Examining Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Professional Psychologists- Key Issues and Guidelines

Examining Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Professional Psychologists- Key Issues and Guidelines

Beneficence and Non-maleficence

The duty of healthcare professionals must be to benefit a party and to take positive measures to prevent and remove harm from the patients (De Angelis, 2011). Non-maleficence reminds the psychologist that the primary concern is to do no harm when carrying out a task. Beneficence, on the other hand, encourages actions that will support other people. The principle of non-maleficence is important because omission or commission acts can be considered negligence if one imposes an unreasonable and careless risk of harm on another person. The principles, therefore, discourage selfish behavior that may indirectly or directly deprive or harm a recipient community and cause legal issues (eIESL, 2022). Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.

Psychologists may fail to realize how their personal public behavior may be perceived by the community (eIESL, 2022). Although psychologists are required to adhere to the code of ethics guidelines, some may have alternative perspectives to those that are promoted by the APA and even be responsive to them at their personal time (Haeny, 2014). For example, political elections lead to widespread tension in the public domain due to individual values and morals on debatable issues. In such cases, it would be likely for a psychologist to get involved in issues that they consider important to them personally. Even when the public involvement of the psychologist happens during their own personal time, people who are familiar with the psychologist’s profession are likely to assume that their behavior represents their field. This could lead to a detrimental effect on the future and current clients. Whether it is their intention or not, the psychologist would have violated the non-maleficence and beneficence principle.

This principle can therefore be used in the situation where a psychologist is considering taking a public position because of their personal values, in which case, they need to contemplate on the potential negative implications for their own profession and the people to whom they have the responsibility for standard care.

Consideration of sociocultural diversity would tie a psychologist into adhering to ethical principles by preventing harm and miscommunication that may arise from cultural miscommunication. Local people are often more knowledgeable than the volunteers, and without sociocultural diversity knowledge, service providers, especially first-time providers, cannot deliver psychological services effectively.

Ethics in Research

The information on obedience does not justify how it was obtained because it violates the beneficence principles, which require no harm should be done to society, including mental harm. According to Feldman (2016), although the participant may feel relieved at the first experience that there are no real emergencies, the participant may feel some resentment for being deceived by the person experimenting. Feldman adds that the participants may also express the concern that they had been put in a compromising and embarrassing situation that might have attacked their self-esteem depending on how they behaved during the experiment. Stanley Milgram’s research violated the rights of the participants and caused them mental harm even though it resulted in the benefit of society. Moreover, the participants were not protected as required by the APA guidelines. Participants were exposed to extremely tense circumstances that may have likely caused them psychological harm because many of them were obviously distressed during the experiment. The signs of tension entailed laughing nervously, stuttering, sweating, trembling, and biting of lips. Besides, three of the participants experienced uncontrollable seizures, and many pleaded with the experimenter to stop the experiment.

The information obtained also does not justify the ends because the participants were not given the free will to withdraw from the experiment. Rather, they were discouraged from withdrawing because of phrases like please continue, they had no choice; it was crucial that they continue and that the experiment required continuation (Gibson, 2019).

Using humans and/or animals in psychological research is ethical to a certain extent. In a research study, 81.2% of respondents argued that experiments could be run on animals only after the investigators had assessed the degree of pain that the animals may experience. Only 7.2% of the respondents opposed experiments on animals (Plus, 1996). When it comes to humans, psychological research on humans is considered ethical only when there is informed consent, protection of the participants from mental and physical harm, the research is voluntary, there is information on the procedural nature, and when there is an independent panel that reviews the experiment (Feldman, 2016)

References

De Angelis, B. (2011). Nonmaleficence and Beneficence. Ethics in health administration: A practical approach for decision makers, 47-64.

Feldman, R. S. (2016). Essentials of understanding psychology, Twelfth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Gibson, S. (2019). Arguing, obeying and defying: A rhetorical perspective on Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Haeny, A. M. (2014). Ethical considerations for psychologists taking a public stance on controversial issues: The balance between personal and professional life. Ethics & Behavior, 24(4), 265-278.

Plous, S. (1996). Attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological research and education: Results from a national survey of psychologists. American Psychologist, 51(11), 1167.

The Ethics of International Engagement & Service Learning- eIESL (2022). Non-Maleficence and Beneficence. http://ethicsofisl.ubc.ca/?page_id=172

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In this discussion question, you will explore ethical issues important to professional psychologists. Go to the APA website and look up “Ethical Principles of Psychologists” and the Code of Conduct.
First, choose one (1) of the ethical principles and answer the following questions:

Examining Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Professional Psychologists- Key Issues and Guidelines

Why do you think this principle is important?
What difficulties might psychologists encounter when applying this principle?
Describe a real-life situation in which this principle might be used.
How might consideration of sociocultural diversity tie into a psychologist’s adherence to ethical principles?
Then, consider the video in the Readings and Resources showing Stanley Milgram’s landmark study on obedience.
In your opinion, does the information gained on obedience justify how it was obtained?
Explain your answer.
Do you think using humans and/or animals in psychological research is ethical? Justify your answer.
Challenge or support your classmates’ viewpoints in your responses.
Reminder: main posts are due on Wednesdays. Be sure to review the following Discussion Board requirements: PSY Discussion Board Criteria and Grading Rubric PSY Discussion Board Criteria and Grading Rubric – Alternative Formats.