TITLE:
Ritual, Memory and Oaths: A Mixed Method Approach to Building Capacity for Ethical Praxis
AUTHORS:
Natalie Lewis
KEYWORDS:
Ethics, Ritual, Capacity, Oaths, Public Administration
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.8,
August
12,
2021
ABSTRACT: Building
capacity for ethical praxis within the South Australian Public Service is vital
to those who serve in the public interest as with the community it serves. The
Mixed Method research results reported within this article seek to expose
previously unknown knowledge about ritual, oaths, and building capacity for
ethical praxis for those employed in administrative tiers of employment,
ranging from ASO1 to ASO8, MAS1 to MAS3, PO1 to PO6, and SAES1 to SAES2 within
the South Australian public sector. Finding existing ways of improving public
sector ethics in South Australia through ritual, memory, and oaths was
non-existent, given ethics sensitivity and employee scepticism. No researcher had previously investigated oaths and
their impact on individual attitude within the Australian or South Australian
Public Service. An outcome of this original research study was the composition
of the Lewis Oath theory. The specifically designed hypothetical oath tested
was one way of contributing to understanding and subsequently improving public
sector ethics. Furthermore, other acknowledged methods for preventing unethical behaviour include, yet are not limited
to, the improvement in organisational culture and ethos. Social science researchers and government must recognise the underlying sentiment and attitude
of individuals and the collective society if ethical praxis is to be achieved
within this context.