Cover not available
Article published In:
Ethics of Non-Professional Translation and Interpreting
Edited by Esther Monzó-Nebot and Melissa Wallace
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 15:1] 2020
► pp. 57–79

Engaging citizen translators in disasters

Virtue ethics in response to ethical challenges

ORCID logo | Dublin City University | The Ohio State University
ORCID logo | Dublin City University
| Independent Researcher
ORCID logo | University of Auckland
Crisis situations, including disasters, require urgent decisions, often without sufficient resources, including decisions about translating and interpreting. We argue that using citizen translators (i.e., translators without professional translator training) in such contexts can be ethically justified when their preparation incorporates virtue ethics. Translation potentially improves access to crucial safety information, and delivering such information is critical. We acknowledge several ethical challenges with citizen translation based on our experience in humanitarian contexts, relevant literature, and discussions with stakeholders engaged with our research consortium. Recourse to citizen translators has limitations, but we advance mitigation measures through training to address the ethical challenges of providing translation services to linguistically diverse groups in crisis. We propose virtue ethics as a framework for citizen translators to develop ethical decision-making skills and virtues. We suggest virtue ethics training to prepare citizen translators for ethical challenges in the field.
Keywords: citizen translation, non-professional translation, crisis translation, translation in humanitarian settings, virtue ethics, translator training
Article outline
  • Introduction: Translation and disasters
  • Virtue ethics
  • Ethical challenges with citizen crisis translation
    • Delivering translation services in crises
    • Use of ethics codes
    • The importance of trust for citizen translation
    • Justice and translation
    • Dealing with intercultural communication
    • Determining the volunteers’ profile
    • Assuring quality
  • Recommendations for training citizen translators
    • Training for emergent ethical issues
    • Virtue ethics and case studies
    • Cultural and community awareness
    • Addressing the relationship between citizen and professional translators
    • Capacity building and self-care
    • Working with stakeholders
  • Conclusion and future work
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 February 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.20003.oma
References (53)
References
Aguilar-Solano, María. 2015. “Non-professional volunteer interpreting as an institutionalized practice in healthcare: A study on interpreters’ personal narratives.” Translation & Interpreting 17 (3): 132–148. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Allen, Lilly and Sam Duckworth. 2017. “Speak to Grenfell survivors in language they can understand.” The Guardian (July 16, 2017). [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Baker, Mona. 2010. “Interpreters and translators in the war zone: Narrated and narrators.” The Translator 16 (2): 197–222. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Mona and Carol Maier. 2011. “Ethics in interpreter & translator training: Critical perspectives.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 5 (1): 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bancroft, Marjory A. 2017. “The voice of compassion: Exploring trauma-informed interpreting.” In Ideology, Ethics and Policy Development in Public Service Interpreting and Translation, ed. by Carmen Valero-Garcés and Rebecca Tipton, 195–219. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BBC. 2018. “Aquarius in Valencia: Spain welcomes migrants from disputed ship.” BBC News (June 17, 2018). [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Bennett, William J. (ed). 1993. The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Bilal, Muhammad Sami, Mowadat Huassain Rana, Sajid Rahim, and Sohail Ali. 2007. “Psychological trauma in a relief worker–A case report from earthquake-struck areas of North Pakistan.” Prehospital & Disaster Medicine 22 (5): 458–461. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bischoff, Alexander, Louis Loutan, and Sofía García-Beyaert. 2009. En otras palabras. Guía para la consulta médica intercultural [In other words. A guide to intercultural doctor-patient consultations]. Geneva: Universal Doctor Project.Google Scholar
Brander de la Iglesia, María. 2017. “‘A sea of troubles’: Ethical dilemmas from war zones to the classroom.” In Ideology, Ethics and Policy Development in Public Service Interpreting and Translation, ed. by Carmen Valero-Garcés and Rebecca Tipton, 84–101. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Camayd-Freixas, Erik. 2008. “Interpreting after the largest ICE raid in US history: A personal account.” The Gotham Translator Newsletter. Reprinted in Translation Journal. [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
