Do No Harm
“Do no harm” is the most famous phrase of the Hippocratic Oath, a statement of medical ethics written by physicians in the school of Hippocrates (the so-called Father of Medicine) in Greece around 400 bce: “I will use regimens for the benefit of the ill in accordance with my ability and judgment, but from what is to their harm or injustice I will keep them.” The awareness of the ancient oath that healing professions carry responsibilities for competent use of their particular knowledge, that the work itself carries dangers of doing unintentional harm, being unjust, exploiting clients, and conferring special skills that can be used for deliberate cruelty, make its principles relevant to settings where peace psychologists may have key roles. Education, law, government, unions, the military, business administration, and other professional enterprises all consult with psychologists at times on issues of ethics, conflict, and outside pressures to reform. Some employ psychologists for assistance to employees (e.g., the military) or clients (e.g., education) and also turn to them for help when destructive conflicts arise. 
 
 
Keywords: 
 
professional ethics; 
medical ethics; 
do no harm
Ethical Objectives and Values in Peace Psychology and Social Justice Research
Ethical standards in research with human participants typically include informed consent and avoidance of physical or emotional harm. In the field of peace psychology and related social justice research, the standard of “do no harm” may need to be extended. The values of our field include going beyond the standards for integrity in methods and customary protections of human subjects and move into the obligation for our research to make an actual contribution to limit the many forms of violence and injustice that are faced by the human family. With this higher standard we set the bar to include the actual voices of those who experience violence, an examination of the power relationships that perpetuate structural violence, and a reflection on how sponsorship of research and normative disciplinary practices may inadvertently serve to perpetuate a violent system. The suggestion is that “do no harm” as the sole standard in social research is not sufficient to fully understand and address the depth of social oppression and structural violence in the real-world contexts. This chapter suggests an additional standard for ethical research in peace psychology to “do good.” This ethical standard to “do good” empowers those harmed by the violent system to understand the need for change and develop effective strategies to promote and sustain change in any context.
Beyond East–West: Marginality and National Dignity in Finnish Identity Construction
Since the end of the Cold War it has become common for Finnish academics and politicians alike to frame debates about Finnish national identity in terms of locating Finland somewhere along a continuum between East and West. Indeed, for politicians, properly locating oneself (and therefore Finland) along this continuum has often been seen as central to the winning and losing of elections. For example, the 1994 referendum on EU membership was largely interpreted precisely as an opportunity to relocate Finland further to the West. Indeed, the tendency to depict Finnish history in terms of a series of “Westernizing” moves has been notable, but has also betrayed some of the politicized elements of this view. However, this framing of Finnish national identity discourse is not only sometimes politicized but arguably is also too simplified and results in blindness towards other identity narratives that have also been important through Finnish history, and that are also evident (but rarely recognized) today as well. In this article we aim to highlight one of these that we argue has played a key role in locating Finland in the world and in formulating notions of what Finland is about, what historical role and mission it has been understood as destined to play, and what futures for the nation have been conceptualized as possible and as providing a source of subjectivity and national dignity.