MacDonald 2010 Guide for Analyzing Moral Decision Making

Running head: ETHICS
ETHICS
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1ETHICS
Chris MacDonald’s methodology for analyzing ethical dilemma
For analyzing and resolving the dilemma for Maureen’s action Chris MacDonald’s
methodology for moral decision making has been followed in this report (MacDonald 2010). The
guide follows a eight question process to identify the ethical or moral dilemmas and for a
thorough analysis of the dilemmas. The process is as follows:
A. Recognizing the Moral Dimension
The moral dimension in this case is if the USB is lost all of the client data about their
treatment programs for the past five years would be lost. Maureen needs to retrieve the USB as
soon as she can.
B. Who are the Interested Parties? What are their Relationships?
The interested parties in this are the Government state department that deals with drug
and alcohol abuse and its clients. The clients are the individuals who had been admitted to the
drug and alcohol abuse treatment program conducted by the state department in the last five
years.
C. What Values are Involved?
The values in this case are involving ACS code of Ethics and ACS Code of Professional
Conducts.
The values of the ACS Code of Ethics involved in this case are:

2ETHICS
1. The primacy of public interest- the interest of the public should be placed over personal,
business or sectional interests.
2. Competence- Working competently and diligently for the stakeholders.
3. Professionalism- Enhancing the integrity of the Society and the respect of its members for
each other.
The values in relation to the ACS Code of Professional Conduct that can be seen to be involved
are:
1. Identifying the people who would potentially be impacted by the work and considering their
interest
2. Advising the stakeholders of any conflict interests as soon as can be possible
3. Preserving the integrity, security, continuity and utility of Information and Communications
Technology
4. Respecting the Intellectual Property of others
5. Preserving the confidentiality and privacy of the information shared by other people.
D. The Benefits and the Burdens
The benefits are that many individuals who had been fighting with drug and alcohol
problem had been given a way out of their problems. The agency can be seen to be maintaining a
database of information on the clients using these services. By way of these Data a five year long
report can be made of all the clients in each of the program and all their details like length of
each client’s treatment, number of clients who return after completion of a program and the