. 2013. “Court interpreter ethics and the role of professional organizations.” In Interpreting in a Changing Landscape. Selected Papers from Critical Link 6, ed. by Christina Schäffner, Krzysztof Kredens, and Yvonne Fowler, 15–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Howard. 2017. “Speak a second language? Group needs volunteer translators to help after the storm.” Miami Herald (September 21, 2017). [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Drugan, Joanna and Chris Megone. 2011. “Bringing ethics into translator training: An integrated, inter-disciplinary approach.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 5 (1): 183–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drugan, Joanna and Rebecca Tipton. 2017. “Translation, ethics and social responsibility.” The Translator 23 (2): 119–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drugan, Joanna. 2017. “Ethics and social responsibility in practice: Interpreters and translators engaging with and beyond the professions.” The Translator 23 (2): 126–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Edwards, Rosalind, Bogusia Temple, and Claire Alexander. 2005. “Users’ experiences of interpreters: The critical role of trust.” Interpreting 7 (1): 77–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Emmerich, Nathan (ed). 2018. Virtue Ethics in the Conduct and Governance of Social Science Research. Bingley, UK: Emerald. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Federici, Federico M. and Patrick Cadwell. 2018. “Training citizen translators: Red Cross translation needs and the delivery of a bespoke training on the fundamentals of translation.” Translation Spaces 7 (1): 20–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gallai, Fabrizio. 2019a. “Interpreting ethics in fragile environments.” Journal of War and Culture Studies 12 (3): 220–235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2019b. “Interpreters at war: Testing boundaries of neutrality.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Languages and Conflict, ed. by Michael Kelly, Hillary Footitt, and Myriam Salama-Carr, 205–230. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gentile, Paola. 2017. “Political ideology and the de-professionalisation of public service interpreting: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom as case studies.” In Ideology, Ethics and Policy Development in Public Service Interpreting and Translation, ed. by Carmen Valero-Garcés and Rebecca Tipton, 63–84. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gotowiec, Sarah and Elizabeth Cantor-Graae. 2017. “The burden of choice: A qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ reactions to ethical challenges in humanitarian crises.” International Journal of Humanitarian Action 21: article 2. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hale, Sandra. 2015. “Approaching the bench: Teaching magistrates and judges how to work effectively with interpreters.” MonTI 71: 181–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
House, Juliane. 2001. “Translation quality assessment: Linguistic description versus social evaluation.” Meta 46 (2): 243–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Inghilleri, Moira. 2008. “The ethical task of the translator in the geo-political arena. From Iraq to Guantánamo Bay.” Translation Studies 1 (2): 212–223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. “‘You don’t make war without knowing why.’ The decision to interpret in Iraq.” The Translator 16 (2): 175–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, Alasdair. 2007. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3rd ed. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame.Google Scholar
Macfarlane, Bruce. 2009. Researching with Integrity: The Ethics of Academic Enquiry. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Marlowe, Jay M. 2015. “Belonging and disaster recovery: Refugee-background communities and the Canterbury earthquakes.” British Journal of Social Work 45 (1): i188–i204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McDonough Dolmaya, Julie. 2011. “Moral ambiguity: Some shortcomings of professional codes of ethics for translators.” Journal of Specialised Translation 151: 28–49.Google Scholar
Miller, Kenneth E., et al. 2005. “The role of interpreters in psychotherapy with refugees: An exploratory study.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 75 (1): 27–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mulayim, Sedat and Miranda Lai. 2017. Ethics for Police Translators and Interpreters. Boca Raton: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Munro, Robert. 2013. “Crowdsourcing and the crisis-affected community: Lessons learned and looking forward from mission 4636.” Information Retrieval 16 (2): 210–266. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Brien, Sharon and Patrick Cadwell. 2017. “Translation facilitates comprehension of health-related crisis information: Kenya as an example.” Journal of Specialised Translation 281: 23–51.Google Scholar
O’Brien, Sharon, Federico M. Federici, Patrick Cadwell, Jay Marlowe, and Brian Gerber. 2018. “Language translation during disaster: A comparative analysis of five national approaches.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 311: 627–636. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Mathúna, Dónal. 2008. “Teaching ethics using popular songs: Feeling and thinking.” Monash Bioethics Review 27 (1–2): 42–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016. “Ideal and nonideal moral theory for disaster bioethics.” Human Affairs 26 (1): 8–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Mathúna, Dónal P. 2018. “Humanitarian ethics: From dignity and solidarity to response and research.” In Catholic Bioethics and Social Justice: The Praxis of US Health Care in a Globalized World, ed. by M. Therese Lysaught and Michael McCarthy, 343–358. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.Google Scholar
