied to be used against their legitimate interests by hostile third parties.

3.9.      Members should inform those studied of the nature of the anthropologist’s relations with gatekeepers and sponsors and of their obligations under any contractual arrangement with such entities.

4.     RELATIONS WITH THE PROFESSION

4.1.      Members should keep informed of developments in the fields of their own anthropological expertise, and be willing to share such knowledge as a means of improving the general standard of anthropological knowledge, theory and practice.

4.2.      Members should maintain integrity in the recording and presentation of anthropological data, and should not discredit the profession of anthropology by knowingly colouring or falsifying observations or interpretations, or making exaggerated or ill-founded assertions, in their professional writings, as expert witnesses, or as authors of any other form of reportage related to their work.

4.3.      Members should avoid casting public aspersions on the professional conduct of other anthropologists; the Association's grievance procedures are to be followed if serious action is believed necessary.

4.4.      Members should not knowingly behave so as to offend those studied in ways which would make future work by other anthropologists unacceptable to the same people, unless such action is an unavoidable consequence of a commitment to truthfulness and good conscience.

4.5.      In reportage or publication members should fully identify and acknowledge all information or opinions gained from the work of other scholars or sources, and distinguish it from their own original research.

4.6.      Members should not compete with another anthropologist for employment in a way which may be detrimental to professional standards.

4.7.      Where a member has been asked for a second opinion (apart from confidential referee reports on publisher's manuscripts or applications) the anthropologist should advise the first anthropologist of the request.

4.8.      Members should avoid receiving favours or being placed under obligations to persons or organizations in ways that could affect their professional integrity and impartiality of judgment.

4.9.      Members should not recommend or take part in any piece of research, some aspect of which they believe to be unethical or sub-standard.

4.10.   Members should not refuse a reasonable request from a qualified colleague or archive for research data other than that constrained by considerations of privacy and confidentiality.

4.11.   Members should not enter into agreements with sponsors, gatekeepers, those studied or other entities which entail essentially political direction of anthropological research, or which confer on those entities powers of political censorship over results as distinct from reasonable protection of privacy and confidentiality.

4.12.   Members should not make statements to the media purporting to represent the views of the Society without authorization from the Executive of the Society.

4.13.   Members should give due consideration to the disposal of their personal effects gained in the course of anthropological work (e.g., field records, ethnological objects) in the event of their incapacitation or death.

5.     RELATIONS WITH SPONSORS

5.1.      Members should apply professional skill, care and expertise in the conduct of anthropological work and should endeavour to carry it out with due promptness and efficiency.

5.2.      Members should not accept anthropological work which they are insufficiently qualified to do, whether by way of training or experience.

5.3.      In anthropological reports or publications members should state matters of observation and matters of opinion or interpretation such that the two may be distinguished as clearly as practicable.

5.4.      Members should state clearly the degree of confidentiality of reports and identify restricted material within them so that sponsors are protected from inadvertent misuse or publication of such material.

5.5.      Members should respect the confidence of sponsors.

5.6.      Members should not agree to clandestine employment by sponsors.

5.7.      Members should not agree to employment by a sponsor whose source of funds is not disclosed to them or which cannot be made public.

5.8.      Members should come to explicitly contractual arrangements with sponsors before commencing work, specifying the tasks to be done, rights and responsibilities, nature of reportage, agreement with those studied and gatekeepers, copyright and access conditions, and rates of remuneration and costs.

5.9.      It is the anthropologist's responsibility to clarify the extent to which his or her role as employee or consultant is essentially fact-finding, or acting as negotiator, or playing an advocacy role etc., and therefore to clarify the extent to which their work can be characterised as anthropological and covered by these ethics.

5.10.   Members should not enter into agreements with sponsors which do not allow them to withdraw their services on ethical grounds.

6.     RELATIONS WITH GATEKEEPERS

6.1.      Members should respect the role of corporate bodies operating on behalf of those studied and should include them where relevant in the negotiation of field research agreements.

6.2.      Members should keep such relevant bodies informed of their activities in the field and, where no breach of confidentiality or agreements with those studied should be incurred, supply them with copies of research results.

6.3.      Members should respect the confidences of such bodies.

7.     RELATIONS WITH STUDENTS

7.1.      Members should conscientiously strive to give students an excellent anthropological education.

7.2.      Members should select students without regard to sex, race, ethnic group, age, social class or other factors extraneous to their intellectual potential and suitability as scholars of anthropology.

7.3.      Members should be fair and impartial in assessing student performance. 7.4 Members should properly inform their students of the ethical, scholarly and practical requirements of taking employment in the field of anthropology.

7.4.      Members should do their best to assist their students in securing professional employment in a field relevant and appropriate to their qualifications.

7.5.      Members should not engage in exploitative relationships with their students.

7.6.      Members should be receptive and responsive to the needs, problems and aims of students in relation to their education or career in the field of anthropology.

8.     RESPONSIBILITY TO THE LAW

8.1.      Members should take care to know of and generally understand the requirements of laws affecting their professional activity.

8.2.      Members should not engage in any illegal conduct involving the practice of their profession (e.g., illegal export of artefacts, embezzlement of employer).

9.     GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

9.1.      Grievance procedures in relation to breaches of this code of ethics may be pursed according to Section 8. of the Constitution of the Anthropological Society of Western Australia Inc.