A Social Scientist’s Implicit Duty: The Unspoken Oath to Safeguard Society
Social and behavioral scientists may not recite a Hippocratic Oath, but their ethical compass points unmistakably toward a duty to prevent harm. Their mandate is not merely academic—it is moral, civic, and urgent. Like psychologists who are legally bound to report suicidal or homicidal ideation, social scientists are ethically compelled to sound the alarm when societal structures begin to fracture. This responsibility transcends the ivory tower. It demands that scholars engage with the world as it is—messy, polarized, unequal—and use their tools of inquiry to illuminate paths away from harm. Whether analyzing the corrosive effects of disinformation, the widening chasm of economic disparity, or the erosion of democratic norms, their findings must be communicated not just to peers, but to the public, policymakers, and communities who stand to suffer the consequences of inaction. Du Bois and the Moral Imperative of Applied Sociology ...