Value orientations: An ethical dilemma.

"The psychologist as a scientist limits himself to what is; his choice of field of inquiry in his quest for truth involves values which are purely personal. But as a practitioner, the psychologist must be concerned with what should be… . The point of view of this article is that the involvement of the psychologist's own values in the applied field creates an ethical dilemma… . As we present the controversy over values, we will assemble them into four main orientations: naturalism, culturalism, humanism, and theism." Each of these orientations is discussed. A "start in untieing the ethical knot" has been made "by suggesting that value orientations be removed from under the proverbial bushel and, once out in the open, be dealt with as objectively as possible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching ethical principles by means of value confrontations.

Presents an approach to teaching ethical standards and principles to graduate psychology students. Students are asked to respond to critical incidents involving ethical dilemmas. Existing values and beliefs are confronted and the student is challenged to seek solutions to the dilemmas. Topics range from ethical issues in psychotherapy research to values inherent in major theories of personality. Sample discussions from several topics are presented. The position is taken that the teaching of ethical principles is facilitated by value confrontations. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethics: Virtue and politics in the science and practice of psychology.

Discusses the thesis that the discipline of psychology needs to re-discover and reclaim virtue and moral values as its base for ethical behavior, thinking, and being. Psychology has a short history in formalizing codes of ethics and codes of conduct. Current and historical events, and concepts and values, including those based on philosophy and religion, have influenced the development of psychology's scientific and professional codes. The ethical behavior of psychologists may be inspired by values, regulated by rules, determined by external pressures, or any combination of these. Emerging issues and challenges in today's changing and turbulent society require an incorporation of moral principles in finding acceptable strategies to achieve acceptable goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing ethical standards for responsible research: Why? Form? Functions? Process? Outcomes?

Any profession that is considering the development of ethical standards should give serious attention to the intended purposes of such standards, what form they should take, what functions they will serve, how the process for developing them should be organized, what outcomes are sought, and what values are central to the mission and performance of the profession. The profession serves as a normative reference group for individual practitioners and through ethical standards clarifies, for both its members and outsiders, the norms that ought to govern professional behavior. Such standards may be aspirational, educational, or regulatory, and may perform many functions, nine of which are discussed. The process of developing standards is assessed because of the role it plays in gaining consensus on professional values and ethical norms. Finally, several outcomes likely to increase the value and utility of ethical standards are identified.     

Academic freedom, "political correctness", and ethics.

Because it is believed to be necessary for an unfettered pursuit of knowledge, academic freedom is a treasured, almost sacred, tenet and expectation in post-secondary education institutions in North America. With this freedom, however, come a number of responsibilities. In addition to these responsibilities psychologists have an obligation to conduct their academic affairs within ethical boundaries. Underlying most ethical constructs is the principle of avoiding harm to others. Unfortunately, "Political Correctness" has become a pejorative label—even when used to describe acts of courtesy, respect, fairness, openness, sensitivity to diversity, and responsibility for the consequences of one's behaviour. These characteristics represent ethical values that should promote, rather than stifle, open inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge without resulting in an erosion of standards of excellence in favour of special interest groups. It is argued that academic freedom carries ethical responsibilities compatible with the pursuit of knowledge, that the ethical pursuit of knowledge involves integrity in relationships as well as responsibility to society, and that academics are not harmed by what some label "politically correct" behaviour. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical Maturity and Successful Leadership

Ethical maturity is the ability not only to judge right from wrong, but to make the right choice when issues in conflict require the individual to weight competing values when making sociotechnical decisions. While a universal metric for describing ethical maturity does not exist, scales of professional moral development based on the work of Kohlberg are useful for analyzing subordinates' ethical maturity. To be professionally successful, leaders must themselves be ethically mature, and they must seek to increase their subordinates' ethical maturity. Mentoring on ethical issues is discussed, including specific programs that leaders can use to achieve moral maturity within their company.     

Integrating Ethics into the Engineered Construction Curriculum

Equality, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, security, civic duty, justice, honor, and the rule of law are some of the widely held values in society. These are the values engineers must adopt to comply with regulations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of awareness in construction education regarding how to integrate social awareness and ethical behavior into professional practice. Several challenges facing construction engineering educators are how to develop strategies that will raise the awareness of students regarding ethical issues related to construction and how to provide a framework to make ethical decisions. Social values should serve as the basis for university-level ethics instruction. The objectives of this paper are to discuss the various disciplines that are available for use in developing course material and classroom presentations, and to describe a framework for making ethical decisions. Problem solving in ethics is a skill that is very much needed by students, but is quite difficult to teach. The approach described herein uses real world construction ethics cases and invited guest lectures from the construction industry plus multiple required and elective courses explore ethical theories, concepts of critical thinking, and major ethical issues related to the construction industry.     

