Running Head: ETHICAL ISSUES ANALYSIS
Ethics Issues Analysis of Doubt
Michelle Wallace
Virginia Commonwealth University
Author Note
Michelle Wallace, Graduate School, School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth
University.
This is an assignment for EDLP 705. The author reflects on the ethical issues faced in
the motion picture Doubt. The important ethical principles portrayed in the film are presented.
The characters responses to the ethical issues are analyzed and evaluated.
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The motion picture Doubt leaves doubts in the minds of its viewers as it did in one of the
film’s main characters. Sister Aloysius was the principal of a Catholic school in 1964. After
hearing a Sunday sermon on the topic of “doubt” by the church’s preacher Father Flynn, Sister
Aloysius puts her teachers on alert to look for suspicious behaviors. She is convinced that Father
Flynn’s sermon must have a deeper meaning.
One of the teachers, Sister James, reports to Sister Aloysius that she saw suspicious
behavior when Donald, the only black male student in the school, returns to class after being
called to the rectory by Father Flynn. Sister James reported to Sister Aloysius that she saw
Father Flynn returning a white tee shirt to Donald’s locker. Sister Aloysius is convinced that
Father Flynn has an inappropriate relationship with Donald and she pursues trying to get him to
admit it. She contacts Donald’s mother who seems to be fond of Father Flynn for taking up time
with her son. Donald’s mother eludes that he is different from most boys insinuating that he is
homosexual. The mother states that perhaps Father Flynn understands him and is giving him the
attention that he needs. She is willing to overlook these presumptions so Donald can finish
school and graduate from the Catholic school and get into a nice high school.
Without having any evidence or support from anyone about her allegations, Sister
Aloysius continues to press Father Flynn to admit inappropriate relations with some of the
students. The Sister lies and tells Father Flynn that she contacted his last place of employment
and found out that he had a suspicious past being employed by three parishes in the last five
years. Father Flynn only admits that there are things he has confessed which are beyond her
knowledge and that he cannot share the details. In the end Father Flynn leaves his present
Catholic Church and school for a promotion. The film concludes with Sister Aloysius crying to
Sister James that she had “doubts…such doubts” (Costas, 2008). Upon reviewing the film one
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can identify specific ethical principles that are portrayed in it. The characters each respond to the
ethical dilemmas based on their own backgrounds and characteristics. Ethical implications can
be drawn based on the reactions of the characters in the film.
The film has several underlying ethical principles which can be identified. This includes
speculations of unethical relations between the Pastor and a young boy, bullying, power
struggles, and manipulation. From these ethical principles, power and privilege are two shadows
that are cast throughout the film. The shadow of power comes in various forms. Coercive power
is based around punishments or penalties (Johnson, 2012). This is evident in the film as Sister
Aloysius pushes her teachers to look for signs of doubt in the school. She also coerces Father
Flynn to leave by continuing to hound him about his assumed inappropriate relationship with
Donald. Sister Aloysius sees Father Flynn as an enemy and she uses coercive power to bring
him down. Father Flynn exercises referent power in his relationships with the students. Referent
power relies on one person’s admirations for another person (Johnson, 2012). Donald’s mother
falls under Father Flynn’s referent power as she herself suspects of an inappropriate relationship
with her son and Father Flynn but she is willing to ignore it until her son finishes out the year
and graduates. Father Flynn exercises this power to gain respect from the boys when they are in
basketball practice, at lunch together, or in the rectory.
The use of power by Father Flynn over the boys of the school seemingly stems from his
abuse of the shadow of privilege. Leaders tend to enjoy certain privileges that followers do not.
Privileges are sometimes considered perks for the job (Johnson, 2012). When Father Flynn is
with other men of the church he enjoys the privilege of drinking and smoking while away from
the nuns of the church. Father Flynn takes his perceived privileges too far with the boys when
they are alone. In an opening scene from the movie Father Flynn is alone in the restroom with
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one of the altar boys (Donald). As Donald tells him that he wants to be a priest he rewards him
with a gift—a toy ballerina. Why would the Father have toys such as this in the bathroom? Why
would he tell the boys on the basketball court to grow their finger nails and keep them clean?
Doubts about Father Flynn’s character surface as the nuns start taking notice of strange behavior
from the boys and also from Father Flynn’s actions. Their reactions begin to feed off of one
another in the film.
