Chaos exists when there is no method to resolve conflict. Order and organization are necessary to avoid chaotic situations. An integral part of every professional organization is ethics – that is, order. “Ethics is at the foundation of our professional lives, as it is at the foundation of our humanity and what it is we struggle towards in our own personal development. The ethical attitude presupposes special responsibilities that we choose to adopt in relation to another.”1
No institution wants a disruptive environment dominated by inconsistent practices. Chaos as arbitrary thinking exists when there are no guides to resolve conflicts of interest, misunderstandings, or ethical questions. Order and structure are necessary to avoid chaos; therefore, a code of ethics should be an integral part of every professional organization. Ethical consciousness is not a separate element added to the other responsibilities of museum personnel, but an integrated part of all museum activities.
“An ethical museum is one in which all participants acknowledge the core values and where those values are discussed in the context of the museum’s mission.”2 Respect is at the core of ethical practice. Respect is essential to the ideal of “good,” and includes the attitude of “truth.” Good is a concept museums embrace in the form of service to humanity, and truth is an element of communication with humanity. Ethics defines the principles that are identified with the practical activities of a museum. (See Figure 1.1.)
The museum world is in a constant state of change. It is influencing and being influenced by the sociocultural, economic, and political conditions in which it exists. The museum community reflects the history, values, attitudes, and politics of the host locations and the world. It is in the preservation of natural and cultural continuity that each person, each people, and each civilization plays and has played an important part, and it is from this perspective that the contemporary role and meaning of museums must be understood.
The heritage of all humanity is vulnerable to the whims of a changing social, political, and financial environment. Objects are susceptible to the authority of those that have the power to act and react – the power to destroy, the power to ignore, or the power to preserve. Consequently, it is the responsibility (duty) of the museum profession to protect heritage by promoting a positive social attitude, activating museums in the service of society, and advocating a standard of ethical inclusiveness and correctness.
This challenging situation for museums reflects current economic, social, and political strategies, as well as environmental conditions that call for joint (international museum community) instead of unilateral solutions. The convergence of ideals and needs has raised a fundamental issue of ethical practice (trust) for the museum community. Museums must find an effective means of identifying, preserving, and maintaining heritage in the midst of the contemporary conflict between two ideals that, on the one hand, want to keep intact and paralyze tradition, and, on the other, fully endorse twenty-first century corporate ideology. These issues question the museum’s role of preserving and promoting the cultural identity of their communities, without unduly threatening their cultural identity, disparaging popular myths, or undermining human values.
Museums encounter many challenges with their escalating social, cultural, and environmental roles. They must accommodate the local citizenry, protect the heritage of the community in which they exist, conform to the various social and cultural needs of constituents, provide inclusive educational opportunities, and motivate public trust by acting honorably, professionally, and honestly. Museums must also safeguard the integrity of exhibitions, safeguard against acquiring illicitly obtained objects, protect collection records, maintain professional relations with other institutions, and abide by all applicable national and international laws. The ways these issues are met depend on the ethical attitudes and practices of museum personnel. Each member of the museum community has an obligation to observe and promote practices that abide by established ethics and serve the museum profession.
Ethics and service
Museums, as public institutions, exist for the public benefit and to fulfill that role all aspects of their operations should reflect that obligation. Collecting, conservation, and research should be executed with a public consciousness just as the more visible or public-oriented exhibitions and educational programming.3 Any organization operating in the public interest must manage its affairs properly, but museums as custodians of the cultural and natural heritage of a people, region, or nation must function, as nearly as possible, above reproach.
Museums are central to preserving cultural and natural heritage and, thereby, the future of social existence as commonly experienced. Museums are, at the same time, agents of change (transformation), and as the nature of the world has altered, the importance of museums as institutions of social, cultural, and political identity has changed. The significance of this transformation has not been lost on governments nor have museums been ignored as instruments for projecting national identity.
“Museums have a duty to acquire, preserve, and promote their collections as a contribution to safeguarding the natural, cultural, and scientific heritage.”4 This responsibility has not altered except to become more inclusive as world values and ways of thinking change. The challenge for museums is to merge with their host communities without renouncing ethical and social duties. Commitment to professional standards enhanced by the museum’s value system distinguishes the work of one museum from others and defines significant differences in approach or methods among similar efforts.
The museum profession must be concerned with the basic role and ethical responsibility of “museums in the service of society and of its development,”5 whether that effort manifests itself through community, national, or international activities. Museum personnel discharging their responsibility to humanity may see their roles defined in political, financial, or cultural terms, depending on place, time, and circumstance. However, the duty and responsibility are constant as is the related ethical value system.
