Ritual, Memory and Oaths: A Mixed Method Approach to Building Capacity for Ethical Praxis

摘要

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.