How Protected are Your
Protected Values?
According to Hoch, Kunreuther, and Gunther, protected values
are considered inviolable and protected from tradeoffs. They are independent of
consequences, insensitive to quantity, and they are applied to acts (Hotch,
Kunreuther, & Gunther, 2001). These
characteristics of protected values inspired reflection on all the values I
hold near and dear. Three of my most
protected values in no specific order are fairness, humane treatment of
animals, and compassionate discipline of children.
Fairness
Fairness and equality have long been my most highly
protected values. Growing up with
sisters all close in age required my parents to ensure we all had fair and
equal treatment. If things were not
fair, jealousy and anger would lead to a breakdown in communication and subsequent
disharmony in the home. This small-scale
effect can be seen on a much larger scale in communities and nations. Our human
history is wrought with accounts of communities brought down by injustice. My major beliefs about fairness are as
follows: The value of fairness is about the process of decision-making, not the
outcome; equal rights for all and impartiality; and judgment or behavior that
is free from discrimination.
Although fairness is a value that I strive to protect,
sometimes it is difficult to treat everyone equally. This can be seen when policymakers attempt to
accommodate fairness and equality for everyone.
They must try to maximize total utility or total value satisfaction (Baron
& Spranca, 1997). I strive to ensure fairness at every chance and haven’t
had to make many decisions where someone got the short end of the stick without
later providing ample recompense for their disadvantage, however, in an extreme
situation, I may reluctantly make decisions inconsistent with this protected
value and not make the utilitarian decision.
For example, if a situation were to present itself and I was tasked with
the decision to give the only vital organ and must choose between my son and another
boy, I would not make a fair and amicable decision, I would choose in favor of
my son. Because there may be situations where this protected value is not
inviolable, there may be instances where my behavior is inconsistent with my
protected value, I hold that fairness remains as my highest protected value
because unless forced to make an unfair decision, I will not compromise when it
comes to fairness for all if I can help it.
Humane Treatment of Animals
Another protected value is the humane treatment of
animals. This value became protected
more than a decade ago, owing to vast changes in American agriculture over the
last century to support a growing population (Overcash, 2011). During this time, the inhumane treatment and
living conditions of animals, especially those raised in Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFO’s) was revealed after several undercover investigations. Since then, there have been many insidious practices
exposed, of the deplorable conditions where animals are forced to live in
disease-ridden, cramped environments, pumped with hormones and antibiotics, and
fed an unnatural diet. Derived from this
unfortunate reality are several beliefs I’ve established that further solidify my
commitment to refuse any meat or meat products from CAFO farms. These beliefs are derived from the RSPCA and Animal
Welfare Act and adopted as our own and include; the need for all animals to be
protected from pain, suffering, injury, and disease, the need for suitable food
and shelter, and the need to exhibit their normal behavior patterns (RSPCA,
n.d.). Each one of these beliefs is highly regarded and adhered, and to support
these beliefs, we make a conscious effort to source all meat consumed by my
family from local farms. My family has
visited and vetted the living conditions and diets of all farms and spoke to
the farmers where we source our meat, eggs, and cheese to ensure they are free
range, allowed to roam the pastures plentiful of fresh green grasses, and
supplemented with grasses from their natural diets, and not administered growth
hormones or antibiotics. I am not
willing to make trade-offs to not support these beliefs. In fact, we go to great lengths to avoid
store-bought packaged, processed, or frozen meat products by carefully reading
all labels. As a general rule of thumb,
we typically do not dine out at restaurants, but on the rare occasion we do, we
choose only vegetarian options. By not supporting CAFO farms and making a conscious
effort every day to plan for the support of these beliefs, we have adapted our
lives in support of the humane treatment of animals as a protected value.
Compassionate Discipline
One of my protected values is compassionately disciplining
children without exposing them to bodily harm, or emotional, psychological, or
physical abuse of any kind. I don’t think children should be spanked or any
form of physical pain to correct undesirable behavior. This protected value affects my decision
making each day in many ways by consciously choosing actions as an alternative
to spanking and in support of a few beliefs.
I believe each person is different and learns differently, so spanking
may not be the most optimal learning tool for the individual. I believe each person reacts differently, so
some people don’t respond to pain or don’t necessarily respond with the
intended changed behavior. I believe each
person is affected differently so that spankings could have negative long-term
consequences like anxiety disorder, OCD, or issues with self-worth.
Also, another belief in support of this protected value is
there are more effective, healthier, more productive ways to teach persons
capable of logic and reasoning if the time is taken to instill a solid
foundation of values. Values can be internalized by being reinforced through
having an ongoing dialogue, getting their input on how a situation could have
been better handled, reinforced with a system of accountability and
transparency which further reinforces values like integrity, and following up
on appropriate behavior with positive reinforcement. The con is, perhaps you don’t have the time
to have consistent teaching moments.
There are times I have been wrapped up or when I worked 50-60 hours a
week and wasn’t available at each opportunity for teaching moments. The tradeoff I made was to sit down with my
children each day to review their day where they could talk openly about events
and how they felt about them. They
learned to be reflective on events and how they were handled and ways they
could’ve been better dealt with.
In addition, this form of discipline does not translate or
carry over to adulthood. It is
fundamentally important to raise persons shaped to approach situations
proactively who will be contributing, productive, and confident members of
society with a strong moral character capable of utilizing these life skills to
become future leaders and teachers, not inhibited by deep fears and anxiety
from past discipline. I do this by positively reinforcing good behaviors with
words of affirmation and praise. I use
negative reinforcement with strong words such as “I am disappointed by your
actions, what you said was hurtful, or I don’t like what I see.” This is followed up with a quick dialogue that
fosters reflection and accountability. My children will state the situation and
recap in their own words, followed by how this situation could’ve been handled
better. This gives them a chance to
reflect and usually illuminates where they went wrong, and they take
accountability. Taking accountability
for their part results in an apology, as well as what they will do differently going
forward.
This exercise has helped me to review my protected values
and see how they, as well as my many other protected values, are the driving force and doctrine in the
background of my conduct, the decisions I make each day, and the life lessons I
am teaching my children. I feel just as
strongly if not stronger about them now as I did before the exercise.
References:
Baron, J., & Spranca, M. (1997). Protected values.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70(1), 1-16.
doi:10.1006/obhd.1997.2690
Hoch, S., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton
on making decisions. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
RSPCA. (n.d.). Animal welfare act | rspca.org.uk. Retrieved
Jun 29, 2019, from https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/endcruelty/changingthelaw/whatwechanged/animalwelfareact
Overcash, E. (2011). Overview of CAFOS and Animal Welfare
Measures. Michigan State University College of Law. Retrieved Jun 28, 2019,
from https://www.animallaw.info/article/overview-cafos-and-animal-welfare-measures
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