Dual loyalties and prison doctors
Doctors working in prisons can be confronted with far more challenging situations. The interests of the Penitentiary or Correctional system are clearly security and control, and not primarily the prisoners' health. In many prison systems, doctors are obliged by the prison rules to see every prisoner before he or she can be punished for breaking some prison rule, and sent to the punishment cell (‘the cooler’).Should the doctor declare a prisoner fit for punishment or monitor prisoners in solitary confinement fit for the continuation of the punishment? There are often no clear solutions to such dilemmas.
On the one hand, even some well-meaning doctors have argued that doctors should see all prisoners sent to punishment cells, so as to ascertain that they understand why they are being punished. This well-meaning argument is that any prisoner not able to understand why she/he is being punished (because of a diminished IQ or mental retardation – or because of some other reason), s/he should NOT be sent to a punishment cell at all. These well-meaning doctors do not see that this is putting the doctor into the position of actually deciding who gets punished and who doesn't. This puts the doctor in the impossible position of being in a non-medical role of punisher.
International codes and declarations have been developed to help doctors when confronted with dual loyalties, but still many doctors find themselves facing irresolvable ethical dilemmas. Many even act unethically without realising it.
Doctors thus may find themselves having dual loyalties and responsibilities to their:
• patients (who are their main concern)
• employers, the State, public security, insurance companies, etc.
It is inevitable that these dual obligations will often be opposed to each other. The problem of dual or divided loyalties is challenging for health professionals. Health professionals working in prisons sometimes willingly and knowingly, at other times unable to do otherwise, and sometimes unknowingly, comply with policies that violate one or more aspects of medical ethics. In other situations, doctors may be unsure of how to cope with situations where their ethical responsibility to the patient seems to be in conflict with state or prison policies and practices. They may be just passive participants in unethical practices, rather than willing perpetrators of ethical violations. Then there may be some situations where the Public Health interest is such that it could be necessary for the doctor to put the society’s interests over those of the individual patient.
In this chapter we shall discuss some situations where the doctor can be in danger of violating the rights of the prisoner as a patient.
First we will introduce a case that illustrates a situation of dual loyalties.
النتائج (
العربية) 1:
[نسخ]نسخ!
الولاءات المزدوجة وأطباء السجونيمكن أن تواجه الأطباء العاملين في السجون مع حالات أكثر بكثير من التحدي. مصلحة السجون أو نظام السجون بشكل واضح الأمن والمراقبة، وليس أساسا صحة السجناء. في العديد من أنظمة السجون، ملزمة بقواعد السجن لترى كل سجين قبل أنه أو أنها يمكن أن يعاقب لكسر القاعدة سجن بعض الأطباء، وإرسالها إلى الزنزانة ('برودة'). ينبغي أن يعلن الطبيب صالح سجين للعقوبة أو مراقبة السجناء في الحبس الانفرادي صالح لاستمرار العقوبة؟ غالباً ما تكون هناك أية حلول واضحة لهذه المعضلات.من ناحية، وحتى بعض الأطباء جيدا معنى يقول أن الأطباء يجب أن نرى جميع السجناء أرسلت إلى زنازين العقاب، بغية التأكد من أن يفهموا لماذا هم يعاقبون. هذه الحجة حسن النية أن أي سجين غير قادرة على فهم لماذا يتم معاقبة الشخص (بسبب انخفاض معدل الذكاء أو التخلف العقلي – أو بسبب بعض الأسباب الأخرى)، ق/لا يجب إرسال إلى زنزانة عقاب على الإطلاق. لا أرى هؤلاء الأطباء جيدا معنى هذا هو وضع الطبيب في موقف فعلا البت الذي يحصل على معاقبة والذين لا. وهذا يضع الطبيب في موقف مستحيل يجري في دور المعاقب غير الطبية.وضعت القوانين الدولية والإعلانات لمساعدة الأطباء عندما يواجه بالولاءات المزدوجة، ولكن لا يزال العديد من الأطباء تجد نفسها تواجه معضلات أخلاقية غير قابلة للحل. حتى العديد من قانون غير أخلاقي دون تحقيق ذلك.Doctors thus may find themselves having dual loyalties and responsibilities to their:• patients (who are their main concern)• employers, the State, public security, insurance companies, etc.It is inevitable that these dual obligations will often be opposed to each other. The problem of dual or divided loyalties is challenging for health professionals. Health professionals working in prisons sometimes willingly and knowingly, at other times unable to do otherwise, and sometimes unknowingly, comply with policies that violate one or more aspects of medical ethics. In other situations, doctors may be unsure of how to cope with situations where their ethical responsibility to the patient seems to be in conflict with state or prison policies and practices. They may be just passive participants in unethical practices, rather than willing perpetrators of ethical violations. Then there may be some situations where the Public Health interest is such that it could be necessary for the doctor to put the society’s interests over those of the individual patient.In this chapter we shall discuss some situations where the doctor can be in danger of violating the rights of the prisoner as a patient.First we will introduce a case that illustrates a situation of dual loyalties.
يجري ترجمتها، يرجى الانتظار ..
