Psychology Ethics: Ethical Dilemma, Codes, and Decision Making

This essay examines the significance of ethical decision-making within organizations and the critical need for specialized codes of conduct in psychology. It begins by outlining the importance of ethics in fostering trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, and good citizenship. The essay then delves into the ethical considerations specific to psychology, highlighting the evolution of ethical concerns, particularly regarding patient rights and confidentiality. The core of the essay applies these ethical principles to a specific dilemma involving an employee's threat against his boss, analyzing the ethical conflict of confidentiality versus potential harm. The essay concludes by emphasizing the challenges professionals face in balancing ethical responsibilities and the importance of understanding ethical codes to navigate such complex situations effectively. The essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the ethical considerations involved in psychology practice and decision making.

Running Head: ETHICAL DILEMMA 1
Ethical Dilemma
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
03/21/2019

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Introduction
Ethics is basically a correct code or rule of conduct. They define the moral behavior of
people within an organization and uphold fundamental human rights. This paper looks into the
importance of ethical decision making within an organization. Some of the signs identified
include; generation and sustainability of trust, demonstration of respect, responsibility and
caring. It also goes ahead to present the importance of ethical consideration in psychology
practice before demonstrating the ethical dilemma in the case of an estranged employee in a case.
1.
Generate and sustain trust
Ethical decision making creates trust in the workplace because it will eliminate cases of
unfair treatment and unjust actions. When employers and leaders employ ethics in their decision-
making process, they boost confidence among the employees that their rights are upheld
(Irlenbusch & Villeval, 2015). When the leader fails to apply ethics in decision making,
employees will have a sense of insecurity and will strive to take actions in their own hands to
protect their rights. The trust in the organization’s decisions is therefore jeopardized.
Generate and Demonstrate respect
Ethical decision making also generates and demonstrates respect. The utilization of ethics
creates a good foundation for the observation of human and workplace rights in an organization.
In that case, employees will have confidence in the system which automatically generates respect
for the decision-making process (Han, 2015). The demonstration of respect comes out clearly
with the fact that the organization demonstrates to care about the employees enough to develop

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ethical standards. Therefore, organizations will not have to undergo a lot of problems of conflicts
with employees because they will feel respected and their rights upheld. Leaders in an
organization create a demonstration to employees that they respect their rights.
Demonstrate responsibility
Ethical decision making also demonstrates a sense of responsibility on the part of the
organizational management. The appreciation of the rights and dignity of the employees shows
that an organization is basically responsible for the rights and dignity of employees.
Upholds and demonstrate fairness and caring
Ethical decision making also demonstrates a sense of caring and fairness within an
organization. Ethical decision making creates a standard for making decisions which centers the
rights of employees with an utmost appreciation of diversity (Herlitz et al., 2016). Therefore, the
decisions of an organization about the concerns that pertain to the needs of employees will be
centered on care and fairness.
Creates consistency with good citizenship
Ethical decision making also develops adequate consistency with good citizenship.
Leaders in an organization need to comply with the national regulations and rules that govern the
rights of workers within a specific country. Therefore, ethics in decision making creates ensures
that there is no overlapping.
2.
In the last part of the 20th century, ethical issues in psychology have increasingly grown
in importance. In the current times, all psychological research is increasingly falling under

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serious scrutiny. In that case, some of the studies that were seen as acceptable are now regarded
as unacceptable. It has been argued that the establishment of the Nuremberg Code stirred this
change.
Ethical principles and ethics cover all aspects of human activities. Many researchers in
the past centuries conducted studies on patients without the consent of the patients. Also, there
was little or no concern for the wellbeing of the patients. The instructions for ethical research
that dates back to the 20th century never prevented the scientists in Nazi German from
undertaking studies on people, with clear violations of their human rights. From World War Two
some scientists were brought to book and convicted based on the judgment that is called the
Nuremberg Code. The code mapped modern research ethics. Therefore, the voluntary consent of
subjects served as one of the main principles injected.
Ethical principles ensure that research participants are respected. The investigations in
psychology after the 1947 Nuremberg Code demonstrated a new trend of participant
manipulation. Researchers had shifted their focus on manipulation of subjects. One indication of
this is when researchers would extremely invade the space of library users.
Another importance of ethical principle is the establishment of good confidentiality
among the subject. A study made an indication that about 700 members of the psychological
society made reports which they found to be ethically troubling or challenging. Most of the
challenging cases encompassed confidentiality. The potential or actual risks to third persons or
parties were in most cases reported. The common cases revolved around the following areas;
reporting of child abuse, infections or the suffering from the HIV & AIDS and patients who had
issued threats or committed violence. Therefore, it was clear that confidentiality was the most

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reported ethical dilemma. Ethical principles will thus come in handy, to provide the necessary
solution for the ethical dilemma for patients, by upholding confidentiality.
3.
The ethical dilemma that presents itself in the case of the employee threatening to execute
his boss because he believed that he was an exploiter demonstrates the ethical dilemma of
confidentiality. The reason for that, the confessions that were made by the employee that he will
execute the boss himself are serious. The counselors are ethically held to keep the information of
the patient confidential but at the same time, they are torn between saving the life of the boss by
breaking the ethical provision of confidentiality (Taylor et al., 2019). If the counselors keep
quiet about the matter and the life of the boss is lost, more problems will be created for the
counselors. The fact that the employee storms out of the session show that he had become
aggressive (Street & Luoma, 2019). The next course of action at that point, therefore, would be
to call the attention of the police. If that is done, the right of the employee for confidentiality will
have to be jeopardized.
Conclusion
Many times, professional find themselves between the hard place and a rock in the
application of ethics in their career practice. During those moments, they tend to look for a way
out of problems in a manner that they will not enter into trouble and also do the right thing.
Having a good understanding of the codes of conduct stipulated and a good personal moral
standing helps in such situations.

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References
Han, H. (2015). Virtue ethics, positive psychology, and a new model of science and engineering
ethics education. Science and Engineering Ethics, 21(2), 441-460.
Herlitz, A., Munthe, C., Törner, M., & Forsander, G. (2016). The counseling, self-care,
adherence approach to person-centered care and shared decision making: moral
psychology, executive autonomy, and ethics in multi-dimensional care decisions. Health
Communication, 31(8), 964-973.
Irlenbusch, B., & Villeval, M. C. (2015). Behavioral ethics: how psychology influenced
economics and how economics might inform psychology?. Current Opinion in
Psychology, 6, 87-92.
Street, L. L., & Luoma, J. B. (2019). Control Groups in Psychosocial Intervention Research: A
Special Issue of ethics & Behavior.
Taylor, E., Taylor, P. C., & Hill, J. (2019). Ethical Dilemma Story Pedagogy–A Constructivist
Approach to Values Learning and Ethical Understanding. Proceedings of SMIC 2018.