The Armenian Journal of Public Administration published NESA Center alumna Charani LCM Patabendige's latest paper titled "Whistleblowing as a Catalyst for Social Sustainability: Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Combat Bribery and Corruption in Sri Lanka."

Abstract

Bribery and Corruption are cripplers of the economy, justice system, morality, and politics in any society. Sri Lanka is also a victim of bribery and corruption, the doings of a fraction of the top, middle and bottom layers of society have caused detrimental effects on Sri Lankan society as a whole where a part of the society becomes wrongdoers and other bearers of ill doings. While bribery and corruption are discouraged through governmental policies and laws in existence, the occurrences of these are not decreasing rather they are on the rise. In this research, the researcher looks into how whistleblowing can be utilized as a tool of social sustainability to combat these two occurrences which serve as the research problem in business settings. Social sustainability in a nutshell is about a society which is resilient, democratic, equitable and inclusive. In such a society, there is civic participation, active community engagement and ample advocacy and communal upliftment. Businesses and governments in such a society are responsive and facilitate the rights of the people. With that in mind, whistleblowing is a tool of social sustainability where citizens notice, oppose and report bribery and corruption in the government or businesses. However, in the culture of Sri Lanka, citizens often refrain from blowing the whistle due to the fear of retaliation. A culture of whistleblowing will facilitate a culture of accountability which leads to transparent government practices and functions. As research objectives, the researcher analyses the psychological factors which influence individual decisions in reporting such incidents in businesses, understands how organizational cultures encourage or impede whistleblowing and recommends ways to promote whistleblowing against bribery and corruption. The researcher has utilized a qualitative approach. Data utilized both primary and secondary, where primary data was collected through three experts through purposive sampling and secondary sources are books, conference proceedings and journal articles.

Read the full paper.

About the Author

Charani LCM Patabendige is a Research Assistant and an Acting Research Analyst at the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), the premier think tank on national security of Sri Lanka established under the Ministry of Defence.

About the Publisher

The Armenian Journal of Public Administration is dedicated to Post Doctoral Research in Public Administration.

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