Cover not available

Article published In: FORUM
Vol. 18:2 (2020) ► pp.150–178

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Impartiality and accuracy as a case in point while interpreting in a refugee context

 | Universitat Jaume I
Published online: 11 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.19024.jim
Abstract
This paper examines the fundamentals of professionalism focusing on the code of ethics as a pivotal parameter. Attention is paid to the difficulties of implementing two of the core principles of codes of ethics for interpreting in a refugee context: impartiality and accuracy. The aim of this article is to explore interpreters’ appreciation of these principles and self-identification with them versus actual observance in refugee settings. Ninety-six US-based interpreters completed a survey on self-perceptions regarding adherence to the principles and real actions performed. Findings show that a high number of interpreters do not comply with the principles despite having previously declared their full endorsement and self-identification with them. Impartiality presented more deviations than accuracy. Internal and external demands have proven to be stronger than adherence to the code. Calls to rethink and refine codes of ethics for interpreting in a refugee context are also presented.
Résumé
Cet article examine les principes fondamentaux du professionnalisme en se concentrant sur le code de l’éthique en tant qu’axe central. Une attention particulière est portée sur les difficultés d’appliquer deux des principes fondamentaux des codes éthiques pour l’interprétation avec des réfugiés : l’impartialité et la précision. Le but de cet article est d’analyser comment les interprètes se soumettent à ces principes et comment ils s’y identifient lorsqu’ils travaillent avec des réfugiés. 96 Interprètes travaillant aux États-Unis ont répondu à une enquête sur leur propre perception au sujet du respect des principes et de la réalité des actions entreprises. Les résultats montrent qu’un grand nombre d’interprètes ne respectent pas ces principes bien qu’ils aient auparavant déclaré les soutenir et s’y identifier. L’impartialité présentait plus d’écart que de la précision. Les exigences internes et externes se sont avérées plus fortes que l’adhésion au code. C’est pourquoi, il apparaît nécessaire de repenser et d’améliorer les codes éthiques pour l’interprétation dans un contexte de travail avec des réfugiés.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Fundamentals of professionalism
  • 3.Codes of ethics for interpreters
    • 3.1Codes of Conduct for interpreting in a refugee context
  • 4.Interpreting for refugees in practice
  • 5.Method
    • 5.1Research design and procedure
    • 5.2Participants
    • 5.3Results
      • 5.3.1Appreciation of the selected principles of the Code of Ethics
      • 5.3.2Attitudes and action related to the principles
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (57)
References
AIIC 1999. Practical Guide for Conference Interpreters. Available at: [URL]
. 2004b. Medical Interpreting and Cross-cultural Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Angermeyer, Philip Sebastian. 2015. Speak English or What? Code switching and Interpreter Use in New York City Courts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Mona. 2006. Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account. London and New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bancroft, Marjory, Lola Bendana, Jean Bruggeman & Louis Feuerle. 2013. Interpreting in the gray zone: Where community and legal interpreting intersect. Translation & Interpreting, 5(1), 94–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bámbaren-Call, AnaMaria, Marjory Bancroft, Nora Goodfriend-Koven, Karen Hanscom, Nataly Kelly, Virginia Lewis, Cynthia Roat, Liliya Robinson & Lourdes Rubio-Fitzpatrick. 2012. Interpreting Compassion A Needs Assessment Report on Interpreting for Survivors of Torture, Trauma and Sexual Violence. Available at [URL] Accessed 5/5/2019.
Barsky, Robert. 1996. The interpreter as intercultural agent in convention refugee hearings. The Translator, 2(1), 45–63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boéri, Julie & Carol Maier (Eds.). 2010. Translation Interpreting and Social Activism. Granada: ECOS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boéri, Julie. 2015. Key internal players in the development of the interpreting profession. In Mikkelson, Holly & Renée Jourdenais (Eds), The Routledge handbook of interpreting (41–56). Oxon & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bossers, Ann, Jean Kernaghan, Lisa Hodgins, Lean Merla, Charlene O’Connor & Monique Van Kessel. 1999. Defining and developing professionalism. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(3), 116–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davidson, Brad. 2000. The interpreter as institutional gatekeeper: The social-linguistic role of interpreters in Spanish-English medical discourse. Journal of Sociolinguistics (4)31, 379–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dysart-Gale, Deborah. 2007. Clinicians and medical interpreters. Negotiating culturally appropriate care for patients with limited English ability. Family and Community Health 301, 237–246. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dragovic-Drouet, Mila. 2007. The Practice of Translation and Interpreting During the Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia (1991–1999). In Salama-Carr, Myriam (Eds.), Translating and Interpreting Conflict. Amsterdam-New York: Rodopi BV, 29–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
EULITA European Association for Legal Interpreters and Translators. Code of Professional Ethics 2013. Available at [URL]
Evetts, Julia. 2013. Professionalism: Value and ideology. Current sociology, 61(5–6), 778–796. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fatahi, Nabi, Lena Nordholm, Beng Mattsson & Michael Hellström. 2010. Experiences of Kurdish war-wounded refugees in communication with Swedish authorities through interpreter. Patient Education and Counselling, 78(2), 160–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fenton, Sabine. 2004. Expressing a well-founded fear: Interpreting in convention refugee hearings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 501, 263–270.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fishbein, Martin, & leek Ajzen. 1975. Belief, attitude, intention, and behaviour. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García-Beyaert, Sofia, Marjory Bancroft, Katherine Allen, Giovanna Carriero-Contreras & Denis Socarrás-Estrada. 2015. Ethics and standards for the community interpreter. An international training tool. The Community Interpreter: An International Textbook. Culture & Language Press 1–30. Available at [URL]
