Psychological Ethics 2020-2021
Week 1 – Introduction
Ethical dilemmas
An ethical dilemma occurs when there are two or more potentially good ways to solve a
dilemma
Ethical dilemmas don’t have no perfect solutions, but we have to learn to make ethical
decisions nonetheless! you can get better at ethics, but there are always more ways to
deal with something
We need to learn to…
o … identify ethical concerns and dilemmas
o … distinguish who is involved and in what way
o … use your ethical toolbox, that provides us with theories, principles and ethical
standards (such as guidelines and codes)
o … distinguish possible courses of actions, consider alternatives
o … reach the justification stage justify how you have dealt with a certain dilemma
There are no identical situations where ethical dilemmas are concerned
True ethical dilemmas arise when there are no existing guidelines or when the guidelines are
just not enough
Psychological ethics
Learning about the ethical codes (and their limitations)
Learning about ethical theories and principles (and their limitations)
Learning to do this together! We need each other, workgroups, colleagues
Dealing with ethical dilemma’s using your ethical toolbox
Getting to know your intuitive morality and get it to the level of ethics
o This course is not about changing your gut-feeling! > But, get from the impulsive
level to the reflective level.
Get to a reflective, critical level, which requires we can take morality and ethics APArt, the
non-reflected and the reflected
Kitchener: “by the very nature of their professional role, psychologists have an obligation to
think well and wisely about what it means to benefit others and avoiding harming them […]
they have an obligation to act towards others in a consistently ethical manner”
Morality (or ethos) below the iceberg
Ethos (Greek for “custom” or “habit”)
→ The guiding ideals, attitudes and habits that characterizes a person or community
Concerns “gut-feelings” or moral feelings (based on culture, gender, religion, upbringing, et
cetera) and also biases
Concerns immediate, pre-reflective response to ethical situations based on prior knowledge
and experience, that is critical to everyday ethical decisions We have to act quickly
sometimes and then we use the intuitive level
What Kitchener calls the intuitive level
We are shaped by our normative or ethical environments, which are hard to discern We
go from the intuitive level to the reflective level.
→ “Noticing the ethical environment can be like asking a fish to notice the water it swims in
and breaths” (textbook)
,Ethics (or moral philosophy) on top of the iceberg
Systematic reflection on morality (beyond the intuitive)
Aimed at guiding, improving, developing and evaluating morality
Is a theoretical (speculative), normative and practical science, that can be divided in three
areas:
Metaethics
Normative ethics
Applied ethics
What Kitchener calls the critical-evaluative level:
→ “Hopefully, by doing the best critical thinking possible when we are not pressed by the
immediacy of a situation, we can build up an improved set of ethical rules and principles
which will ultimately become part of our redefined intuitive morality”
Systematic reflection on ethical rules and principles will ultimately become part of our
redefined intuitive sense When we are engaging in ethics, your gut feeling can change for
the better.
Ethical decision-making
We start at the intuitive level (which can be a safeguard against “special pleading”!)
Special pleading is that: this is a special situation, the normal rules don’t apply. From the gut
feeling, you can work against special pleading. But, it’s better to move to the critical-
evaluative level.
We move to the critical-evaluative level, that consists of three levels of increasingly general
and abstract forms of justification (from general to abstract level):
a) Ethical codes, ethical rules, laws (which are grounded in ethical principles)
You break confidentiality because a life is at stake
b) Ethical principles (which are grounded in ethical theories)
This break can be justified by the harm principle or to the sanctity of human
life
c) Ethical theories
This break can be justified by the utilitarian (= consequentialism) principle of
finding the greatest net balance of good over bad or the natural law principle
of biological value
,Principles
Principles are abstract qualities that many people (not all!) take to be valuable
The have an intrinsic value/appeal, most-often they don’t require justification (at least in a
homogenous group!) Principles are agreed-upon
They are non-specific (that is: they require explanation and justification) Everyone can
mean something else with anonymously. So, it has to made more explicit.