The characters respond quite interestingly to the various ethical principles which arise in
the film. It begins as Sister Aloysius, who likes to exercise her own power among the school,
reacts to the sermon on “Having Doubts” and she asks the other nuns to look for suspicious
activities. As Sister James, a naïve first year teacher, pays attention to actions of her students,
she also notices suspicious activities from Father Flynn. When she reports this to Sister
Aloysius, Father Flynn is asked to come into her office to talk about the Christmas program. The
real reason she calls him into her office is to question his actions with Donald. When nothing
can be proven and his actions can be explained, Sister James believes him and Sister Aloysius is
still convinced of her own doubts. The shadow of mismanaged information begins to appear as
Sister Aloysius continues to pursue finding incriminating information which never becomes
uncovered. Even Donald’s mother, a quiet and protective lady, does not give Sister Aloysius any
support to pursue actions against the Father.
Father Flynn, a character who seems to have his own closet of previous transgressions,
faces his own ethical dilemmas and chooses to ignore them. He is aware that Donald is beaten
by his father and he does not report it. He also knows that other kids bully Donald but he does
not address them. Instead Father Flynn acts as Donald’s protector and calls him into the rectory
alone. After being told by Sister Aloysius that she had contacted his previous employment and
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spoken with another nun (which was a lie), Father Flynn admits that he has made confessions
before but could not disclose the details. This instills further doubt in Sister Aloysius’ mind
about Father Flynn and proves that he tends to run when problems arise. This pattern of
deception between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius is destroying the trust between them as well
as the trust of the others. The abuse of power and privilege lead to several ethical implications in
the end.
The first and most prevalent ethical implication is that Father Flynn was having
inappropriate relations with minor boys. Sister Aloysius planted her own seeds of doubt into the
heads of the other nuns. Susceptible to the powers of Sister Aloysius, Sister James further
strengthened those doubts when she witnessed Father Flynn sneak Donald’s tee shirt into his
locker after he had been alone with him in the rectory. Another ethical implication is abuse of
power. Sister Aloysius abuses her position as principal to dig for information using coercive
power. She visits Sister James’ classroom and rummages through her desk drawers and wanders
around the classroom searching around the children’s desks trying to find evidence of wrong
doing. She uses this time to manipulate Sister James into thinking that something must be wrong
in the school for the priest to have a sermon on doubt. She convinces Sister James to hang a
picture on her chalk board so the students would believe that she has eyes in the back of her head
when she catches one doing something wrong. Sister Aloysius also abuses her authority of
power when she tries to convince Donald’s mother to go forth with exposing her son’s
inappropriate relationship with Father Flynn even as the mother is aware of what is going on.
The mother experiences her own ethical dilemma. She knows of the Father’s relationship
with her son and she chooses to ignore it. She knows her son is different and suspects his father
would kill him if it were ever exposed that he may be having a relationship with Father Flynn.
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She is certain that boys in the child’s previous school would have killed him if he had not left to
attend the Catholic school. The mother justifies the priest’s actions and wants the situation left
alone until June when her son will graduate and be able to get into a good high school.
Throughout the movie there were symbols which strengthened the viewer’s own doubts
and probable ethical implications. The window in the principal’s office was left open on many
occasions which could not be explained which may have symbolized the stormy weather taking
place on the inside of the school. The same light blew a bulb twice in the principal’s office
which may have symbolized the lies and manipulations taking place at those times. The priest
kept three pressed flowers in his bible which he said reminded him of the springtime of the year.
These may have symbolized the three parishes he had been to in the last five years. Symbols
such as these may represent ethical struggles. Why was the priest assigned to three parishes in
five years? Leaders must consider ethical implications in their day-to-day actions. There will be
times when leaders will cast shadows and other times when they shed light on situations.
Leaders must be able to make and implement ethical decisions through effective communication
and use of critical thinking skills. Leaders should be able to articulate reasoning, convince others
of the wisdom of their position, and work well with others to implement the decision (Johnson,
2012). The film Doubt demonstrates why it is important for leaders to make ethical decisions.
Throughout the movie there are ethical implications. How the characters respond to these issues
depends on their use of ethical decision making. Do you have doubts?
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References
Costas, C. & Shanley, J. P. (2008). Doubt. United States: Miramax.
Johnson, C. (2012). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Los
Angeles: Sage.