Ethics identifies principles of correct behavior to serve as action guides for individuals and organizations. Ethics is concerned with values and helps to institute methods for reinforcing correct attitudes and actions within the professional museum community. The standards of accepted practices (ethics) have been identified and endorsed by people working in the museums to support this initiative.
The objects of humanity and nature assembled in museums have a unique essence that includes emotional and intellectual appeal. They are records of scientific, historic, and artistic achievements that evoke a feeling of prestige, and therefore, a sense of pride. The objects generate an environment where the people of a community or nation can gain an awareness of human creativity, glimpse a past that they can admire and appreciate, and project the future to which they will transmit the results of their own efforts.
Museums have a responsibility as places where the community of humankind can meet, reinforce their values, find recognition of their past accomplishments, and envision their future. The objects (heritage) collected, cared for, and exhibited in museums are evidence that human achievements have special value. Heritage is the essence of humanity, and it is the ethical responsibility of museums to safeguard their collections so that they (the collections) may be transmitted from one generation to the next.
Certain ethical principles are fundamental to museums such as honesty, respect, and duty regardless of the exhibition, program, research, or collecting objectives. The associated values are limited and may change to meet specific social needs. Museum values advocate self-realization, tolerance, and critical reasoning for the benefit of society. The values associated with ethical museum practices are inherent in the process of receiving and maintaining public trust.
Ethical thinking should uphold an attitude of respect and social responsibility. Museums should endorse cultural and natural heritage as indispensable elements of the quality of life.6 Similarly, ethical practices should acknowledge the right of all people to share in the enjoyment of their heritage in an inclusive environment of cultural expression and respect. “The contemporary museum strives to be a forum where the genius of the time and the spirit of the people find expression.”7 However, human expression, regardless of its significance, may change to an extent that traditions and practices are altered. These changes may lead to a redefining of what a people are culturally and emotionally, as well as a new expression of what they have always been. This condition is exemplified by the destruction of monuments, statues, and related images following a change of political regime. These elements may be a negative reminder of the past for the public, but are nevertheless part of the heritage of a nation and should be preserved.
Changes that influence the heritage of a people have allocated to museums the added responsibility of preserving the past while recognizing current and often conflicting ideals. Museums as centers of social acknowledgment are an important part of global sociocultural activities, and they will have greater prominence in the future. Museums can have an impact on humanity and the sociocultural environment in positive ways. The means by which this responsibility is met will depend on the ethical attitudes and practices of museum personnel. Each member of the museum community has the possibility to participate in determining museum standards to serve as the base for the international museum community.
It may be possible to motivate museum personnel to endorse ethical values by fostering the ideals of ethical practices. The understanding of ethics increases and related practices improve when information about ethical principles is promoted across the museum community. The process of developing ethical ideals has no ends or means (value), if the process does not ultimately result in good for those in the profession and the public it serves.
Good in many practical situations may be considered as that which agrees with certain personal beliefs, and bad is that which disagrees with those beliefs.8 In contrast, ethical thinking is to determine why, when, how, and to what degree a particular issue must be considered and in what way. “Ethical decision making is the process of identifying a problem, generating alternatives, and choosing among them so that the alternatives selected maximize the most important ethical values while also achieving the intended goal.”9
A profession requires ethics to reflect the changing environment in which its members perform their vital services. Composed of ideals and values that guide individual and group conduct, ethics can be defined in terms of those two human groupings. Individual ethics are “value statements,” such as duties, roles, and inferences that incorporate ideas such as good and bad, and right and wrong.10 Group ethics include customs and codes that monitor an individual’s behavior for the benefit of a group. Ethical theory involves how people see reality, why they associate “value” with that vision, and how they respond to it.11
Recognizing and addressing the social and intellectual peculiarities with which museums must contend is a part of being responsible stewards of cultural and natural heritage. Museums are the ideal laboratories for social, scientific, and cultural exchange and as such, they have an ethical responsibility to challenge, stimulate, and inform visitors.
Museums, in the broadest sense, are institutions which hold their possessions in trust for humankind and for the future welfare of the race. Their value is in direct proportion to the service they render the emotional and intellectual life of the people. The life of a museum worker… is essentially one of service.12
Ethical principles for museums describe established norms or standards of conduct based on their conformity to professional guidelines. The principles identify a standard that defines correct actions and attitude. This concept of ethical responsibility is founded on the notion of duty and respect, and allows qualifying measures to determine acceptable working principles. The museum profession recognizes ethics as defining those ideals. When museum personnel act out of respect for ethical principles, they are responding to a duty to perform in a professional way.
The concept of duty as a form of social and professional responsibility is found in most parts of the world. The placement of duty in the social order and its application may differ in various locations, but the ideal of the “exemplary person” (the dutiful and responsible individual) can be extended to signify a comprehensive state of ethical excellence that applies in different situations. Although “ethical lif...