Gentile, Paola. 2017. Political Ideology and de Deprofessionalisation of public service interpreting: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom as case studies. In Valero Garcés & Rebecca Tipton (Eds.), 2017. Ideology, ethics and policy development in public service interpreting and translation. Bristol-Blue Ridge Summit PA, USA: Multilingual Matters. 63–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldstein, J. 1976. Professional mobility in Israel’s secondary schools: Results of a survey of attitudes. Educational Administration Quarterly, 121, 51–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Granger, Emily & Martyn Baker. 2003. The role and experience of interpreters. Working with interpreters in mental health. Hove, UK: Brunner–Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Greenhalgh, Trisha, Nadia Robb. & Graham Scambler. 2006. Communicative and strategic action in interpreted consultations in primary health care: a Habermasian perspective. Social Science & Medicine, 63 (5), 1170–1187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hatton, Diane & Teresa Webb. 1993. Information transmission in bilingual, bicultural contexts: A field study of community health nurses and interpreters. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 10(3), 137–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hebenstreit, Gernot, Alexandra Marics, and Jim Hlavac. 2017. Professional ethics and professional conduct. In UNHCR (Eds.), Handbook for Interpreters in Asylum Procedures, 70–84. Vienna: UNHCR. Available at [URL]
Hewit, William. 1995. Model code of professional responsibility for interpreters in the judiciary in court interpretation: Model guides for policy and practice in the State Courts. Available at [URL]
Hsieh, Elaine. 2008. “I am not a robot!” Interpreters’ views of their roles in health care settings. Qualitative health research, 18(10), 1367–1383. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hwa-Froelich, Deborah & Carol Westby. 2003. Considerations when working with interpreters. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 24(2), 78–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Inguilleri, Moira. 2010. Afterword by Moira Inguilleri. Exploring the task of the activist translator. In Boéri, Julie & Carol Maier (Eds.), Translation Interpreting and Social Activism. Granada: ECOS. 152–155.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keselman, Olga, Ann Christin Cederborg, Michel Lamb & Örjan Dahlström. 2010. Asylum-seeking minors in interpreter-mediated interviews: what do they say and what happens to their responses? Child & Family Social Work, 15(3), 325–334. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
León Pinilla, Ruth. 2015. La interpretación en el contexto de refugiados. Camino hacia el bienestar. Ph. D. Dissertation. Universitat Jaume I of Castellón.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Metzger, Melanie. 1999. Sign language interpreting: Deconstructing the myth of neutrality. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
NAAJIT. National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. 2011. Available at [URL]
NCIHC. National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare. 2004. A National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care. NCIHC, Washington, DC Available at [URL]
Ng, Thomas W. & Feldman, Daniel C. 2008. The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job performance. Journal of applied psychology, 93(2), 392. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
NSGCIS. National Standard Guide for Community Interpreting Services. Available at [URL]
Patel, Nimisha. 2003. Speaking with the silent: addressing issues of disempowerment when working with refugee people. Working with Interpreters in Mental health, 219–237. Available at [URL]
Pennsylvania rules of professional conduct for interpreters. Act 172 of 2006 (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 4411(e). and 4431(e). Available at [URL]
Roberts, Roda. 1997. Overview of community interpreting. In Silvana Carr, Roda Roberts, Aideen Dufour & Dini Steyn (Eds.), The Critical Link: Interpreters in the Community. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 127–138. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roy, Cynthia. 1999. Interpreting as a Discourse Process. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
UNHCR Self-Study Module 3: Interpreting in a Refugee Context. 2009. Available at [URL]
Splevins, Katie, Keren Cohen, Stephen Joseph, Craig Murray, & Jake Bowley. 2010. Vicarious posttraumatic growth among interpreters. Qualitative Health Research, 20 (12), 1705–1716. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tipton, Rebecca, & Olgierda Furmanek. 2016. Dialogue interpreting: A guide to interpreting in public services and the community. Oxon & New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Todorova, Marija. 2017. Interpreting at the border: ‘Shuttle interpreting’ for the UNHCR. CLINA: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Communication, 3(2), 115–129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tribe, Rachel & Jean Morrissey. 2003. The refugee context and the role of interpreters. Working with Interpreters in Mental Health, 198–218.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria. 2003. Ideology and the position of the translator: in what sense is a translator “in between”? In Maria Calzada Perez (Ed.). Apropos of Ideology –Translation Studies on Ideology– Ideologies in Translation Studies, Manchester: St Jerome, 181–201.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
UNHCR 2010. Improving Asylum Procedures: comparative analysis and recommendations for law and practice. Available at [URL]
Valero-Garcés, Carmen. 2006. Formas de Mediación Intercultural, Traducción e Interpretación en los Servicios Públicos. Conceptos, datos, situaciones y práctica. Granada: Comares.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wadensjö, Cecilia. 2001. Interpreting in crisis-The interpreter’s position in therapeutic encounters. In Ian Mason (Ed.). Triadic Exchanges: Studies in Dialogue Interpreting. Manchester: St. Jerome, 71–85.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Interpreting as interaction: On dialogue-interpreting in immigration hearings and medical encounters. Ph. D. Dissertation, Linköpings universitet. Published by Routledge in 2014 Interpreting as interaction.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Huang, Yujie, Andrew K F Cheung, Kanglong Liu & Han Xu
2025. Can sentiment analysis help to assess accuracy in interpreting? A corpus-assisted computational linguistic approach. Applied Linguistics DOI logo
Campanella, Alejandra González
2023. ‘Trauma informs so much of what happens:’ interpreting refugee-background clients in Aotearoa New Zealand. Perspectives 31:3 ► pp. 413 ff. DOI logo
González Campanella, Alejandra
2023. Availability and acceptability of interpreting services for refugees as a question of trauma-informed care. Interpreting and Society 3:1 ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 december 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue