Ethical dilemmas in police psychology.

A body of police psychologists was surveyed with regard to the ethical dilemmas that they experienced in providing psychological services to law enforcement organizations. A majority (55%) of the respondents reported that they had encountered an ethical conflict. The most common ethical dilemmas were related to issues of confidentiality, conflicts between the ethical standards of the psychologist and the needs of the agency, and dual relationships. In this article these areas of concern are explored, and suggestions to help resolve these issues are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mixed agency in military psychology: Applying the American Psychological Association ethics code.

Military psychology can diverge significantly from traditional psychological practice. Mixed-agency conflicts--those arising when a military psychologist's obligations to individual patients compete with obligations to the Department of Defense or federal regulations--can generate challenging ethical dilemmas. This article explores the notion of mixed agency within the military setting and addresses the most pertinent aspects of the American Psychological Association's (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct related to this ethical challenge. Case vignettes are presented as a means of illustrating key mixed-agency dilemmas and the effective navigation of these conflicts. The article concludes with several recommendations for military psychologists as they work to anticipate and effectively manage ethical dilemmas bearing on their dual identities as officer and health care provider. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suicide prediction in the US Air Force: Implications for practice.

How can psychologists know which of the many variables in an individual's clinical presentation are most salient to that person's suicide risk? Such certainty requires an empirically validated prediction model that is specific to the population served. Data obtained through the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Office of Special Investigations and the USAF Institute for Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Risk Analysis were analyzed using multivariate strategies of prediction based on an empirically validated model of suicide prediction (G. K. Brown, A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & J. R. Grisham, 2000) and suicide completer versus noncompleter status. The usefulness of the model to the USAF sample is discussed, and several factors unique to a military population are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Report of the Task Force on the Role of Psychology in the Criminal Justice System.

The American Psychological Association's Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) commissioned a Task Force on the Role of Psychology in the Criminal Justice System to examine the ethical dilemmas faced by psychologists working with police, court, correctional, and juvenile justice agencies. In this final report, the task force makes 10 recommendations regarding the ethical practice of psychology in these areas. Both ethical issues that the criminal justice system creates for psychologists and those that psychologists create for the criminal justice system are addressed. Under the former are issues relating to the psychologist's loyalty (e.g., confidentiality) and competence (e.g., the effectiveness of services). The most controversial issue faced by the criminal justice system is the use of psychologists as decision makers in the confinement and release of individual offenders (e.g., indeterminate sentences). (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between measured interest patterns and satisfactory vocational adjustment for Air Force officers in the comptroller and personnel fields.

Comparison of personnel data sheet responses and Strong VIB scores for 243 comptroller officers and 1155 personnel officers led to the conclusion that the SVIB reflects the degree of satisfactory adjustment for Air Force officers in each field. For both groups, a significantly larger proportion of those Ss with SVIB patterns most similar to the SVIB patterns of their civilian counterparts express a preference for the Air Force specialty in which they are and a preference to engage in the activity in civilian life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of small group role behavior from personality variables.

"A sample of 819 Air Force officers was administered a test battery designed to predict the individual's role in small group situations. This battery was factor analyzed, yielding four factors: Assertiveness, Power Orientation, Rigidity, and Aggressive Nonconformity." Assertiveness correlated best with the predicted small group behavior. 24 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The frame of reference of flying instructors.

The failure rates in Air Force and Naval trainees trained side by side are examined. "The method of selection of Air Force trainees was altered at a given point of time, but… [for] the Naval trainees remained unaltered. Although no significant change was noted in the failure rate in the Air Force trainees, the failure rate in Naval trainees rose steeply. It was argued that this change in the failure rate of the Naval trainees could be explained in terms of a change in the frame of reference of flying instructors." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality characteristics related to leadership behavior in two types of small group situational problems.

Using male United States Air Force Officer Candidate School Ss several hypotheses implied in the "great man" theory of small group leadership were focused on small group behavior and situational testing. "The results… personality traits associated with successful performance in two types of small group activity do not differ in relative importance." (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 program in psychology at the United States Air Force Academy.

The attempt has been made to formulate learning outcomes or educational goals for the USAFA courses in psychology in terms of knowledge and understandings, habits and skills, and attitudes and values. 2 courses are outlined: (a) basic psychology which includes consideration of Scientific Method and Measurement, Individual Differences, Growth and Development, Motivation, Emotion, and Perception, Learning and Thinking, and Adjustment and Personality; (b) psychology in the Air Force which includes Engineering Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Leadership, and Problems of Military Adjustment. Conduct of the courses includes the use of "provocative and stimulating examples and illustrative materials" and psychological films are used liberally. "Effort is made to allow all students to have some contact throughout the academic year with each of the seven instructors in the department." Classes are restricted to 12 students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between stated and measured interests of two groups of United States Air Force officers.

Strong VIB scores and interests recorded on personal history forms were compared for Air Force officers in the personnel and accountant-comptroller areas. 3 judges interpreted the SVIB's and 3 classified the stated interests into occupational groups on the SVIB. There was good agreement among the judges on both tasks. Air Force officers tended to select civilian occupations (stated interests) similar to their military occupations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal and professional characteristics as factors in psychologists' ethical decision making.

We explored the choices made by practicing psychologists in the face of specific ethical dilemmas, and the reasons for those choices. In addition, we explored the relationship between particular choices and particular reasons, as well as the relationship of various professional characteristics to those responses. We presented 294 psychologists, randomly selected members of the Division of Psychotherapy, with ten vignettes, each representing a potential problem of professional ethics. They were asked to indicate their preferred resolution to each dilemma and their primary reason for choosing this alternative. Although practitioners were more alike than different, results showed that respondents with certain characteristics—for example, professed theoretical orientation, sex, and years of experience—did differ in their choice of response to certain ethical dilemmas. Adherence to codified ethical guidelines was also shown to be related to willingness to take direct actions to resolve ethical dilemmas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military psychology in the United States of America.