Did Hamlet need a Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists?.

Attempts to demonstrate the creativity inherent in the principles and ethical decision-making process in a Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (CCEP). Shakespeare's Hamlet from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is presented to illustrate how the new CCEP guidelines for ethical decision making can help resolve moral dilemmas more constructively. The resolution of dilemmas faced by professional women and psychologists are also addressed. The CCEP facilitates creative problem solving by (1) explicitly stating 4 ethical principles around which all other values and standards are organized; (2) recognizing that when there is conflict, reaching the most ethical decision may be difficult; and (3) outlining the basic steps that typify approaches to ethical decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing ethics to beginning psychologists: A problem-solving approach.

Beginning and practicing psychologists both need more exposure to ethical training experiences. A new Canadian code of ethics provides an opportunity for universities to review their approach to this experience for students in clinical and counseling psychology. In the Canadian code, four basic ethical principles, followed by value statements and standards of behavior, are proposed. This structure provides a useful framework for ethics education. In addition, the problem-solving approach to ethical and moral dilemmas provides a better decision-making process for new psychologists than does simple exposure to professional behavior guidelines. The approach used at the University of Alberta is presented with the recommendation that ethical instruction focus on personal values and the process of informed decision making as well as learning "correct" responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The inescapably ethical character of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Ethics and values in psychotherapy by Alan C. Tjeltveit (see record 1999-16017-000). Many psychologists are aware of the ethical and inescapably value-laden nature of psychotherapy (cf., Kurtines, Azmitia, & Gewirtz, 1992). Despite this awareness about values, however, much confusion persists about the nature and management of values in practice. Tjeltveit's text seeks to address such questions among many others. This fine book is one of the first works to comprehensively integrate the research regarding values inescapability with broader ethical theory and philosophy and its potential impact on psychology. In his extensive review, Tjeltveit explores the meaning of "psychotherapist as ethicist," the varied definitions of values, the relationship between science and ethics, the ethical nature of therapy goals and practice, and implications of these issues for public philosophy and professional ethics (p. 18). Tjeltveit's text is an extremely significant contribution to the discipline, because it is one of the first works to explicitly discuss the value-infused nature of psychotherapy and the consequences that this brings to individual practice, professional standards, and societal expectations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rural nurse practitioners: perceptions of ethical dilemmas

The purposes of this study were to identify ethical dilemmas encountered by rural nurse practitioners in primary practice and to identify constraints or enhancers that influenced ethical decision making. Nine nurse practitioners from Wyoming and Colorado responded to in-depth interviews. Six categories of ethical dilemmas and a list of constraints and enhancers were identified. One central concept, conflict between personal values and professional responsibility, emerged. Beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and patient autonomy, as core ethical principles, were related to this central conflict.     

Resource allocation and resident outcomes in nursing homes: comparisons between the best and worst

This article examines ethical dilemmas related to cochlear implant surgery in children. These dilemmas arise from the existence of a linguistic and cultural minority called the Deaf World. Organizations of culturally Deaf adults in the United States and abroad, as well as the World Federation of the Deaf, have, on ethical grounds, strongly criticized the practice of cochlear implant surgery in children. Three ethical dilemmas are examined. (1) The surgery is of unproven value for the main significant benefit sought, language acquisition, whereas the psychological, social, and linguistic risks have not been assessed. Thus the surgery appears to be innovative, but innovative surgery on children is ethically problematic. (2) It is now widely recognized that the signed languages of the world are full-fledged natural languages, and the communities that speak those languages have distinct social organizations and cultures. Deaf culture values lead to a different assessment of pediatric cochlear implant surgery than do mainstream (hearing) values, and both sets of values have standing. (3) The fields of otology and audiology want to provide cochlear implants to Deaf children but also, their leaders say, want to protect Deaf culture; those appear to be conflicting goals in principle because, if there were perfect implants, the ranks of the Deaf World would diminish.     

Clarifying confidentiality with the ethical practice model.

