Integrity

I learnt a valued lesson about integrity today. I discovered to my horror that my dear Autistic boy had been taking P1-P6 textbooks home from the Staff Resource Room without permission.

When confronted with the consequences of stealing, he began opening up and sharing with me his fears and his fleshly desires. I felt sorry for him because he had a keen spirit to learn and was desiring the resource books for his own reference. He felt deprived that because of his family's financial situation that mum would not buy the books for him, which in actual fact were not necessary. If given the proper guidance, he would not have taken this route of action.

Many of us struggle as well ... it may not come in the form of these reference books being stolen, even with good intentions to gain knowledge, but if carried out in a wrong approach would have detrimental consequences too. How then do we weigh integrity?

Integrity is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key determining factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything one does and believes is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person's actions that determine the person's integrity.

The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility in that implementation spawning from principles is designed with a specific outcome in mind. When the action fails to achieve the desired effect, a change of principles is indicated. Accountability is achieved when a faulty principle is identified and changed to produce a more useful action. The meaning of integrity is a steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code. The state of being unimpaired; soundness. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

Did this boy have integrity, then? To be fair to him, he was forthright, sincere and straightforward. In fact, he was so single-minded and focused to obtain knowledge through the different books which he 'took'. He was even careful to select those books he did not own. He did not mean to steal or had no intentions to cause anyone harm but the very action demonstrated that he was not principled, was inconsistent in his value system, had no sense of responsibility nor accountability for his actions. And of course, he could not stick to strict moral or ethical codes of conduct without proper direction or guidance.