Question

The APA ethics code expresses ethical standards for internal factors including competence, privacy/confidentiality, record keeping and fees, education and training, and assessment. Why do you believe the APA established these standards? What is an ethical dilemma that could arise under one of these standards? Would the dilemma still exist if there was no established standard? Support your position.

Answer 1

The American Psychological Association (APA) has a code of ethical standards that include an introduction, a preamble and five ethical principles that are a basic standard of ethics in psychological practices. It includes but is not limited to scientific, educational and professional roles in psychology.

Why do you believe the APA established these standards?

APA has established these standards to facilitate better understanding and addressing of the issues that are faced by psychology practitioners. They are intended to serve as a guide when facing situations that result in a conflict from an ethical standpoint.

The standards are developed such that the work of a psychologist is made clear with a tendency for ethical commitment and effort to continue the good work that psychologists do when faced with ethical dilemmas.

It was important for psychologists to have a set of standards that ensured that practices could be defended and implemented without cause for concern when a rule book is followed. This ensured that there was public trust in the practices implemented in psychological treatments. It also ensured better acceptance among the peers about the best practices in psychology.

The establishing of standards largely depended on the social, cultural, political, economic and the legal standpoint at that time. This ensured that healthcare systems across the nation followed a set standard in psychological practices.

What is an ethical dilemma that could arise under one of these standards?

One of the ethical dilemmas that most researchers face is the fabricating of test results as part of research studies. There have been cases of manipulating results, committing fraud in test sets, altering hypothesis to suit one's tests etc., From an ethical standpoint, all these are malpractices and are condemned. Providing inaccurate or incorrect results in order to justify one's research is a dilemma under 'Integrity' principle of the APA's five principles under the ethical standard. The standards address the need for psychologists to be more conscious about the harms that might come to be because of any incorrect proof of hypothesis which directly affects psychological practices.

Would the dilemma still exist if there was no established standard?

Dilemmas exist in spite of having standards. So there is no question of whether or not dilemmas would exist if there are no standards. The answer is a strong yes, dilemmas would definitely exist if no standards were set. One of the ethical dilemmas we face today is related to assisted suicides. In spite of having an established ethical standard, ethical dilemmas on assisted suicides are very high. If there were no standards, there would be utter chaos. Therefore it is important to have ethical standards and revise them as and when a need arises.