Are Whistle Blowers Heroes or Traitors - Essay Example

 Whistle blowing is not a new concept and the researchers of human behavior for a long time are trying to find the answer to the question whether it should be in our society. There are several factors, which push people to inform third parties about the action of some people. For example, the positive drives may include the strong believe that truth is always better, while the negative drives may include jealousy and revenge. In this paper I will look at the different situations when whistle blowing is appropriate as well as inappropriate. Alexandra Marks in her article “National security vs. whistle-blowing” talks about whistle blowing from unusual perspective: whistle blowers can put the national security of the United States under risk through raising the secrets and making them available to the public. The number of people who report about the wrongdoings within the government has much increased after the attack of September 11. Even though it is possible to assume that American citizens have increased concern about the competency of bureaucracy at all levels, however, from the other side, it has also led to the decline in morale. In British citizens are less concerned with national security, but the problem still exists. If the person uncovers the wrongdoing in the company he is working at, there is the law stating what should be dome to make others aware. The author of the article “Blowing the Whistle” notes that everyone fears to blow the whistle at workplace: by exposing any wrongdoings, they are opening themselves to abuse. Employees are afraid that they career will suffer, their concerns will not be addressed and colleagues will distrust them in the future. In fact, the whistle blowing at workplace in necessary because it might help to prevent the future disasters. In order to encourage people to report about the wrongdoings “in 1999, the Government introduced the Public Interest Disclosure Act. Public Concern at Work dubbed the Act "the most far-reaching whistle-blower law in the world" because it encourages employees to speak out about wrongdoing in the workplace and protects them from being unfairly victimised as a result of their actions” (Blowing the Whistle, 1) If whistle blowing at workplace is highly encouraged and is mostly positive, the whistle blowing in interpersonal relations should be avoided. Let us consider an example; during conversation between two friends, one of them has told that he fiddled his tax returns. Would it be appropriate for the other person to inform the corresponding authorities about the wrongdoing of his friend? The authorities have given citizens an array of free phone numbers for informing about the wrongdoings in versatile areas. The most famous is the benefit fraud line, set up in the summer of 1995 and reputed to be taking 8,000 calls a week (Harkin, 32). Its success appears to have set a precedent: now we have the Crime Stoppers Trust offering rewards for solving crimes, an Environment Agency line looking for information on polluters, and various lines that encourage us to tell local environmental health departments about noisy neighbours. The majority of whistle blowers report about wrong doings because of their religious believes. Most whistle-blowers risk their professional careers, as well as friendships and family, when they decide to come forward in the public interest to disclose waste, fraud and abuse of power in the workplace. For those without a firm religious grounding, the fall from public grace can be particularly hard since security and success at work tend to be two of their most important psychological safety nets (Andersen, 20). For many faith-based whistle -blowers, however, religion provides not only solace and staying power but also the necessary context in which to make their principled dissent and then endure misperceptions of themselves as malcontents and nitpickers motivated by attention-seeking. Despite the risks, their whistle –blowing becomes part of a tradition of showing individual responsibility and concern for others. Not everybody is ready to uncover corruption and assume the consequences of the act. Whistle blowers are known to be loyal to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons or political party. While initially whistle-blowing gives nefarious connotation such as betrayal or disloyalty, it is viewed, in fact, as an act of heroism, of patriotism. The justification for such value judgment in fact, the only basis is the higher duty to public service that whistle-blowing involves (Whistle-Blowing: Act of Betrayal or Patriotism, 2). It has been noticed that women tend to become whistle blowers more often. Does it mean that women are less afraid of consequences and believe in the fairness more compared to men? Treneman believes that women are, perhaps, simply more flexible in every way (16). Whistle blowers are regarded as heroes and as Bennett has noted, examples of the harm done by the absence of whistle blowers are as numerous as unexposed criminals (23). In his article “Trading Cards, Heroes and Whistleblowers” he tells the stories of whistle blowers who have helped to eliminate corruption and even save lives of people. For instance, pharmacist Bill Altland of Fayetteville, Arkansas, exposed the excessive drug dispensing by Razorback team trainers at the University of Arkansas and was pressured both professionally and socially to drop the accusations. However, he did not give up and the offenders were punished. The times when whistle blowing was perceived as something negative as far behind. Even though some of the authors treat whistle blowers as sneaks of the society, the help they provide should not be underestimated. In most cases people start to blow the whistle if the harm done to others overlaps with their perception of justice and ethics. It is worth to note that whistle blowers speak not for their own good and often risk their careers because the parties they stand up against are much more powerful. That is why whistle blowing is equated to heroism. Word Count: 980 Works Cited Andersen, Martin E. “Whistle-Blowers Keep the Faith: Whistle-Blowers Sacrifice Their Careers When They Expose Corruption, but Often Commitment to Their Religious Beliefs Outweighs Going along to Get Along.” Insight on the News 18.5 (February 2002): 20+. Bennett, James. “Trading Cards, Heroes and Whistleblowers. The Humanist 57.2 (March-April 1997): 23+. “Blowing the Whistle.” Computers Weekly 21 November 2002. 5 May 2006 Harkins, James. “A Nation of Sneaks.” New Statesman 127.4399 (August 1998): 32+. Marks, Alexandra. “National security vs. whistle-blowing.” The Christian Science Monitor 24 January 2006. 5 May 2006 Treneman, Ann. “Whistle-Blowers: Why Women Do Their Duty.” New Statesman 133.4678 (March 2004): 16. “Whistle-Blowing: Act of Betrayal or Patriotism?” Manila Bulletin 14 August 2004: 2. Read More