Encouraging Exposure

Abstract

Exposing corruption is nothing new; the term ‘whistleblowing’ is often used to refer to an individual who witnesses and/or assumes that their employers are engaged in unethical, illegal or dangerous conduct. They then reveal this ‘conduct’ either by following internal organisational rules or contact an external organisation, such as the media, and expose the corruption (Westin, 1981). Once a ‘concern’ has been raised, they are either praised, or degraded and stigmatised. The actions of the whistleblower can be morally justified, yet they are regularly frowned upon as they disclose confidential information, which was obtained as a result of ‘working on the inside’ (Gobert and Punch, 2000: 27) as an ethical employee or involved in the corruption. This chapter is a review of the complex nature of whistleblowing and the consequences for those that expose corruption.