Every psychologist faces the need to deal with ethical issues in his everyday practice (Banyard & Flanagan, 2006). Appropriate knowledge and practical skills needed to cope with situations when the solutions are difficult to be determined is the key to being a highly-qualified specialist.
The case described in Situation 1 included into General Psychology – Addiction section presents an example of a situation when the psychologist faces several ethical issues. The main ethical issue is related to the necessity to complete substance abuse assessment in the circumstances that can significantly harm the reliability of the results. Such situation can lead to irreversible negative results, including the inappropriate treatment of the patients and the harm that can be done to their health.
The situation presents an ethical issue related to the need to follow the “Principle D: Justice” obliging psychologists to provide all patients with services of equal quality (APA, 2010a, p. 3). In addition, the psychologist faces the need to take actions aimed at preventing the described negative consequences of limitation in assessment, as according to the Standard “3.04. Avoiding Harm”, it is his/her ethical and professional duty to “take reasonable steps to avoid harming” the clients (APA, 2010a, p. 6).
The actions that can help to resolve the issues can start with providing adequate information about the risks that can be caused by the limitation in time while conducting the assessment. Such step corresponds to ethical principle “1.04. Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations” (APA, 2010a, p. 4). However, the informal resolution can be ineffective as the person in charge of setting seems to be unwilling to expand the time limit.
According to the principle “9.01 Bases for Assessments”, psychologists have to provide their professional opinion based on the assessment that is adequate and corresponds to basic requirements to assessments (APA, 2010a, p. 12).
If such requirements cannot be followed, the psychologists have to document the specifics of the conducted assessment and indicate the possible impact of the limitations on the results of the study (APA, 2010a, p. 12). Therefore, the next step should include documenting the corresponding limitations of the study caused by an inappropriate amount of time provided to conduct the assessment.
The discussed issue and other standards described in the Code of Ethics directly relate to my future career in psychology as every psychologist has to build his/her everyday practice on ethical principles. The work of psychologist cannot be effective and professional if he/she does not know and fully understand the standards and principles described by APA.
While the knowledge of General Principles will guide the direction of my professional activities and serve as the foundation for my professional goals and choices, the ethical standards will help to make my everyday practice more efficient and help me in cases of meeting complicated ethical issues and dilemmas.
Besides serving as the basis for my future career, the Ethical Principles described by APA influence my experience of being a graduate learner in psychology. They broaden my deep understanding of the ethical side of my profession and help me to understand the importance of knowledge I obtain during studying and identify the skills I need to obtain or master to ensure that my future professional activities will correspond to the basic ethical rules relevant to every psychologist.
Dealing with the complicated ethical issues is the vital part of psychologists’ everyday work. The ethical principles described by APA serve as a solid foundation for the provision of excellent services and caring about the ethical side of the profession of a psychologist.
Ethics in Research and Information Gathering
Conducting research and gathering information are the processes that present an essential part of everyday professional activities of psychologists and students preparing to become a specialist in this profession. Understanding the distinction between research and an informational interview is vital for every person eager to collect and use the information relevant to the field of psychology.
Conducting research requires providing a systematic investigation the results of which need to present relevant scientific information. Research is conducted to contribute to general knowledge about certain aspects of the field of psychology and, therefore, is designed for obtaining and presenting new knowledge (Research definition, n.d.).
Research is the part of scientific activities of psychologists, as it is aimed at revealing new specifics of the concepts and phenomena relevant to the field. Conducting an informational interview requires organizing an effective communication with professional psychologists in the form of an interview.
Such activity is aimed at obtaining practical knowledge about the specifics of the profession and studying the experience of specialists working in the field (Decarie, 2010). Therefore, while research is a tool used for a scientific investigation aimed at the creation of new knowledge, an informational interview is a tool used for networking with professionals aimed at obtaining their knowledge and experience in the field of psychology (Statsky, 2016).
Conducting research requires the author’s compliment with ethical principles aimed at preventing the violations of the rules of ethical conduct of psychologists and researchers. The principles of scientific publication and ethical standards guiding publication of research are described in Publication Manual of APA (APA, 2010b, p. 231).
The ethical principles that guide the activities of psychologists and the process of publication are also relevant to an informational interview. Though such interview does not require the approval of any committee, the person conducting it needs to be aware of ethical principles that should not be violated.
My upcoming professional interview needs to be guided by ethical principles of Privacy and Confidentiality (APA, 2010a, p. 7). Psychologists are obliged to take care of preventing the intrusion into the privacy of other people and avoid sharing of private information obtained while conducting the professional activities. Such principles refer not only to the work with patients but also to interactions with colleagues.
Besides, conducting of an interview should be guided by such basic Ethical Standard as Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity (APA, 2010a, p. 3). That means that the interviewer should be careful not to harm the interviewee, respect his/her dignity, and avoid obtaining personal information that can be considered private. Besides, the interviewer should not seek personal benefits by conducting an interview.
To ensure that I adhere to ethical principles while conducting my interview, I will prepare the questions I plan to ask the interviewee in advance and carefully check if they do not present violations of ethical standards in the field of psychology. I will reread the ethical principles and make sure the questions I have prepared correspond to the aim of my interview and do not go beyond the professional objectives of the activity.
Obtaining new information is a vital part of the activities aimed to help both future and practicing psychologists. Understanding the difference between different types of collecting information and following the ethical principles during this process is a necessary feature of any psychologist aimed at being a qualified and respected professional.
References
Banyard, P., & Flanagan, C. (2006). Ethical issues and guidelines in psychology. New York: Routledge.
Decarie, C. (2010). Literacy and informational interviews. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 73(3), 306-317.
Research definition. (n.d.). Web.
Statsky, W. (2016). Introduction to paralegalism: Perspectives, problems and skills (8th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.
The American Psychological Association. (2010a). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Web.
The American Psychological Association. (2010b). Publication manual (6th ed.). Web.