When silence kills peace

A few years ago, a graduate student conducted a survey among employees of a large corporation. The survey posed a provocative question: “If you discovered that a fellow employee was involved in financial misconduct, would you report it to higher authorities?”

- FR. ROLANDO Y. DELA ROSA, O.P.

He was surprised to learn that the majority of respondents answered “no”.

More disturbing were the reasons behind their silence. Many believed that staying quiet helped preserve workplace harmony and protect their own interests. The graduate student concluded that the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,”seemed to have been replaced by a more self-serving principle: “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” or worse, “For the sake of peace, let’s keep quiet about our misdeeds.”

This mindset is reminiscent of the Mafia’s omertà, a code of silence that shields members from accountability and sustains a superficial peace based on mutual self-interest. Unfortunately, this culture of silence in the face of ethical violations, abuse of authority, or systemic corruption may also thrive in government institutions and agencies. This is aggravated by a psychological phenomenon known as “groupthink.”