Question

As part of a course on domestic violence, a professor requires students to telephone a domestic violence hotline, pretend to be a victim, and request help. Students then write up a description of the assistance offered by hotline staff and turn it in to the professor. Can you see the ethical issue in each? How do you feel about it? Are the procedures described ultimately acceptable or unacceptable?

Answer 1

1. The ethical issue pertaining to this scenario is impersonation. This is not an acceptable behavior, no matter for any purpose. Domestic violence hotlines are serious services where officers are available 24 hours dedicating their time in assisting the needy ones. Here the time of the officer attending the call is wasted as there is no truth behind the phone call narration. Impersonation is a scenario where one pretends to act as someone else apart from self and provides false fabricated information misleading the authority delivering service. From my point of view, such phone calls should be tracked and the mastermind behind this idea must be arrested in no delay. The scenario here is like making fun of the hotline executives and services provided which is never acceptable.