PR Ethics Ch. 7

Moral autonomy

The capacity of a rational individual to independently determine their obligations under the moral law through reason alone, free from external bias or coercion.

Universal

Extending across time, space, culture, and demographics to apply equally to all rational beings without prejudice.

Rational being

Any person who possesses the capacity to think and act for reasons, enabling them to engage in moral reasoning.

Duty

The rational obligation to uphold and act in accordance with the moral law.

Categorical imperative

Kant's highest moral obligation and set of tests requiring all rational people to resolve moral dilemmas rationally and categorically rather than conditionally.

Principle

The underlying moral rule or foundation guiding an action.

Aprioristic (a priori)

Reasoning derived from principles and logic rather than from experience or hindsight.

Aposterioristic (a posteriori)

Reasoning derived from experience, sensibility, or hindsight.

Maxim

The subjective principle or underlying rule on which a subject acts.

Causal responsibility

The direct responsibility held by the person, group, or organization that makes the choice to cause an action.

Moral responsibility

The responsibility shared by all rational agents who are connected to a situation by duty or role, even if they lack the authority to stop it.

Imperative

A mandatory "must" obligation that applies universally to all rational beings.

Reversible (reversibility)

The ethical test of placing oneself and everyone affected on the receiving end of a decision to eliminate personal preference and bias.

Universal duties

Moral obligations that apply equally to all people across all situations and time periods.

Credibility gap

The risk and dangerous disconnect that occurs when an organization's actions do not support its stated words and ethical values.

Universal principle of right

Form 1 of the categorical imperative, obligating decision-makers to act only on maxims that can become universal laws for all people.

Crisis management

A specific, rapid-response approach to dealing with sudden, unpredictable, and largely negative emergencies or accidents.

Clusters of causality/responsibility

SCCT categorizations dividing crisis origins into victim, accidental, or preventable clusters based on causal responsibility.

Contingent factors (contingency theory)

The variable factors and internal/external conditions ("it depends" variables) that influence how an organization should respond to a crisis.

Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT)

Coombs' theoretical framework connecting the specific type and cause of a crisis to the appropriate response strategies.

Crisis life cycle

The predictable stages of a crisis, broken into precrisis (signal detection, prevention, preparation), crisis (damaging event, containment, response), and postcrisis (recovery, learning).

Postures (denial, diminish, rebuilding, and bolstering)

The four overarching strategic communication positions an organization can adopt when responding to a crisis.

Crisis response strategies

The specific tactics and actions used to implement a crisis communication posture.

Ethical Analysis Model Integrating SCCT

Bowen and Coombs' three-dimensional analytical model that integrates Kant's categorical imperative tests with crisis types and response postures.