Public Relations Ethics and Professionalism

Some Public Relations (PR) scholars have claimed that PR serves society and enhances the democratic process, while others are of the opinion that it is little more than propaganda; serving instead, the interests of global corporations. This central debate is about PR ethics - yet this topic is barely explored in the many texts and theories that seek to explain PR and its function in society.

This book places PR ethics in the wider context of professional ethics and the sociology of professions in general. Current debates in ethics tend to be ignored in PR literature, yet the codes of conduct promoted by many PR associations are highly idealistic and bear little resemblance to the complexity and contradictions faced everyday by practitioners. This book suggests a wholly new approach to professional ethics, drawing on the psychological insights of Carl Jung to suggest that professions construct a public face or persona; disowning their shadow aspects. What if public relations’ critics are right in detecting and highlighting the shadow aspects of the profession? How can PR - or any other profession - claim to be ethical if its codes are based on partial, idealised versions of the field?

By reconceptualising public relations ethics through a Jungian lens, this book proposes that deep dialogue within the field is a prerequisite for the development of the kind of robust ethics that will genuinely contribute to society.