Replies to comments (see record 2008-14338-012) on the author's original article Protecting confidentiality rights: The need for an ethical practice model (see record 2007-19520-001). The important issues raised by Pipes, Blevens, and Kluck illustrate the complications that can arise in discussing confidentiality and making decisions about it: First, they noted that the term client consent is used by psychologists to mean two quite different things about confidentiality: (a) acknowledgement of its limits and (b) consent to disclose specific information. Second, Pipes et al made several comments about laws, one of which referred to Behnke's (2004) "doors" model. Third, Pipes et al elicited my personal thoughts about the current APA Ethics Code (APA, 2002). Finally, Pipes et al expect the ethical practice model to be used in psychology training programs. The current author hopes it will provide the next generation of psychologists with a clear ethical framework for considering confidentiality issues. Meanwhile, as in this exchange, it can facilitate conversation among colleagues not only about ethical and legal questions but also about cultural issues, personal values, and professional standards that affect our approach to confidentiality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a more holistic understanding of ethics in social work

This paper explores alternative approaches to ethical understanding in social work by applying them to a story of a young woman with AIDS. After presenting the story, I present four perspectives on ethical discernment: the principles approach, virtue ethics, feminist ethics and Afrocentricity. Each approach raises different questions and issues regarding the situation. Together they provide a more holistic discussion and analysis of social work values, beliefs and ethical positions.     

When laws and ethics collide: What should psychologists do?

At times the laws under which psychologists function may appear to contradict generally recognized ethical values and/or good clinical care. When these circumstances arise, psychologists must determine if a conflict really exists and, if so, seek solutions that reconcile respect for the law with their ethical values. At times, psychologists may decide to follow the law despite their ethical concerns. At other times, they may determine that a conscientious objection is warranted. The authors recommend options to consider when these situations arise and offer a decision-making process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spiritual Dimensions of Environmental Ethic for Engineers

Engineers are often the guardians of the environment, and just as often the instruments of environmental destruction. They are constantly called on to make ethical decisions that will affect the future of the planet Earth and its inhabitants. Little guidance is available, however, to the engineer on how such decisions should be made. There is no formal environmental ethic for engineers. Classical ethical theory does not seem to provide a useful tool for helping us understand our responsibilities toward the environment or for making decisions where environmental values conflict. One approach to developing an acceptable environmental ethic is to turn to the spiritual dimension. This paper shows how many of the world's religions can be useful in the development of an environmental ethic, and it also illustrates that the acceptance of organized religion is not necessary for the formulation of an environmental ethic. We show that a useful and satisfying environmental ethic can be developed on individual and personal spiritual foundations, and we suggest that most people already use spirituality to condition their attitudes toward the environment.     

Ethical issues facing school psychologists in family therapy: A commentary.

Comments on the article by J. C. Hansen et al (see record 1990-18461-001) on the types of ethical dilemmas school psychologists face and suggests that the ethical issues encountered in family therapy, especially when offered in the public schools, are more complex than those encountered in private, outpatient practice. Ethical issues within an interactional framework focus on fair exchange of value and exchange of information. This emphasis leads to distinctions among various stakeholder dimensions in the process: patient and client, problem and complaint, and syntonic and dystonic behaviors. It also leads to issues of respect by therapists for core values held by family members, and the therapeutic use of such core values to unify families in ways to help them overcome their difficulties. Ethical issues can be clarified only by setting and working toward mutually agreed upon goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical issues and critical thinking: students' stories

Through the stories told by these students it is evident that beginning students do think critically and act ethically during their first clinical nursing course. Ethical dilemmas involving students and staff, patients, faculty, and peers depict beginning students' development of values as they evolve into professionals. The conscientiousness and caring displayed by beginning students is apparent from students' shared perspectives. It is particularly encouraging that they seemed to focus more on values and cognitive aspects of patient care than on primarily technical psychomotor skills such as taking blood pressures and giving injections. Teaching beginning students is a challenge because the educator's role is twofold: Help students build a foundation for developing ongoing critical thinking abilities and help students develop an ethical view of patient care. Further exploration of critical thinking and ethical decision making should emphasize the mutual student-educator roles in facilitating self-awareness, through conscious awareness of their beliefs, values, feelings, and multiple perspectives. Because nursing emphasizes the human element and student nurses deal with human lives, educators play a vital role in facilitating the development of beginning students as critical thinkers and as ethical nurses. The most knowledgeable and most psychologically mature faculty are needed to teach beginning nursing students. Through ongoing reflection and critical thinking, nurse educators can help beginning students to identify and develop multiple perspectives on the ethics of nursing practice.     

Group psychological consulting to organizations: A perspective on history.

Professional practice, whether in research or consultation, can be understood as the dynamic interaction among theory, data, methods, and values. A little-known episode from the history of medicine, the death of George Washington, illustrates the interdependence between what is known scientifically and what is judged ethical at any point in history. A review of ethical statements in organizational psychology shows the limited role theory has played in assessing ethical practice and suggests that current trends are regressive. Embedded intergroup relations theory provides one strong theoretical perspective for understanding downsizing and other practice problems confronting those who consult to changing organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)