Reference no: EM133600288

Case Study: In the aftermath of tragically serious floods in a regional area, many residents have lost their homes and belongings. The losses have hit everyone across all ages, genders and ethnicities. Cynthia, the manager of a community services Centre, realizes there are too many people in need and her organization cannot possibly help everyone with the resources they have. Such resources include staff/staff time, food, temporary makeshift accommodation, and counselling.

Following consultations she has with her staff, a disaster management organization and a local government agency, Cynthia and her staff in the community services Centre decide it is best to provide full support only to two groups: elderly people and single parents with their children. They argue that these groups are a comparatively smaller minority but quite vulnerable. By taking this approach, all the organization's resources would be assigned to these two groups.

On the other hand, the disaster management organization and local government agency believe it is better to start helping those who need fewer resources but who can then help themselves get back on their feet sooner. In this way, they reason, the few resources can go a longer way and a greater number of people in need would be helped. If they take this approach, the elderly and single parents with children may need to wait longer and perhaps suffer ongoing hardship until more resources can be secured.

Question: Drawing on theoretical work examined in class and through your readings, you are to:

(a) determine what theoretical framework/s and/or concept/s the two groups of staff are guided by, and

(b) briefly outline the values they are upholding.

What is the key feature of the 'Virtue ethics' approach, and what kinds of values does it presupposes? Illustrate your response with short examples.