Ethics in Psychology Our country was founded on certain moral principles. The moral principles which guide our lives are referred to as ethics. These ethics have an impact on how we interact with the world around us and shape our personalities; this happens even if we do not realize their immediate impact. It is for this very reason that ethics in psychological research became necessary. “One may also define ethics as a method, procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and for analyzing complex problems and issues” (Resnik, 2011). We are expected to behave or be treated a particular way in society, therefore we should be granted certain ethical treatments in regards to research. Human Participants According to the American …show more content…
Animal Subjects This is a sensitive issue area in regards to research. There are many types of research that just are not feasible to do with human subjects; therefore the justification for non-human animals come into the experiment. Even though there are many benefits to using animals, many animal rights groups maintain strong opposition to using animals for research. This is why the APA has developed the Committee on Animal Research and Ethics (CARE). It is the responsibility of CARE to audit that all ethics regarding animal usage is followed (“Committee on animal,” 2014). Due to the sensitivity of testing on animals the APA has developed very strict standards regarding usage of animals as subjects. They range from justification, housing of said animal, acquisition, and procedures. These requirements outline absolute necessity in order to reduce the unnecessary usage of animals in testing. Therapy relationships with clients. The psychologist to patient relationship during therapy is a crucial aspect. It is within ethical guidelines that the psychologist clearly establish his role whether it be with an individual, group, or family therapist. These roles need to be understood for the variety of issues that may arise; one of which is the disclosure of information. Psychologists, for obvious reasons, are not to have sexual relationships with patients or former patients within a
To ensure that a researcher’s enthusiasm for knowledge and understanding doesn’t let them get carried away, clear guidelines for ethical behaviour in research, a Code of Ethics, have been established by governments, institutions and various professional societies such as the American Psychological Association(APA), the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI).
Animal testing is not only beneficial to human but also animals, at least to those who are not used in the experiments, such as pets and endangered species. Along with researching for new treatments and medicines for
The nature of therapist-client relationship and understanding the therapist’s role is vital in making sure that the client’s rights are not jeopardized. The client must be willing to trust the therapist. The therapist can earn the trust of the client will confidentiality guidelines that are established by requiring informed consent. The therapist-client relationship is based on counseling approach as well as relationship with the client. The therapist’s role is to understand the client’s needs, help them get their needs met mentally, and to develop the proper plan that fits the client’s needs. The therapist must fully
According to Simply Psychology, ethics in psychology means how there are rules of conducts to follow when going through with a research. The researchers have moral responsibilities to ensure that the participants not harmed whatsoever. Participants rights must not be violated for the sake of the research. Psychologist must remember that they have to protect any participants from harm.
The Helsinki declaration was founded in 1964 and since here they have been updating principles of good practice in this kinds of experiments. They say, “Welfare of animals used for research must be respected”. Since here the ethical views for non-humans subjects started. Later on the APA gave instructions to determine whether an experiments on animals is acceptable or not. For example animal research should not harm the animal or distress it on any way. If the researchers don’t follow this code, they wont be allowed to keep on with the experiment.
Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures, treatments, and major advances in understanding and treating conditions such as breast cancer, childhood leukemia, brain injuries, cystic fibrosis, malaria, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, and many others, and was instrumental in the development of pacemakers, cardiac valve substitutes, and anesthetics. Using animals as research subjects is appropriate because they are similar to human beings in many ways.
In today’s psychology profession, a therapist and even the client can cross many boundaries if immediate boundaries are not put into place during the initial visit. Some boundaries that are crossed are not a problem at first and then the problem progresses. Leonard L. Glass called these, “the gray areas of boundary crossing and violation” (429). However, there is further description, “Boundary issues mostly refer to the therapist's self-disclosure, touch, an exchange of gifts, bartering and fees, length and location of sessions and contact outside the office” (Guthiel & Gabbard). This statement by Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D. & Glen O. Gabbard, M.D explains the meaning of boundary
The APA ethical guidelines help to ensure that all psychological research maintains the integrity that it does not do harm or conflicts with the majority of the human populations moral ethical codes. However, in some situations the APA ethical guidelines must be viewed as just that: guidelines. If a study has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole and does not result in the permanent or irreparable harm to a human being then some guidelines must be permitted to be stretched or even broken in the interest of human advancement and scientific progression. After all the goal and responsibility of a psychologist is to enhance our understanding of human behavior as well as to find ways to use this information to better society and humanity
In the problem, there are always opposite sides which can create the debate about using animals in the laboratory experiments. Some people want to
Ethics describe a set of rules, codes, and guidelines that individuals and professionals live by to separate right from wrong and acceptable behavior from undesirable behavior. As such, the study of ethics is not grounded on the law but rather a perception of what people ought to do in the alignment of fairness, rights, obligations, and benefits to the society. Researchers in the field of psychology must follow specific rules, codes, and guidelines in every study. However, like many sets of rules provided, ethical codes may not cover every situation hence the necessity of analyzing past, current and future aspects of ethics in research pertaining to social sciences.
Psychological research has been growing and developing new ways of studying human behavior, collecting knowledge and expanding our understanding of our nature. For instance, studies involving human subjects presented risks for violation of ethical research guidelines, by pushing the limits of human experience (Kim, 2012). Throughout history, there have been numerous studies that elevated this concern, such as the Milgram Experiment of 1963. One of the major ethical raised was that it lacked informed consent from the participants and eventually raised the issue of protecting human subjects. This paper examines the ethical compliance in psychological research and emphasizes the importance of ethics and professionalism by analyzing different
I’ve learned that it’s not necessarily what we find out from research but, where we gathered the information. We should be careful with how we find out information. With all information gathered, we must also gather participants. It is essential that those whom take on the role of scientific researcher of psychology that the guidelines of the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct be followed (Cozby & Bates, 2015, p. 47). Confidentiality and privacy is very important within research. Confidentiality is an issue when a researcher has assured subjects that the collected data are only accessible to people with permission, generally only the researcher (Cozby & Bates, 2015, p. 50). One major step to ensure proper treatment is to gather informed consents. An informed consent allows all participants to understand all parts of research might influence their active decision of
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and the Code of Conduct are very important guidelines in any workforce. “These guidelines serve a purpose to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of their profession” (APA, 2002). There are five major parts of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct guidelines. These parts include, Beneficence, Responsibility, Integrity, Justice, Respect for People 's Rights and Dignity. These are also known as principals that start from A, and end in E. All of these guidelines are to be obeyed when working in our chosen career.
When discussing the importance of professional boundaries in mental health work, most people think first of relationships between psychotherapists and clients. However, similar boundary considerations are relevant for professor–student relationships, supervisor–supervisee relationships, consultant–consultee relationships, and researcher–participant relationships. Although different dynamics are at play, the relationships psychologists have with each other, with other professionals, and with the general public have boundaries that warrant ethical consideration as well. The American Psychological Association (APA) offers some guidance. The APA Ethics Code says, in Standard 7.07: "Psychologists do not engage in sexual relationships with
The use of animals for scientific research has been a topic of debate for a long time. On one hand it is morally wrong to use animals for human benefit. On the other hand, removing animals completely from lab for research would limit our understanding of health and disease, and will affect the development of new and vital treatments. It is true that sometimes these studies do reduce the quality of life of animals, thorough regulations should be in place to ensure that they are carried out in a less violent way.