1) Review Ethics Key Terms
GOAL: Develop a preliminary grasp of these approaches/concepts and how they are different from ethical approaches/concepts covered thus far in the course.
Review these key ethics terms before turning to the video and reading:
2) Watch video of Carol Gilligan on Moral Development and Care Ethics.
GOAL: Understand the basics of care ethics and how it might apply to the clinical setting.
Consider what is different about the approach that Gilligan is suggesting (i.e. a relational or Care Ethics based approach) from what you typically think of in terms of your ethical obligations as physicians.
3) Read Baby Aaron and the Elders by Ellen Wright Clayton and Eric Kodish
GOAL: Start to employ these two approaches (communitarianism and care ethics) to a complex case of refusal of life sustaining treatment (LST).
Consider what you learned from Gilligan’s video and the above ethics key terms.
- How is a communitarian approach being employed by Aaron’s family?
- How could a communitarian approach guide the response of the medical provider?
- What would be the primary goal(s) in a Care Ethics based approach to this case? Be specific.
- How might a Care Ethics approach guide your particular response to baby Aaron’s family? What would it avoid?