8/3/2019 Class Discussion Ethics Final

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Kenyon Stanley

COMM 614

10 November 2010

Outline for discussion leader 

I.  Summary

a.  Randall Patrick McMurphy is a convict serving a short sentence in the prison

system his noncompliant behavior leads him to the state mental hospital for 

evaluation. With less than 90 days left on his sentence, McMurphy simply wants

to do his time and become a free man. However, after befriending several fellow

mental patients, McMurphy becomes disgusted with the hospital¶s methods of 

exacting compliance and then begins to antagonize the most prolific abuser of 

 power, Nurse Mildred Ratched. The movie is a compelling argument against the

unethical treatment of the mentally ill during the 1970¶s.

II.  Scene

a.  After failing to gain a majority vote to change policy and watch the World Series,

McMurphy attempts to rally the patients during a therapy session.

 b.   Nurse Ratched¶s nonverbal reveal her disgust with McMurphy¶s attempts to

circumvent her authority.

c.   Nurse Ratched¶s response to McMurphy¶s successful campaign reveals that she

values control and compliance over care.

i.  The end of the movie highlights the potential evil that unethical policies

(written or unwritten) can have on the marginalized.III.  Health Care Communication Ethics (Chapter 11)

a.  According to Christopher Lasch (1991), hope and responsiveness are mutually

inclusive entities in health care communication (p. 192).

 b.   Nurse Ratched could care less about the patient¶s hopes and dreams. Instead she

relishes as master of her little world of power and dominance.

c.  According to R.C. Arnett, J.M. Harden Fritz & L.M. Bell (2009),

³Responsiveness points to the way we engage others and ourselves in times of 

health-related need.

i.  How does Nurse Ratched engage the group when her patients challenge

her?ii.  What do her nonverbal cues suggest?

iii.  When McMurphy ultimately constructs a new game, how does Nurse

Ratched react?

iv.  Based on this scene, what are your impressions of McMurphy and Nurse

Ratched?

v.  Does anyone have any stories about the treatment of the mentally ill?

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IV.  From the 70¶s to today.

a.  Although the current philosophy of exacting compliance over providing care is

less prevalent, now it seems that the mentally ill are left to fend for themselves on

the streets.

i.  25-30% of the residents at the men¶s shelter have severe mental illness.

ii.  There is not one person clinically trained to diagnose and treat mentally ill

 patients at the shelter.

iii.  This practice of forgetting the forgotten is commonplace across the United

States.

V.  How is our responsiveness?

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References

Arnett, R.C., Harden Fritz, J.M. & Bell, L.M. (2009) Communication Ethics Literacy. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Producers Zaentz, S. & Douglas, M. (Producers), & Director, M. Forman (Director). (1975). One

 flew over the cuckoo¶s nest. [Motion picture]. United States of America: Fantasy Films.