[Assisted suicide-Organizations in ethical responsibility for actions].

Abstract

The article examines the ethical responsibility of welfare organizations in the context of assisted suicide against the background of the judgement of the German Constitutional Court (BVerfG) on § 217 of the German Criminal Code (StGB). The emphasis on self-determined dying poses a particular social and ethical challenge for organizations and providers of care for the aged to consider the consequences and draw appropriate conclusions for implementation. The article outlines a theory to practice transfer in three main steps: (1) development of the ethical and social implications of assisted suicide, particularly with respect to old people and those in need of care, (2) description of an organizational ethical approach as a mediating authority to systematically transfer the value orientation into practice and (3) exemplary presentation of the current procedure in the Worker's Samaritan Foundation (Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, ASB) as an outline of the development of a concept of action that is congruent with organizational logic, structure and culture.