Customer Reviews

Whistleblowers

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Extraordinary! Great introductory overview of a hard-to-manage subject matter. Gives a good sense of how invaluable whistleblowers are to the fundamental underpinings of democracy itself. The personal profiles will touch your heart. Regular people too often find their lives and careers turned upside down simply because they are honest enough to "commit the truth" after witnessing corruption in high levels of government or corporations. They are our last line of defense when those in power decide the rules need not apply to them. Authors did a good job selecting representative sample from among countless courageous whistleblowers to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. From threats to our food supply to nuclear weapons scandals to health care fraud to corrupt politicians, etc., etc., whsitleblowers are the source of our learning about virtually every major scandal this country has seen. Shows how inadequate legal protections are for ehical dissenters. Must reading for anyone concerned about integrity and accountability in government and the corporate world.

I was working in a large bureacratic institution that was falsifying safety statistics. I was planning to expose the whole charade, and needed to know how in the most effective way possible.

After reading this and The Whistleblower's Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What's Right and Protecting Yourself, I understood the most essential thing was anonymity, so that the supervisor couldn't fire you for performance. Even EEO complaints don't seem to deter these sorts of things. Lawsuits are often costly as well.

I anonymously released a report to the right people who had political connections. The issue got to C-SPAN. I retained my job until I found another one, no one the wiser for my having raised the issue.

The book itself is a tour de force of the kind of qualitative study that should be the norm. It looks for commonalities amongst "ethical resisters" and finds several - a strong religious or moral undercurrent and belief that went beyond normative and a family support system. It often explores these qualities using the research subjects own words, which makes the study all the more meaningful.

It also exposed the truth behind how organizations function to lessen the severity of adverse information about the organization. It looks critically at how organizations function in the wake of an ethical breakdown and what goes into making an ethical resister. The book is an enjoyable read free of the mindless academic jargon that often plagues these kinds of books.

Highly recommended.

Amazing insight. You are not alone. many stories shared of pain and suffering by our own Government.Thank you.
Lisa Black vs Dept of Veterans Affairs(United States District Court,Middle District of Tennessee,at NASHVILLE) 2005....and stalling.
(Pro-se) Lisa P. Black
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Enjoyed reading this informative book. It gives good insight into the topic of whistle blowers.