Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You send your article to the publisher and risk hurting anthropologists'
reputations.
Your article documents the process that anthropologists go through to prepare
their testimony. You are afraid that it might hurt anthropology's reputation,
but you couldn't let your months of research go to waste by throwing
away your article.
A few weeks after you mail your manuscript, you receive a phone call from
the editor of the journal to which you submitted your article. The editor
is also the president of a national anthropology association.
The voice on the other end of the line tells you that she is furious with
you.
"What are you trying to do, ruin our reputation?" she asks. "We will not
publish this article under any circumstances. You not only put our profession
at risk, but you also could ruin many court cases."
Before hanging up the phone, she tells you that the association will be
reviewing your membership status.
"You can't talk about the process [between lawyers and anthropologists],"
says Miller, who made a similar decision to this one. "Anthropologists
have to present the fiction that we know everything. When I get up on the
stand I can't have any notes. I realized that the article revealed too
much and would hurt many people."