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The General Ethical Principles of Psychologists
Dr. Johnson was invited by a television journalist to participate in a documentary on eating disorders in women, an area in which he had recently published a book for the general public. The journalist also requested that he bring one of his current patients who was willing to describe the ups and downs of treatment and how she had improved over time. The journalist’s motive was to dispel the stigma attached to eating disorders and provide hope to the thousands in the television audience with a similar problem.
Dr. Johnson was deliberate in his response. He considered the issues of patient privacy, exploitation, coercion (could she easily decline her therapist’s request?), informed consent, and the ultimate impact on treatment. He then discussed the matter with a senior clinician, who advised against it, stating that inviting a patient to participate in a media event creates a multiple-role relationship: (a) current psychotherapy patient and (b) copresenter with Dr. Johnson describing treatment successes. Dr. Johnson decided to accept the journalist’s invitation to discuss his treatment of eating disorders but declined, on ethical grounds, to bring a patient. The journalist was disappointed but understood his rationale and proceeded with the interview.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/12345-003 Essential Ethics for Psychologists: A Primer for Understanding and Mastering Core Issues, by T. F. Nagy Copyright © 2011 American Psychological Association. All rights reserved.
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Introduction
This chapter focuses on the general principles of psychologists, ethical topics that have been a part of the Ethics Code in one form or another since it was first published in 1953. “The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010) consists of two sections: General Principles and Ethical Standards. The general principles may be compared to the prologue of a play, reviewing the general themes, whereas the ethical standards constitute the play itself in all of its rich detail. They consist of five broad concepts, undergirding the ethical standards: (a) Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, (b) Fidelity and Responsibility, (c) Integrity, (d) Justice, and (e) Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity. The selection of these five principles reflects in part the work of Karen Kitchener, who served on the original 1986 task force that produced the 1992 revision (Kitchener, 1984).1
As noted in Chapter 2 of this volume, the purpose of the general principles, as originally conceived by the Ethics Code Task Force in 1992, was twofold: (a) to identify the general ethical concepts that form the philosophical foundation of all the ethical standards, or rules, of the Ethics Code of psychologists; and (b) to physically separate them from the rest of the Code so that there would be no question about which sections were aspirational and which parts required mandatory compli- ance (Nagy, 1992).
The general principles are voluntary in nature; that is, psychologists should ideally set their sights on these as guidelines while serving in their professional roles, but they are far too general to require compli- ance. The ethical standards, on the other hand, constitute the specific rules of conduct for all psychologists who are functioning in a variety of professional roles. The general principles could be thought of as “what psychologists believe,” whereas the ethical standards could be thought of as “what psychologists must do.” It is important to note that under- standing the values and goals outlined in the general principles provides the contextual keys to unlocking the meaning and rationale for each ethical standard.
In this chapter, I first discuss the importance of using general prin- ciples to resolve possible conflicts between ethical standards. Then, I describe each of the general principles in depth.
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1Following the work of Beauchamp and Childress (1979), Kitchener suggested that autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, and justice constitute the general concepts on which psychologists should base ethical decision making at the evaluative level.
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Using General Principles to Resolve Conflicting Ethical Standards
A common problem for psychologists attempting to comply with the many ethical standards is encountering rules that seem to contradict each other. Occasionally ethical rules do conflict, creating a dilemma for the psychologist attempting to apply them in real-life situations. For example, psychologists are obligated to respect the autonomy of clients and at the same time protect them from harm. In the following two scenarios this causes a dilemma for the therapist.
A 56-year-old commercial airline pilot with chronic neck pain continues to fly even though his pain medication clouds his judgment and makes him sleepy. He has not informed his employer or copilots of his medical problem but has told his psychotherapist. He refuses to acknowledge that continuing to fly may well endanger the lives of others.