Organisations have learned to establish codes and ethics that assist in giving broad guidelines especially in mental health cases. These organizations are mainly involved in counselling, social work, psychiatry, psychology, marriage, and family therapy as well as human services (Fisher, 2009). However, each mental health organization has their unique codes of ethics (Fisher, 2009). The APA Ethics code is based on several themes.
They include, promoting the welfare of consumers, a pledge to practice within the acceptable scope of one’s competence, averting harm, maintaining client confidentiality, upholding ethics and taking responsibilities among other themes. The ethic codes according to APA principles must follow these guidelines to the later.
Ethics codes with regard to APA do not necessarily guide or act as blueprints for resolving and addressing ethical dilemmas (Fisher, 2009). This also means that in the presence of ethics codes, judgement and ethical reasoning cannot be ruled out. This is so because every client’s problem is unique hence calling or requiring different approaches for different clients. Totally no single approach can be said to be a solution for all ethics code issues in general. Being a professional is simply learning to adapt to a different culture. APA provides the opportunity for students to learn their acculturation which is vital in developing an ethical identity. Professionals learn to adapt into new and different cultures through training, and research and this knowledge enable them to identify and address psychological issues.
According the APA guidelines, the general role of code of ethics is to safeguard the welfare of clients by pursuing what is in their best interest. The APA guidelines therefore apply only to psychologists and all the activities that are under the scope of psychological science. APA ethic codes include clinical and counselling practices, research, teaching, supervising trainees, developing assessment instruments, conducting assessment, additional training among other practices (Csulb. Edu, 2013).
The ethical codes are meant to provide a standard for professional conduct (Csulb. Edu, 2013). The legality of professional psychologist having violated the ethics codes cannot be determined in a court action. Nonetheless, some legal proceedings accept the compliance or violation of ethics codes as evidence based on the unfolding circumstances (Csulb. Edu, 2013). Therefore, professional behaviour is measured putting ethics codes into consideration with reference to the applicable laws and regulations as given by the psychologist regulatory boards (AmericanPsychologicalAssociation, 2002). APA provides processing of resolving complaints of unethical conduct (Csulb. Edu, 2013). This is the main advantage that APA gives to professionals.
Psychologists work to advance a lawful and dependable frame of scientific awareness grounded in inquiry. They may apply that Information to human behaviour in varied settings. In doing so, they achieve numerous roles, such as researcher, educator, diagnostician, therapist, supervisor, consultant, administrator, social interventionist, and expert witness (Csulb. Edu, 2013). Their objective is to increase awareness of behaviour and, where suitable, to apply it realistically to develop the state of both the individual and the public.
Psychologists reverence the fundamental prominence of self-determination of review and communication in research, teaching, and publication (Csulb. Edu, 2013). They also endeavour to aid the community in increasing knowledgeable decisions and adoptions regarding human behaviour. This Ethics Code offers a mutual set of standards upon which psychologists from their proficient and scientific labour.
Psychologists strive to uphold high ethical of aptitude in their exertion. They identify the limitations of their specific capabilities and the confines of their knowledge. They offer only those services and use only those methods for which they are competent with by training, exercise, or familiarity (Csulb. Edu, 2013). Psychologists are acquainted of the circumstances that the proficiencies essential in helping, training, and reviewing crowds of people differ with the idiosyncratic physiognomies of those clusters.
In those areas in which documented expert principles are lacking, psychologists implement vigilant judgment and take applicable safety measures to defend the well-being of their clients. They preserve an awareness of appropriate scientific and specialized facts associated with the services they render, and they identify the prerequisite for on-going training (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011). Psychologists make suitable use of scientific, specialized, practical, and organizational means (AmericanPsychologicalAssociation, 2002).
Psychologists seek to encourage truthfulness in the science, training, and practice of psychology (Fisher, 2009). In these undertakings psychologists are authentic, reasonable, and reverent of others (Fisher, 2009). In defining or reporting their credentials, services, yields, charges, investigation, or training, they do not create proclamations that are fabricated, misrepresentative, or illusive.
Psychologists endeavour to be alert of their individual belief structures, principles, essentials, and confines and the consequence of these on their work (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011). To the degree achievable, they challenge to clarify for applicable parties the roles they are carrying out and to function correctly in agreement with those roles (AmericanPsychologicalAssociation, 2002). Psychologists avoid inappropriate and actually detrimental dual associations.
Psychologists uphold specialized principles of demeanour, clarify their specialized roles and responsibilities, admit suitable responsibility for their behaviour, and acclimatize their approaches to the requirements of dissimilar people. Psychologists check with, talk about, or collaborate with other specialists and organizations to the degree required to function in the best interests of their patients, clients, or other beneficiaries of their services (Csulb.Edu, 2013).
Psychologists’ moral canons and demeanour are individual stocks in the same amount as are accurate for any other individual, excluding Psychologists behaviour may find the middle ground for their professional responsibilities or reduce the public’s trust in psychology and psychologists. Psychologists are anxious about the principled amenability of their co-workers’ scientific and specialized demeanour. When proper, they refer to their contemporaries in order to thwart or circumvent unprincipled demeanour.
Psychologists accord suitable reverence to the essential privileges, self-esteem, and value of all people. They reverence the rights of personalities to discretion, privacy, autonomy, and self-sufficiency, aware that legal and other requirements may lead to contradiction and battle with the implementation of these privileges. Psychologists are cognizant of traditional, distinct, and role variances, as well as those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status (Fisher, 2009). Psychologists try to disregard the consequence for their work of prejudices grounded on those features, and they do not eloquently contribute in or tolerate partial prejudiced practices (Fisher, 2009).
Psychologists are mindful of their specialized and scientific errands to the community and the people they serve. They make their information accessible to the public a factor that contributes to their successful achievement of human happiness. Psychologists are apprehensive about, and work to alleviate the grounds of human grief. When performing a review, they endeavour to advance human happiness (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011). Psychologists comply with the regulations and embolden the expansion of law and communal dogma that assist the benefits of their patients and clienteles as well as the community. They are heartened to give back a percentage of their professional time for diminutive or no individual benefit (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011).
References
American Psychological Association: Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (2002). Web.
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Csulb.Edu: Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (2013). Web.
Fisher, C.B. (2009). Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.