By: Skyllar
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Psychology
deals completely with human interaction and learning how the human mind works,
so there are some challenges when trying to perform studies. There are several
debates throughout psychology about what is right and what is wrong. Due to
these debates the American Psychology Association came out with Ethical
Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Ethics Code). The Ethics Code includes
an introduction, preamble, general principles, and rather specific ethical
standards that psychologists must follow when performing any type of study
and/or dealing with patients.
The
introduction simply states what the Ethics Code is about, what and who it
applies to, etc. The introductions states that the Ethics Code is intended to
provide guidelines for psychologists to follow and is not intended to be a
basis of civil liability. A psychologist violating the standard listed within
the Ethics Code do not fully determine whether or not they are legally liable
in court action. Psychologists’ simply must refer to the Ethics Code when
making decisions dealing with their professional behavior.
The
preamble is a short statement saying how psychologists strive to increase
scientific and professional knowledge. The Ethics Code provides a set of
principles and standards that psychologists can use when working to increase
this knowledge without have to risk lawsuits. It is intended to cover most
situations that a psychologist may encounter during their career, and aims to
protect their work and the participants of a psychologists’ study.
There are
five general principles listed within the general principle section of the
Ethics Code. Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence refers to
psychologists seeking to benefit those that they work with and making sure to
do no harm. Psychologists must be aware of the effects of their own mental and
physical health so they are best able to help those whom they work with. Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility
means that psychologists will establish relationships of trust and know their
scientific responsibilities to society and communities in which they work.
Principle C: Integrity is about psychologists promoting accuracy, honesty and
truthfulness in the science, teaching, and practice of psychology. Principle D:
Justice relates to psychologists recognizing that fairness and justice entitle
everyone have access to and benefit from psychology and the services being
offered by psychologists. Lastly, Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and
Dignity refers to psychologists respecting the worth of people and the rights
of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.
Within the
Ethics Codes there are also ten standards along with the general principles.
These ten standards are resolving ethical issues, competence, human relations,
privacy and confidentiality, advertising and other public statements, record
keeping and fees, education and training, research and publication, assessment,
and therapy.
While I don’t
relate to these ethics completely because I am not a psychologist and I don’t perform
services and/or studies on people, I do relate to these ethics in a sense. As a
college student I must follow some of the same general principles. Several
years ago, psychologists never had a code of ethics to follow which cause a lot
of controversy. Because of that I believe that most people now know that there
are some ethical guidelines psychologists must follow. I don’t think everyone
necessarily knows of the APA’s Ethics Code, but they probably have some sort of
idea of what ethics psychologists must live by when at work.
"Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
Conduct." American Psychological Association. American
Psychological Association, 2010. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.
