Why Blowing The Whistle
...have decided to disclose others’ misbehaviors. Sometimes they do so for their own interest, such as the opportunity to make a fortune or just to take revenge on an adverse coworker. However, instead of being rewarding, whistle-blowing can sometimes turn to be detrimental for the whistle-blower. The term “whistle-blower” was originally used to refer to employees who had made public the misconduct and dishonesty of their coworkers, especially in federal agencies. In the worst case scenario, if a whistle-blower does not hit the news and make a fortune out of it, he or she is practically in a lot of trouble. Not only does he/she have to make huge expenses on legal services, but also his/her future can be at risk if the person who had been denounced is powerful enough to hinder the whistle-blower’s opportunity to find other jobs within the same industry. Moreover, in terms of emotions, an unlucky whistle-blower tends to fall in depression because of social pressure and unfortunately he will have to face the unfriendly attention now turned to his/her families. With that in mind, one should be very careful when thinking about blowing the whistle. But sometimes, whistle-blowing appears to be the right thing to do. A more elaborate explanation of the term is necessary, and this is the object of the next section. After that, an attempt to provide justifications of the act of whistle-blowing will follow.
“Whistle-blowing can be defined as the release of information by a member or former member of an organization that is evidence of illegal and/or immoral conduct in the organization or conduct in the organization that is not in the public interest.” (Boatright, 96). Thus, there is ground to refer to the term “whistle-blowing” only in the case of employees within a company that reveal other employees’ misconduct. Then, it follows that the term may...
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