Ethical issues in community organization.

Abstract

The health educator's role as a community organizer raises a number of ethical dilemmas for the practitioner. Such basic prescriptions given the health educator as "start where the people are" and "change by choice, not by coercion" must be carefully examined in light of the realities which sometimes make strict adherence to these theoretical goals difficult in practice and problematic from an ethical perspective. The importance of avoiding unintentional "victim-blaming" in the selection of targets for community organization and the necessity of acquainting communities with possible negative or unanticipated outcomes of organizing efforts are underscored as critical ethical issues for the health educator engaged in community organization activities.