6 SKEPTIC MAGAZINE volume 25 number 1 2020COLUMN
If you have attended a conference
in the past decade, you undoubtedly will
have been alerted to the sponsoring or-
ganization’s Code of Conduct, detailing
how you must behave, or what you must
not do, or what other people must not
do. Organizations are spending consid-
erable time and effort to create Codes of
Conduct meant to govern the behavior
of their members at meetings. The codes
try to specify precisely what behavior
will evoke censure, if not ejection from
the meeting (or even the organization).
Words matter. An organization’s
statement of its mission and values tells
members which truths it holds to be
self-evident. Yet once an organization
tries to specify each and every one of
the possible behaviors it wishes to pro-
hibit (or encourage), it will find itself
in linguistic and psychological quick-
sand. It’s like telling a child not to eat
the gumballs, muffins, or chocolates on
the table, but failing to forbid the ice
cream and pie. The overall concept—
no sweets—is lost.
I had assumed that organizations
produce codes of conduct to reduce
the risk of being sued for harassment.
“Look how we meticulously specified
inappropriate behavior that will not
be tolerated,” they can say. But when
Sarah Brookhart, Executive Director
of the Association for Psychological
Science, consulted their attorney,
she was strongly advised against hav-
ing any kind of such code or policy
“because of the liability it creates.”
Brookhart told me that the code of
conduct issue varies among science
organizations. “For some it comes out
of rampant harassment at their confer-
ences,” she wrote in an email. “For
others it seems more symbolic than aresponse to an actual problem at con-
ventions. I also think it reflects condi-
tions for women in many academic
departments.” For example, she said,
harassment is an especially serious
problem for disciplines where women
are very much the minority.
Consider two very different
Codes of Conduct, which anchor the
ends of the spectrum of approaches.
One comes from the Society for the
Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS)
and its Sexual Harassment Task Force,
which recently created a Statement
of Values and Expectations, a Code of
Conduct, and a set of procedures for
handling violations of the code. When
a draft of the document was sent to all
members for their comments, presi-
dent Eric R. Walsh-Buhi reported that
“approximately half of those that re-
sponded wanted a less restrictive pol-
icy and the other half wanted a more
restrictive policy.” That alone might
have made the board question the
very plausibility of its efforts to spec-
ify every kind of behavior that all
would agree is a “violation,” but no.
The final document, approved by the
organization’s Board of Directors and
its attorney, is five single-spaced
pages. The president acknowledged
the length problem in his message to
members, justifying it by asserting
that “these documents have impor-
tant legal implications,” and therefore
“must be as precise as possible to en-
sure that cases of reported misconduct
are handled consistently, predictably,
and fairly.”
The SSSS statement starts with a
list of “Aspirational behaviors,” unen-
forceable but desired standards, which
include (I am not paraphrasing):- Be respectful and constructive when
providing scholarly feedback or
criticism. - Be considerate of audience members’
hearing and visual needs. - Support respectfully-communicated
dissent and alternative viewpoints. - Keep an open, skeptical, and curious
mind. - Be welcoming and respectful to indi-
viduals of all ages, races/ethnici-
ties, gender identities, sexual
identities, religions, abilities, phys-
ical appearances, etc. - Make efforts to talk to and include
new attendees and those attending
the conference alone. - Be cautious about inviting individuals
with less professional or institu-
tional power...to private locations
or to become inebriated with you,
as they may not feel free to decline
without repercussions. - Use welcoming, respectful, and inclu-
sive language. Examples of this in-
clude using the language that
reflects what people call them-
selves, and using language that re-
flects all genders and sexualities. - Intervene if you see harassment oc-
curring ...[e.g., create a distrac-
tion, butt into the conversation,
report it to conference authori-
ties.]
Next are “Expected behaviors,” vi-
olations of which may simply involve
(at least initially) asking the violator to
quit it. Here I will paraphrase the cen-
tral ones, which include, but are not
limited to: - Don’t interrupt a speaker unless the
speaker says that would be ok. - Don’t comment on people’s bodies,
The Gadfly
How Would You Design a “Code of Conduct”?
BY CARO L TAVRIS