Part 1
Clinical, counseling and community psychology are areas of ethical concern since they all involve interaction with society and individuals. These fields require ethics which are expressed through moral and social standards. Counselors, clinicians and community psychologists are expected to maintain a healthy relationship with clients, and to achieve this, trust is the key element as it helps the psychologists to respect and maintain privacy and confidentiality (American council association, 2014). In order to have an effective interaction with clients, psychologists need to have a comprehensive knowledge on diverse cultures as well as own cultural identity. Clinicians, counselors and community psychologists face different ethical issues which need to be considered in order to work effectively with people and community. Before introducing the ethical issues, it is important to understand that there are codes of conducts and ethical standards which assist in solving challenges and making ethical decisions. Before taking course of action, it is advisable to follow the guiding principles (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996). The ethical issues which are found in the field are;
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an ethical issue which is violated by clinicians, counselors and psychologists. Confidentiality plays a fundamental role in protecting invasion of privacy and strengthens trust between clients and organization (American council association, 2014). Health care providers have an obligation to maintain confidential information of a patient. To enhance this, heath care providers should employ a cultural competent approach which will assist in maintaining and respecting clients’ views. Healthcare providers are faced with legal consequences for the failure of maintain confidentiality. They are allowed to disclose the information with appropriate consent or ethical justification. In addition, information can be shared with staff members for consultation and better services (American council association, 2014).
Human relations
Under human relations, ethical issues which need to be considered are unfair discrimination, sexual harassment, informed consent, harm, conflict of interest among other issues. Health care providers are not supported to practice unfair discrimination with respect to gender, age, culture, religion, disability among other status (American council association, 2014). In addition, health care provider should avoid sexual harassment or any other type of harassment to patients. All offensive acts toward complainants and respondents should never be committed. They should also use the possible measures to avoid harm to clients or patients. Health care providers should be not controlled by the conflict of interest as this behavior will affect decision-making and justice to clients and patients. Last but not least, health care providers should obtain an informed consent from the patients (American council association, 2014). Besides, government regulation or codes of ethics should be followed before conducting a particular activity. Before taking the consent, there should be a clear language, appropriate explanation and best interest from the patient.
Competence
Under competence, health care providers should be competent –training and experience- in order to provide quality services to the entire population. Note that scientific and professional knowledge is the key element required in order to enter in the medical field (American council association, 2014). In conducting different activities, health care professionals should show a high level of understanding on issues related with gender identity, ethnicity, and disability among other issues. Relevant education, training and experience are needed in order to conduct research and serve the community (American council association, 2014). They also need to engage in further training to maintain competency. Competency is not only applied to health care but it should also be applied in task delegation. When delegating task, psychologist should consider issues like multiple relations-will cause exploitation, personal problem-will interfere with duties and level of education-competency is required.
Part 2
Scenario 1
In this scenario, the ethical issue is privacy and confidentiality. The psychologists have decided to seek for ethics consult and this is one way of disclosing the information without appropriate consent from the client. I did not see anywhere they discuss on finding consultation and this is not a professional service. Since the matter at hand is based on relationship, the psychologist will be forced to disclose the information so that the ethics consult can know individuals involved in the relationship. Thus, the disclosure of confidential information will make the ethics consult to identify the client (American Psychology Association, 2010). On the same note, there is an ethical issue of informed consent. This happens because the psychologist does not apply informed consent in the counseling process. The second ethical issue is that there is a suspected violation. This has occurred at the step of consultation. The course of action which the psychologist has undertaken has violated the codes of ethics. Instead, the psychologist is supposed to seek consultation from colleagues or appropriate authority who understands ACA (American Psychology Association, 2010).
As an ethics consult, I would advise her to adhere to moral principles in order to make ethical decisions. First, she should refer to the principle of autonomy. In this scenario, the patient has suffered from loneliness and depression and has managed this situation by engaging in a relationship. Up to that point, it is the role of the psychologist to allow the client has a freedom of choice and more importantly make rational decisions (Forester-Miller& Davis, 1996). For example, the patient has made a competent choice that does not harm anyone but rather helps him create a meaningful life. Second, I would advise her to adhere to the principles namely; nonmaleficence and beneficence. Both will guide her in maintaining confidential information and avoid doing actions which may bring harm. In this scenario, the psychologist is not supposed to disclose the information but rather she should maintain trust and faithfulness in order to keep the therapeutic relationship (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996).
Scenario 2
In this scenario, the major ethical issue is informed consent. In fact, the ethical issue plays an important role in this dilemma. First, in research ethics, there should be an informed consent from the two students on whether to report the matter or not. In fact, there should a discussion of risks and benefits of disclosing the information (American council association, 2014). The students in this case should be asked on whether to report their names to the school principle. Apart from the informed consent, it is important to consider privacy in this scenario. This is because, the codes of ethics states that is always good to respect difference views and discuss with the students on disclosing their names or not (American council association, 2014).
By understanding the role of informed consent and privacy, I would not say the names to the principle. I would follow the ethical standards and seek the assent from the students since I am concerned with their rights and welfare. In addition, it is always good to maintain relationship and boundaries through adhering to professional precautions such as informed consent (American council association, 2014). I would also apply the moral principles and in particular the nonmaleficence which states that people should try all the best to avoid harm. In this case, I am interested in avoiding the unanticipated harm which may occur afterwards. Note that the principle may develop more unfair feeling to the two students and deny equal opportunities (American council association, 2014).
Reference
American council association. (2014). ACA Codes of Ethics. ACA Governing Council
American Psychology Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of
conduct.
Forester-Miller,.H & Davis Thomas.(1996). A Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making