In specific codes:
NIP/Dutch code: Responsibility, Integrity, Respect, Expertise
EU code: Respect for a Person’s Rights and Dignity, Competence, Responsibility, Integrity
They share integrity and responsibility and respect. But it’s not the same definition about
respect.
APA code: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, Fidelity and Responsibility, Integrity, Justice,
Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity
More about principles:
Principles are not the end points of discussions, but the starting point. We should ask:
What do they mean?
To whom? Might differ per person.
In what situations? How do they guide us?
What are they meant to accomplish? What are they for?
We can also ask where our principles come from. Are they:
Universal? Objective? Absolute? Dominant? Majority?
Relative? Cultural? Situational? Subjective?
In short: ethical reflection makes us probe more deeply into principles.
Principles
The five main ethical principles according to Kitchener:
1. Autonomy, which concerns the right to act autonomously and make your own decisions
(freedom of choice) and the right to do with your life as you please as long as you don’t
impose in others autonomy (freedom of action)
Restrictions: 1. infringing on others rights and 2. competence (note: competence and
incompetence are not dichotomous concepts)
2. Beneficence, which concerns the obligation to promote the welfare of others – key to “the
helping profession”
Needs to be balanced with respect for autonomy to avoid paternalism (note:
paternalism is the ethical underlying stance of involuntary commitment of self-
destructive clients) when patients are incompetent, you need to act
autonomously to promote their autonomy
3. Nonmaleficence, “above all do no harm”
Is considered a stronger ethical obligation than beneficence (first nonmaleficence!)
In therapy this is a difficult obligation – how to distinguish discomfort and stress from
harm?
4. Justice concerns a fair distribution of limited goods and or services. It can also concern the
right to be treated differently of the inequality is relevant to the issue (such as choice of
treatment)
5. Fidelity concerns faithfulness, promise keeping, loyalty confidentiality and trust, which is key
in relationships that require an ethical commitment, such as those between psychologists
and patients, supervisors and supervisees, et cetera
, Different kinds of “respect” in the codes:
NIP: “Psychologists must respect the fundamental rights of dignity of the persons involved.
They must respect the right to privacy and confidentiality of the persons involved”
Respect concerns dignity, privacy and confidentiality
EU: “Psychologists accord appropriate respect to and promote the development of the
fundamental rights, dignity and worth of all people. They respect the rights of individuals to
privacy, confidentiality, self-determination and autonomy, consistent with the psychologist's
other professional obligations and with the law”
Respect concerns also legislation.
APA: “Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals
to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination. Psychologists are aware that special
safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities
whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making. Psychologists are aware of and
respect cultural, individual, and role differences, including those based on age, gender,
gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability,
language, and socioeconomic status, and consider these factors when working with members
of such groups. Psychologists try to eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on
those factors, and they do not knowingly participate in or condone activities of others based
upon such prejudices”
More involved. Communities are involved. Biases are added.
In the APA-code, the definition is broader and includes more.
Acculturation (in general)
Acculturation is a process to change the cultural behavior of an individual through contact
with another culture How we are changed by culture.
The process involves developing relationships with people within a particular culture to learn
their traditions, rules, roles and behaviors and to be part of the group or community
Acculturation is a dynamic process Never complete. The preferred style is integration, but
then you might receive integration but it’s not stable.
Both individuals and cultures change over time, so acculturation is not a place where people
arrive, but a process on which they embark early and continue throughout life, making
adaptations on a continuous basis
The goal of acculturation is not to categorize people into static categories, but to understand
the kinds of choices people face and the implications of those choices
Acculturation model for psychologists
Concerns the system of common beliefs, shared meanings, norms and traditions that
distinguish psychologists as professionals
Is a learned set of skills, bases of knowledge and ethical beliefs, as described in the ethics
code The code also changes
Concerns your ability to become connected with the profession of psychology as well as
other professionals
Acculturation is a process that may continue throughout the education or career of a
psychologist
(ethical) culture “happens” every day when we relate to our patients, peers, or the general
population