Pellegrino, Edmund D. 1991. “Trust and distrust in professional ethics.” In Ethics, Trust and the Professions: Philosophical and Cultural Aspects, ed. by Edmund D. Pellegrino, Robert M. Veatch, and John P. Langan, 69–89. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, Christopher and Martin E. P. Seligman. 2004. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Preston, Julia. 2008. “An interpreter speaking up for migrants.” The New York Times (July 11, 2008). [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Red Vértice. 2018. “The interpreting profession urges government to rely on professional interpreters when seeking volunteers in emergency situations.” [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Schouten, Barbara C. 2017. “Toward a theoretical framework of informal interpreting in health care: Explaining the effects of role conflict on control, power and trust.” In Providing Health Care in the Context of Language Barriers: International Perspectives, ed. by Elizabeth A. Jacobs and Lisa C. Diamond, 71–92. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shionoya, Yuichi. 2001. “Trust as a virtue.” In Competition, Trust, and Cooperation: A Comparative Study, ed. by Yuichi Shionoya and Kiichiro Yagi, 3–19. Berlin: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slim, Hugo. 2015. Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster. London: Hurst & Company.Google Scholar
Splevins, Katie A., et al. 2010. “Vicarious posttraumatic growth among interpreters.” Qualitative Health Research 20 (12): 1705–1716. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taibi, Mustapha, and Uldis Ozolins. 2016. Community Translation. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Tipton, Rebecca. 2010. “On trust: Relationships of trust in interpreter-mediated social work encounters.” In Text and Context: Essays on Translation and Interpreting in Honour of Ian Mason, ed. by Mona Baker, Maeve Olohan, and María Calzada Pérez, 188–208. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar
Urbina, Sandra. 2018. “Cientos de intérpretes voluntarios listos para dar voz a las vidas del ‘Aquarius’” [Hundreds of volunteer interpreters ready to give a voice to the lives in the ‘Aquarius’]. Levante. El Mercantil Valenciano (June 17, 2018). [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Wij Zijn Sprakeloos. 2012. “Wij zijn sprakeloos” [We are speechless]. [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Wylie, Sarah. 2012. Best Practice Guidelines: Engaging with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities in Times of Disaster. Christchurch, New Zealand. [URL]. Last accessed 25 October 2019.
Zendedel, Rena, et al. 2018. “Informal interpreting in general practice: Are interpreters’ roles related to perceived control, trust, and satisfaction?” Patient Education and Counseling 101 (6): 1058–1065. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

Sulaiman, M. Zain, Haslina Haroon, Intan Safinaz Zainudin & Muhamad Jad Hamizan bin Mohamad Yusoff
2024. The professionalisation of translation practice: a systematic review of the literature. Perspectives 32:2 ► pp. 295 ff. DOI logo
Federici, Federico M., Christophe Declercq, Jorge Díaz Cintas & Rocío Baños Piñero
2023. Ethics, Automated Processes, Machine Translation, and Crises. In Towards Responsible Machine Translation [Machine Translation: Technologies and Applications, 4], ► pp. 135 ff. DOI logo
Guerberof-Arenas, Ana & Joss Moorkens
2023. Ethics and Machine Translation: The End User Perspective. In Towards Responsible Machine Translation [Machine Translation: Technologies and Applications, 4], ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Reijers, Wessel & Quinn Dupont
2023. Prolegomenon to Contemporary Ethics of Machine Translation. In Towards Responsible Machine Translation [Machine Translation: Technologies and Applications, 4], ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo
Uekusa, Shinya & Steve Matthewman
2023. Preparing multilingual disaster communication for the crises of tomorrow: A conceptual discussion. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 87 ► pp. 103589 ff. DOI logo
Zhang, Shuyin, Yingyi Zhuang & Liwen Chang
2023. Cultural mediation in crisis translation. Translation and Interpreting Studies 18:2 ► pp. 301 ff. DOI logo
Ogie, R.I., S. O'Brien & F.M. Federici
2022. Towards using agent-based modelling for collaborative translation of crisis information: A systematic literature review to identify the underlying attributes, behaviours, interactions, and environment of agents. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 68 ► pp. 102717 ff. DOI logo
Teng, Yanjiang
2022. Citizen Translators’ ‘Imagined Community’ Engagement in Crisis Communication. In Language as a Social Determinant of Health [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Uekusa, Shinya
2022. Overcoming disaster linguicism: using autoethnography during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark to explore how community translators can provide multilingual disaster communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research 50:6 ► pp. 673 ff. DOI logo
Monzó-Nebot, Esther
2021. Chapter 9. Translating values. In Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power [Benjamins Translation Library, 157], ► pp. 197 ff. DOI logo
Ogie, R.I. & P. Perez
2020. Collaborative translation of emergency messages (Co-TEM): An Australian case study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 50 ► pp. 101920 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.