Ethics and Professional Practice

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Running Head: ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Paper Title Capitalized and Centered
Name of Student
Institution affiliation

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ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Table of Contents
FACTS OF THE CASE.............................................................................................................3
RELEVANT ETHICAL ISSUES RELATING TO THE CASE...............................................3
a. Informed consent.............................................................................................................3
b. Beneficence.....................................................................................................................4
c. Respect for anonymity and confidentiality.....................................................................4
ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING RAISED BY THE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CASE.....5
I. Utilitarian approach.........................................................................................................5
II. Rights approach...............................................................................................................5
III. Justice approach...........................................................................................................5
IV. Common good approach..............................................................................................5
V. Virtue approach...............................................................................................................5
SUMMARY OF THE OUTCOMES OR POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF THE CASE..............6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
FACTS OF THE CASE
There are two characters in this case, Ben and Max. Both are involved in that Ben has been
engaged to research the experiences of teenagers who have been bullied at school while max
is a victim of violence. Max is 14 years old and is living with his step-dad. Max is a student
who is gay. Apparently, Max has undergone physical abuse by his step-dad but at home and
not at school. The reason for the violence is that the stepfather wants him to straighten up and
not be gay. During the discussion between the two, Max made it clear to Ben that he did not
want anyone to know about this situation. This was in fact, despite the fact that his step-dad
had promised to kill him. Of course, being human, Ben is concerned with the abuse. He wants
to report this case, but again he has promised Max that their discussion will remain
confidential and he will not tell a word to anyone. The issue now comes as to what Ben can
do, despite the assurance of confidentiality.
RELEVANT ETHICAL ISSUES RELATING TO THE CASE
Various ethical issues arise from this case but are majorly on Ben to make the decisions.
Should Ben report the problem despite promising that the matter would be confidential?
According to ethical standards, what is the best way to approach this case? What will
reporting or keeping quiet about the issue impact on Ben's ethical standards? These are
ethical questions that need to be answered. Both sides of the coin are not entirely fair to Ben’s
ethical standards, but he will still have to make a choice (Lunnay, Borlagdan, McNaughton &
Ward, 2015). This is one of the scenarios where doing nothing amounts to making a decision
towards the case. This is a situation where the decision to be made is binary, and there is no
escape regarding the incident (Walliman, 2017).
The primary ethical issues raised in this case include;
a. Informed consent- This is one of the primary ethical issues when one is conducting
research. In informed consent, individuals who are conducting research are to make