"Between World War I and World War II, there was almost no interest of American psychologists in military problems, perhaps because there was almost no interest of the military in gaining the assistance of psychologists." The 1948 APA Directory identifies 98 psychologists as working for the Departments of Defense, Army, Air Force, or Navy. "This represents about 2% of the 5,047 members of the APA at that time. In the 1957 APA Directory, I have counted 729 psychologists who are listed as working for agencies of the military departments." This represents "almost 5% of the 15,000 members listed in the 1957 APA Directory." Various branches of military psychology within the Army, the Navy, and the Air Forces are indicated "to give appropriate emphasis to the great diversity of uses to which psychologists are put and to the consequently great variety of projects these agencies must, by their very titles and associations, engender." It also provides a statement "about how military psychology is organized within the Armed Forces in the States." The roles of the psychologist in military personnel management and in weapons development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mandatory reporting of child abuse: Legal, ethical, and clinical implications within a Canadian context.

Focuses on the legal, ethical, and clinical implications for Canadian psychologists of the child protection legislation that makes it mandatory to report suspected and known instances of child abuse. Provincial and territorial statutes and Canadian case law dealing with the duty to report are examined. The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists of the Canadian Psychological Association (1991) and its proposed decision-making process for resolving ethical dilemmas in this area are applied to a review of the issues associated with this type of duty to report. Guidelines are proposed regarding how psychologists can best negotiate these dilemmas. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hazardous drinking and military community functioning: Identifying mediating risk factors.

Objective: Hazardous drinking is a serious societal concern in military populations. Efforts to reduce hazardous drinking among military personnel have been limited in effectiveness. There is a need for a deeper understanding of how community-based prevention models apply to hazardous drinking in the military. Community-wide prevention efforts may be most effective in targeting community functioning (e.g., support from formal agencies, community cohesion) that impacts hazardous drinking via other proximal risk factors. The goal of the current study is to inform community-wide prevention efforts by testing a model of community functioning and mediating risk factors of hazardous drinking among active duty U.S. Air Force personnel. Method: A large, representative survey sample of U.S. Air Force active duty members (N = 52,780) was collected at 82 bases worldwide. Hazardous drinking was assessed with the widely used Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Saunders, Aasland, Babor, de la Fuente, & Grant, 1993). A variety of individual, family, and community measures were also assessed. Structural equation modeling was used to test a hypothesized model of community functioning, mediating risk factors and hazardous drinking. Results: Depressive symptoms, perceived financial stress, and satisfaction with the U.S. Air Force were identified as significant mediators of the link between community functioning and hazardous drinking for men and women. Relationship satisfaction was also identified as a mediator for men. Conclusions: These results provide a framework for further community prevention research and suggest that prevention efforts geared at increasing aspects of community functioning (e.g., the U.S. Air Force Community Capacity model) may indirectly lead to reductions in hazardous drinking through other proximal risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk for suicidal ideation in the U.S. Air Force: An ecological perspective.

Objective: Suicidal members of the U.S. military often fail to disclose their suicidal urges and behaviors. Military suicide prevention efforts may therefore be enhanced if they also target less stigmatized psychosocial factors that may decrease risk of suicidality. In keeping with Bronfenbrenner's (1977, 1994) model, this study simultaneously examined 4 ecological levels (i.e., individual, family, workplace, and community) of factors variously associated with increased or decreased risk for suicidal ideation. Method: Active-duty U.S. Air Force members (N = 52,780; 79.3% male; 79.2% non-Hispanic White; mean age = 31.78 years, SD = 7.38) completed the 2006 Community Assessment survey (a biennial, anonymous survey conducted at 82 U.S. Air Force bases worldwide), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (2008) 5-item measure of past-year suicidality along with scales assessing an array of potential predictors. Results: The 1-year rate of suicidal ideation, defined as (a) more than rarely thinking about suicide or (b) ever seriously considering suicide, was approximately 4%. In multivariate models, for men and women, individual- (depressive symptoms and alcohol problems), family- (relationship satisfaction and intimate partner victimization), workplace- (hours worked), and community-level (social support) variables were retained in the final model. However, some sex differences in retained predictors were noted (e.g., men: dissatisfaction with the U.S. Air Force way of life; women: workplace relationship satisfaction and financial stressors). Conclusions: Addressing depressive symptoms and alcohol use, facilitating healthy relationship functioning, and increasing job satisfaction and social support may aid military suicide prevention efforts. These findings illustrate the importance of attending to multiple levels of potential influence when designing integrated suicide prevention and intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frank Budd: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Practice in the Public Sector.

Provides the biography of Frank Budd and announces that he has won the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Practice in the Public Sector for his extensive work with suicide awareness programs and various other educational programs while in the Air Force. A selected bibliography is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ethical practice of psychology in a managed-care framework.

With the rise of managed healthcare, psychologists face new challenges to their professional ethics. This article examines the dilemmas posed by managed care in 3 areas: client care, the handling of patient data, and issues surrounding membership in a managed-healthcare organization. Case examples of ethical dilemmas and strategies for dealing with these challenges are presented. In an attempt to summarize the strategies used to cope with the ethical dilemmas presented in the case examples, global solutions for the ethical practice of psychology in a managed-care framework are also reviewed. These strategies include understanding managed-care policies, clear communication with the client, additional training, increased advocacy by clinicians, and ultimately, psychologists' involvement in the formation of these organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)