The Potter Box : An Analytical Tool That Evaluates Ethics Of Decision Making And Dilemmas

People from all walks of life face many ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas have consequences. Our worldview determines how we deal with these dilemmas, and guides us to the right decisions. In this essay, I will examine an ethical issues through my Christian worldview. I will also present other viewpoints, and compare them to mine.

It is important to look at ethical dilemmas in a systematic way, thus increasing the chance of achieving a solution that gives the best possible outcome. An ethical problem solving model taken from American sources (Paradise and Siegelwaks, 1982; Austin et al., 1990) was used to develop a six-step process to follow, in order to achieve this (Bond 2010, pg. 227). This process informs this paper, and I am in the role of counsellor.

Making sound ethical decisions require an intentional process that utilizes thoughtful reflection, supervision/consultation, and action. Many ethical decision making models exist and the seven-step model introduced by Forester-Miller and Davis (1996) is a succinct amalgamation of these earlier models. The model by Forester-Miller and Davis (1996) follows seven progressive steps: (a) identify the problem, (b) apply the ACA Code of Ethics (2014), (c) determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma, (d) generate potential courses of action, (e) consider the potential consequences of all options and determine a course of action, (f) evaluate the selected course of action, and (g) implement the course of action.

Now, let's see how learning about the Four Ethical Lenses and a simple method for decision-making can help you resolve a typical ethical dilemma. Ready?

Situation involves two correction officers breaking the code of silence, within Corcoran Department of Correction; by exposing unethical and illegal practices of other correction officers within the department. According to Cooper, (2012), ethics is a practice of doing what is right and the behaviors are grounded in logic, values, beliefs and principles and are used to defend morality. In the professional arena ethics examines justice, veracity, and develops a code of conduct for the person to follow.

What is ethical for social media star Logan Paul to post a video of a suicide victim on his YouTube channel? On the one hand it was ethical because since Logan Paul has a large fan base, he believed publishing the video would help raise suicide awareness. On the other hand, it is unethical because the video posted violates YouTube’s policy. My position for this ethical challenge is unethical I will justify my position using the four steps of the Potter Box. The four steps are supporting facts that correlate to the challenge, creating values towards the topic, choosing a moral theory which best justifies the argument and lastly, deciding who I am loyal to within the ethical challenge.

The ethical decision making process is based on moral rules and unchanging principles that are derived from reason and can be applied universally. These universal rules and principles must be considered separate from the consequences or the facts of a particular situation. (McWay, 2014). Health care workers face ethical issues and have to use the ethical decision making process to determine what is best for their patients.

The first step of the Ethical Decision-Making Procedure is stated as, “1.0 Become Aware of Dilemma” (McNamara). According to the given case scenario, the dilemma is clearly stated. It reads that the client (mother) does not believe in rewards or support the use of them for her son. The mother is going against what the BCBA believes in and stands for, thus causing a direct dilemma. Removing reinforcers is not feasible for the professional BCBA, and this must be properly addressed with the client. Situations like these are where the Ethical Compliance Code comes into place for the sake of the clients and professionals involved.

The Potter Box has a four different dimensions of moral analysis that can aid us where the most misunderstandings occur. The first is to define all the things that are arising in certain situation. The second is to define all the values in a situation. The third dimension is to apply all ethical reasonings to the situation or the fact. The fourth dimension is to decide where the decisions maker loyalty is.

The ethical dilemma is a situation by which it’s difficult to determine whether a situation is can be handled without disappointing both sides. Therefore, an ethical dilemma exists when the right thing to do is clear or when members of the healthcare team cannot agree on the right thing to do. Ethical dilemmas require negotiation of different points of view (potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall 2011pg 78).

Making consistently ethical decisions is difficult. Most decisions have to be made in the context of economic, professional and social pressures, which can sometimes challenge our ethical goals and conceal or confuse the moral issues. In addition, making ethical choices is complex because in many situations there are a multitude of competing interests and values. Other times, crucial facts are unknown or ambiguous. Since many actions are likely to benefit some people at the expense of others, the decision maker must prioritize competing moral claims and must be proficient at predicting the likely consequences of various choices. An ethical person often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows.

In the article Ethical foundations and perspectives by C.G. Christians, the Potter Box method of making ethical decisions as designed by Dr. Potter’s suggests that there are “explicit steps and by using the model components to every ethical dilemma; facts, values, ethics/principles, loyalties a person can more clearly see all sides before making the decision and action plans” (Christians, 2013, p.3).

Throughtout this written assignment there will be a discussion on ethical decision making about making a decision on possible ethical consequences that may be placed in your life, and what ethical consequences will be dealt with in the mental health professional field. Decisions could possibility pertain your conduct such as an ethical dilemma that will required a serious decision to be solved by your action as an leader. Even though a leader may not have caused the problem, they do not have a choice but to respond to the issues at the workplace. The key is how would a leader react to the issue and how their reputation and career standards will interfear afterwards. An early recognition could prevent many ethical issues from increasing in the mental health field and work environment. Ethical dilemmas could happen in many different ways, such professionals do have any act of acknowledge by knowing they have allowed themselves to be placed in a predictment without any knowing about it. This assignment will also discuss the scenario, what the reactions were from the team leader, what consequences should take place, the code of ethics and what were the results from decision making.

Nurses often encountered various ethical dilemmas in the practice setting. Both virtue ethics and caring ethics support good ethical decision making for nurses (Park, 2012, p. 149) but these are inadequate to assist in solving an ethical dilemma (Park, 2012, p. 149). For that reason an ethical decision making tool is helpful for the nurses or clinicians to come up with an ethical decision (Kelly, 2012, p. 571) that allows them to gather information, identify any gap of understanding on the issue or the disagreements between the involved parties through a clear communication (Park, 2012, p. 140). Several authors presented an ethical decision making processes (Park, 2012, p. 141), here presented the two processes that can be applied in resolving an ethical dilemma. One example of ethical decision making process is the DECIDE model by Thompson, Melia & Boyd (Allen, Chapman, Francis, & O’Connor, 2008, p. 5) and the Integrated ethical decision-making model which was derived from the combination of the different ethical decision-making models strengths (Park, 2012, p. 140). These two ethical decision-making model steps are identical to each but differ on the detailed instruction on how the steps are to be done or used in actual case. By comparing the two models the integrated ethical decision-making model have a detailed instruction. The

Ethical theories in philosophy are used as decision making tools (Trevino p38), many theories with different frameworks with argument with and against.