Abstract
Works applying a Jungian framework to understand and analyse socio-economic and organisational phenomena are sufficiently rare to be worth mentioning. Johanna Fawkes’ book Public Relations Ethics and Professionalism: The Shadow of Excellence offers an informed and welcomed contribution to the contentious question of ethics within the context of the public relations (PR) profession, building upon Carl G. Jung’s analytical psychology. This, as the author acknowledges, is an ambitious task, but an effort worth making for the sake of the profession itself and, one would add, for the sake of society as a whole. I shall signal here that my review is not based on my familiarity with the PR literature (I will leave it to others more qualified to judge this part of the book); rather, I have read this book from the viewpoint of an academic whose work is grounded in Jung’s analytical psychology and explores the ethical dimensions of the psyche, both individual and collective.
Considering the monograph as a whole, Fawkes’ discussion is certainly competent. She recognises the shortcomings of current ethical attitudes and underlines, as Jung (1957/1970, 1966) suggested, the need to move away from one-sidedness and duality to embrace a more transcending and at once more tolerant approach to ethics grounded in both a realisation of one’s uniqueness and an understanding of our shared humanity. Her conviction and personal commitment to the PR field are evident, and her analysis covers much ground – perhaps too much. Indeed, the book can leave the reader slightly perplexed and wondering what it is actually trying to be (e.g. an academic synthesis of literature or a personal narrative set in context). The very personal experiences shared by the author, although illustrative of the painful process of psychological development, are not always at their place in an otherwise very academically oriented discussion. This is not so much a problem of using one’s personal voice as one of talking at two different levels, not always well articulated with one another.
Fawkes starts with reviewing the state of ethics in PR, taking the time to review definitions, tracing back models en vogue and reflecting upon the meaning and implications of ethical frameworks and attitudes in practice (Chapters 2 and 5). She articulates a difference between ethical acts and ethical agents (a theme she revisits in the last two chapters), which she finds problematic within the perception of ethics among PR practitioners if not academics. Chapters 3 and 4 introduce a review of the notion of profession and its ethical dimension. Drawing upon Durkheim among others, Fawkes notes the ‘fluidity’ of the notion of professionalism, but then argues for greater consideration of the role of professional bodies in shaping a profession, and consequently, in enabling the professionals to derive an identity as well as (ethical) guidance from this collective delineation. The latter aspect, she argues, is more often than not perceived as a naive aspiration rather than a reality. In Chapter 4, Fawkes considers the revamping of professional ethics through the lens of virtue ethics, as an attempt to bring forth a more holistic and context-sensitive ethical paradigm. Fawkes rightly notes that other traditions such as ‘Asian approaches’ to ethics or – as she then argues – a Jungian-inspired ethical framework seem even more promising when it comes to recognising the complexity and multi-dimensionality of ‘being good’ and ‘doing good’ beyond the necessarily limiting rule-based perspectives so prevalent in occupational or professional ethics in the West.
In Chapters 6 and 7, Fawkes offers a brief overview of Jung’s model of the psyche before engaging in a critical review of some of the core concepts drawing upon post-Jungian writers, as well as post-modernist perspectives when considering the ethical dynamics of psychological development (Chapter 7). Fawkes’ appreciation of Jung’s considerable work on the individual psyche as well as on the unconscious dimensions of collective life is laudable. Despite Jung’s significant contribution to our understanding of ourselves and, by extension, of our environment in the spirit of the alchemical statement that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm (and vice-versa), few authors have acknowledged the value of his ethical approach grounded in conscious self-exploration and individual responsibility for one’s self. Given the scope of her argument, Fawkes focuses on a few concepts only – notably the persona and its counterpart the shadow, as well as the dynamic of the process of individuation which purports to allow the ego (i.e. the centre of consciousness) to consciously work with the self (i.e. the archetype of wholeness and, paradoxically, the entire psyche). Fawkes also discusses the notion of conscience as a basis for her argument (later developed) that professional ethics should counterbalance a focus on excellence which necessarily creates its destructive shadow (e.g. persuasion giving in to propaganda) with a focus on integrity as introduced by Jungian analyst and writer John Beebe (1992). For those new to Jung’s conceptualisation of the psyche, this introduction is helpful, although it suffers from an excessive – therefore at times confusing – attempt to move away from Jung’s own writings to favour the views of post-Jungian writers. This proved distracting and did not necessarily help the argument’s clarity.
The main proposition of the book comes to the fore in Chapter 8 ‘Re-imagining professional ethics’. There Fawkes applies the Jungian concepts of persona, shadow and ethical integration through transcendence (rather than unification) to ‘the profession’. Her argument is logically developed and offers a refreshing perspective that calls for a greater personal and collective engagement towards the inherently complex and ambiguous moral experiences which we all live at work and as social agents. Rather than an ‘either/or’ approach, a Jungian perspective on professional ethics recognises the influence of unconscious factors, acknowledges fallibility and imperfections without pretension, instils an enriched understanding of the human community and an appreciation for the needs of self and others at once (p. 180). As such, the value of ethical reflection and practice lies more in the ability to ask questions than to find definite answers (as too often found in inspirational but impractical, if not hypocritical codes of conduct). Fawkes believes that professional bodies have a key role to play as ‘ethical leaders’ enabling the process of reflection and ethical awareness to take place. Her conclusions and advice (pp. 182–189) may appear rather optimistic partly because in wanting to focus on the group (the profession as the meso-level), Fawkes does not recognise enough the influence of individuals in the culture and psychological dynamic of the group. From his work as a psychiatrist, Jung (1957/1970) realised that the health and the ethical quality of a collective (be it a professional group or a nation) primarily depend upon the state of the psyche of the individual members of that collective. It is a shame that in her attempt to rehabilitate the profession as an ethical ground, Fawkes does not pay sufficient attention to the intricate dynamics between the unique individuals that compose the group, and the collective psyche of the group – the latter being more than the mere sum of the parts. The final chapters repeat and further clarify how the PR profession would benefit from a ‘Jungian analysis’.
In conclusion, this book is a worthy read for those who take the matter of (PR) ethics seriously and seek to go beyond antagonistic discussions about ‘how to do better’. The seemingly simple advice for PR’s professional organisations to ‘engage with its own shadow in order to reach a collective psychological maturity’ (p. 208) is key and requires more professionals to familiarise themselves with more holistic approaches to organisations, to organising, to work, to socio-economic reality, and to what we, as human beings, are made of.