In this study, we focused on the collective responsibility of baseball club members who were not directly involved in a scandal, with the aim of providing a new insight into the ethics pertaining to suspension of the club from the Japan Student Baseball Association (JSBA). For this purpose, we referred to Räikkä and Miller, who had conducted a rigorous analysis of collective responsibility for scandal involving individuals, and on this basis considered the punishment imposed by the JSBA in such cases.
Cases of scandal can be classified broadly into three categories: one in which there is no direct victim, one in which the victim is a member of the same team, and one in which the victim is a member of the public. We assessed the collective responsibility of the baseball club members who were not considered to have committed any misconduct directly related to these categories. The issue of individual scandal in high school baseball was addressed by considering the following four points:
1. Whether or not the club members had had an opportunity to oppose any wrongdoing without seriously risking their position.
2. Whether or not the club members had had an opportunity to oppose any wrongdoing by appealing for any facts readily available to them.
3. Whether or not the club members had had an opportunity to oppose any wrongdoing but did not do so because such efforts would have been considered futile.
4. Whether or not the club members had accepted any wrongdoing without opposition.
On the basis of these considerations, we considered it reasonable to support disciplinary action from the JSBA in cases where violence and bullying at the club had continued for a long period. On the other hand, in clubs where there is a hierarchy structure of senior students over junior students, we considered it unreasonable to support any action of the JSBA against junior students who are unable to oppose any wrongdoing because of their inferior position. Also, in cases where there are no direct victims, such as those involving smoking and drinking, we considered that it was not appropriate to impose a suspension unless the prevailing ethos within the club promoted such practices. In cases where the victim is a member of the public, we considered it inappropriate to impose any suspension on members who have not been directly involved in misconduct.
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