The Virtues in Psychiatric Practice

Book excerpt: "While not traditionally named as a virtue, accountability plays a vital part in healthy relationships and in a morally integrated life. The idea that one is answerable to others besides oneself-to give others what they are due-places relational accountability within a frame of justice and serves to counterbalance the prevalent emphasis on autonomy in mental health and human flourishing. Welcoming responsibility to and caring about one's impact on others is basic to making personal relationships work over time. Without accountability, resentment and withdrawal from relationships would ensue. Accountability is also critical to the trust and cooperation needed for effective work with others. Moreover, accountability serves as a critical support to the integrity and wholeness of the morally virtuous person. Actively knowing to whom and for what one is accountable is clarifying in terms of connecting one's relational responsibilities with one's identity, direction and sense of purpose"--