scholarly journals How do clinical psychologists make ethical decisions? A systematic review of empirical research

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-224
Author(s):  
Becky Grace ◽  
Tony Wainwright ◽  
Wendy Solomons ◽  
Jenna Camden ◽  
Helen Ellis-Caird
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Ethical Decisions

Given the nature of the discipline, it might be assumed that clinical psychology is an ethical profession, within which effective ethical decision-making is integral. How then, does this ethical decision-making occur? This paper describes a systematic review of empirical research addressing this question. The paucity of evidence related to this question meant that the scope was broadened to include other professions who deliver talking therapies. This review could support reflective practice about what may be taken into account when making ethical decisions and highlight areas for future research. Using academic search databases, original research articles were identified from peer-reviewed journals. Articles using qualitative ( n = 3), quantitative ( n = 8) and mixed methods ( n = 2) were included. Two theoretical models of aspects of ethical decision-making were identified. Areas of agreement and debate are described in relation to factors linked to the professional, which impacted ethical decision-making. Factors relating to ethical dilemmas, which impacted ethical decision-making, are discussed. Articles were appraised by two independent raters, using quality assessment criteria, which suggested areas of methodological strengths and weaknesses. Comparison and synthesis of results revealed that the research did not generally pertain to current clinical practice of talking therapies or the particular socio-political context of the UK healthcare system. There was limited research into ethical decision-making amongst specific professions, including clinical psychology. Generalisability was limited due to methodological issues, indicating avenues for future research.

Ethical Decision-Making in Schools

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özgür Önen ◽  
Burcu Tibet
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Moral Intensity ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Ethical Decisions

How many times do people encounter an ethical dilemma within a day? Many of them, probably, say more than one. Frequently encountering ethically questionable situations which have heavy costs to both business and educational organizations is very common. It is crucial to understand how teachers, for example, make decisions when they are faced with ethically questionable situations, such as intimate relationship offers or dishonest grading desires. Indeed, every individual involved with schools—not only teachers, but principals, students, and even parents—are faced with ethically questionable situations, forcing them to choose between right and wrong, possibly benefiting themselves or the ones they are close to and/or harming innocent others. So, increasing knowledge on how individuals make judgments and act when they are confronted a dilemma is important. Which factors affects ethical decisions? Do people simply choose the options granting their positions or beneficial for them in some way? A review of theoretical models of ethical decision-making revealed that existing models need to be modified in order to cover some ignored aspects. Additionally, there seems to be a need to add new constructs to the moral intensity factor: ease of the act and magnitude of the gain are possible issue contingents to be considered. Furthermore, empirical findings, in general, present contradictory results on proposed factors affecting ethical decision-making. However, some factors, such as moral intensity and reward–sanction systems, were found to consistently affect decisions on ethically questionable issues. There are, nonetheless, many finer points to be understood regarding what exactly is happening when people face dilemmas. This suggests new studies need to be conducted.

scholarly journals Marital Status, Religiosity, And Experience As A Predictor Of Ethical Awareness Among Accounting Professionals

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javad Gorjidooz ◽  
Cindy Greenman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ethical Awareness ◽  
Ethical Decisions

Many corporations and their accountants have taken ethics for granted. This oversight has led to the closing of companies such as Enron and WorldCom. Accountants are placed in positions of having to render ethical decisions daily, and when they lose sight of ethical values, the dissolution of corporations can occur. The goal in this quantitative research is to investigate the relationship between the independent variables of marital status, religiosity, and years of work experience and the dependent variable of ethical decision-making. Eighty-three members of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) completed an internet-delivered survey on ethical dilemmas. Because they were contacted through the MACPA weekly E-newsletter, the respondents were those members who chose to accept the weekly electronic newsletter and who read it. The 83 participant responses were saved within Survey Monkey and extracted by the authors. A nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test examined differences in mean rank order of ethical decision-making scores among the marital status groupings and revealed no significant differences in mean ranks (?2 (4, N=83) = 3.810, p = .432) or among the years of work experience (?2 (5, N = 83) = 7.768, p = .170). Based on results of the tests, the hypothesis that there is no relationship between ethical decision-making and marital status and between ethical decision-making and years of work experience cannot be rejected. A Spearman correlation analysis revealed no significant association (rho = -0.084, p = 0.226, n = 83) between ethical decision-making and religiosity. Based on the results of these and related tests, the hypothesis that there is no relationship between ethical decision-making and religiosity could not be rejected. The results from this study have added to the limited literature on ethical decision-making and three variables of marital status, religiosity, and years of work experience. The authors recommendation for future research is to conduct studies within different professional organizations and with additional variables including gender, sexual orientation, age, and self-assessments. Also, given the small response size of this study, a larger, more representative sample size would give the study more credibility.

