Affiliate Chapter Corner

AFFILIATE CHAPTER

CORNER

Dr. Carolyn Ball lives in Arizona. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, and spending time with her family.

Dr. Carolyn Ball, CI and CT, NIC Affiliate Chapter Liaison Kellie Stewart M.Ed., CSC, CI and CT

Dr. Ball:

Hi, my name is Dr. Carolyn Ball, and I am the Affiliate Chapter Liaison here at RID headquarters. Today I am very excited to talk with Kellie Stewart, a former RID board member from 1988 to 1990. Kellie has studied ethics for many years, and many of you may have already read her ethics workbook (Stewart & Witter-Merithew, 2006). Before we get started, Kellie, do you mind introducing yourself?

Kellie:

There are many good reasons for interpreters to study ethics. Back when I was a young interpreter in the field, I always had a close connection with the concept of ethics. Ethics has been a passion of mine for a very long time. I feel that it is very important for our profession, for any profession, whether it be doctors, nurses, or lawyers, to have a strong sense of ethics.

Kellie:

Sure. As you mentioned, my name is Kellie Stewart, and I have been an interpreter for many years. I don’t need to say how many years, though. I have been an interpreter and an interpreter educator, and currently, I am teaching at the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) in Greeley.

Dr. Ball:

Thank you, Kellie. Today, Kellie and I will be discussing ethics. Why do you feel it is important for us as interpreters to study and learn about ethics? Most importantly, in our work, as interpreters, we hold specialized knowledge and skills that our consumers and the public lack. That means we hold a great deal of power as interpreters, and that is why we must engage in reflective analysis to assess our decisions. This is important so that we don’t harm consumers. The goal of assessing ourselves is that we as interpreters do not hurt consumers, specifically Deaf consumers. Thus, it is important that we follow our ethical standards and then adhere to the concept of ethical behavior, which is doing the right thing and making ethical decisions, which has been a large part of who I am. Many of you may know that I have taught and still teach workshops and college courses about ethics. I believe that it is very important we know how to make decisions as interpreters that do not harm consumers.

Dr. Ball:

That is so true. So, right now, you are involved in a doctoral program. Will you be writing your dissertation on ethics, and what do you feel is important for us to know about ethics as interpreters?

Kellie:

Yes, there are many reasons that I want to write my dissertation on ethics. Often, I have seen discussions that take place in the Deaf community and these discussions about their experiences with interpreters. Those discussions often demonstrate that deaf people have not always had positive experiences. That has been true for a long time. And there have been several research studies that have provided evidence regarding t he experiences that Deaf people have had with interpreters. At the same time, it has become very important for interpreters to understand ethics and how interpreters make certain ethical decisions.

So, when I applied to my doctoral program, I knew from the very beginning that I would pick an ethical question for my research or something specifically related to ethical decision-making. When I first began searching for a research topic for my dissertation, I initially wanted to examine interpreter attitudes. However, studying attitudes in research is a very complicated process. So, the more I learned throughout my studies, I realized that I wanted to choose a research topic that had yet to be studied. So, I am very excited to have picked a topic that has not been previously studied. The topic of my research is to understand how interpreters determine whether to accept or decline an interpreting assignment. So, that question will be central to the focus of my dissertation and has guided the dissertation process.

I have not finished my research, nor have I begun the research at this time, but I’m very excited to see what we can learn, especially related to experiences from interpreters and how interpreters make those decisions.

Dr. Ball:

I’m very excited about that, too, because it seems like we don’t have a lot of research about ethics in our field. Is that correct, Kellie? Do we have a lot of studies about ethical decision-making in our field?

Kellie:

Yes, that is true. There are a few studies. Most are related to Dean and Pollard’s work, also Dean’s dissertation and Mendoza’s dissertation. So, there are one or two others that have been done. However, there just are not a great deal of studies examining ethical questions.

Dr. Ball:

That’s very interesting because we have the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC), but we don’t have a lot of research about the reasoning behind the CPC. So, I am really looking forward to your research on what you learn. I’m sure that the results of your study will impact our field greatly

Kellie:

That’s a good question. My research will include research on behavioral ethics, and I also have an interest in racial equality. So currently, I have studied an area of research known as behavioral ethics, which involves decision-making tied to general bias or racial bias. The field of behavioral ethics is not new and has a long history that has been around for a long time. However, the field of interpreting hasn’t really talked about behavioral ethics and its connections to decision-making. Behavioral ethics research, which is in a section of my literature review, is related to our awareness or lack of awareness of how we recognize our conscious or unconscious biases in decision-making. Sometimes, it is our unconscious decision-making that will determine whether we accept interpreting assignments. I do think this vein of research will become part of the conversations we have about ethics in the interpreting field. It remains to be seen how interpreters make these types of decisions.

Even though I may function as the interpreter, perhaps I don’t know my motivation for accepting that assignment. There is a lot of psychology that is involved in that decision-making process. Maybe we don’t realize what that motivation is and how that can influence me as an interpreter. Perhaps, when interpreting, I am motivated toward a particular outcome, yet, my unconscious thinking can convince me that I have made the right decision when instead, I have made a self-serving decision. I may believe it is an ethical decision, but that may not be true. It is a very complex theory with several psychological factors involved in this process.

However, there is a great deal of evidence that shows how humans can be fooled into thinking a specific action is a right action when it isn’t. So, behavioral ethics and the research behind the theory of behavioral ethics is very important, and we should include them in the discussion of ethics in the field of interpreting. However, that research hasn’t been introduced in the field. But it is a theory that we need to infuse into discussions. Behavioral ethics were included in the literature review chapter. As I said, I think behavioral ethics will become a very important topic among interpreters one day.

Dr. Ball:

Wow, that is very interesting, and I look forward to the end of your doctoral program and your end product.

Kellie:

Me too! I’m going to be finishing up this year.

Dr. Ball:

That is wonderful, and when you are finished, we will need to show your studies so that interpreters can read about these important topics. Thank you, Kellie, for taking the time to talk with me and for all RID members to know and look forward to your research.

I have another question for you. As we focus on ethics and the prevalent topics in our field today, how does ethical decision-making affect interpreters’ internal biases? Will your studies and your dissertation include information about internal bias and how that affects interpreter decision to accept or decline interpreting assignments? 18