Ethical Issues in Clinical Psychology

2010 ◽  
pp. 183-210
Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Pope
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
American Psychological Association ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Ethics Code ◽  
Canadian Psychological Association

This chapter examines how ethical issues are approached differently by two prominent psychological associations, how they are encountered by psychologists, the formal complaints they give rise to, and how they can be approached systematically to avoid missteps. Included are basic assumptions about ethics; the unique approaches to developing a ethics code taken by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), and what each of these two codes provides; empirical data about what ethical problems psychologists encounter and what formal complaints they face; four major sets of ethical issues that are particularly complex and challenging (confidentiality, informed consent, competence, and boundaries); an area of major controversy (clinical psychology and national security); steps in ethical decision-making; and four possible lines of future research.

scholarly journals A Deeper Look at Autonomous Vehicle Ethics: An Integrative Ethical Decision-Making Framework to Explain Moral Pluralism

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimin Rhim ◽  
Ji-Hyun Lee ◽  
Mo Chen ◽  
Angelica Lim
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Autonomous Vehicle ◽  
Moral Dilemma ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Ethical Behavioral Intentions

The autonomous vehicle (AV) is one of the first commercialized AI-embedded robots to make autonomous decisions. Despite technological advancements, unavoidable AV accidents that result in life-and-death consequences cannot be completely eliminated. The emerging social concern of how an AV should make ethical decisions during unavoidable accidents is referred to as the moral dilemma of AV, which has promoted heated discussions among various stakeholders. However, there are research gaps in explainable AV ethical decision-making processes that predict how AVs’ moral behaviors are made that are acceptable from the AV users’ perspectives. This study addresses the key question: What factors affect ethical behavioral intentions in the AV moral dilemma? To answer this question, this study draws theories from multidisciplinary research fields to propose the “Integrative ethical decision-making framework for the AV moral dilemma.” The framework includes four interdependent ethical decision-making stages: AV moral dilemma issue framing, intuitive moral reasoning, rational moral reasoning, and ethical behavioral intention making. Further, the framework includes variables (e.g., perceived moral intensity, individual factors, and personal moral philosophies) that influence the ethical decision-making process. For instance, the framework explains that AV users from Eastern cultures will tend to endorse a situationist ethics position (high idealism and high relativism), which views that ethical decisions are relative to context, compared to AV users from Western cultures. This proposition is derived from the link between individual factors and personal moral philosophy. Moreover, the framework proposes a dual-process theory, which explains that both intuitive and rational moral reasoning are integral processes of ethical decision-making during the AV moral dilemma. Further, this framework describes that ethical behavioral intentions that lead to decisions in the AV moral dilemma are not fixed, but are based on how an individual perceives the seriousness of the situation, which is shaped by their personal moral philosophy. This framework provides a step-by-step explanation of how pluralistic ethical decision-making occurs, reducing the abstractness of AV moral reasoning processes.

Ethical Consumerism: Contextual Issues of Ethical Decision-Making Processes

2020 ◽  
pp. 1434-1450
Author(s):  
Ebtihaj A. Al-A'ali ◽  
Abdul Redha Al-Sarraf
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reward Systems ◽  
Work Roles ◽  
Ethical Consumerism

Ethical consumerism is the outcome of an ethical decision-making process. This research examines situational factors exemplified in context-related issues affecting decision-making as perceived by business students at the University of Bahrain. Reward systems, authority, bureaucracy, work role, organizational culture and national and cultural context are investigated. Qualitative research employing open-ended questions in questionnaire form is used. Two hundred and forty students participated in this research. Five questions were asked in the research. Themes involved are illustrations of reward systems, bureaucracy, organizational culture, national and cultural context and work roles. This research suggests that work roles require to be thoroughly investigated in future research. The research also shows that students are unaware of ethical consumerism. This explains reasons for not translating views of students to behavior as a reflection of ethical consumerism.

Simulating Complexity-Based Ethics for Crucial Decision Making in Counter Terrorism

2008 ◽  
pp. 3250-3268
Author(s):  
Cecilia Andrews ◽  
Edward Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Ideal State ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Systems Planning ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Tools And Techniques

“Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics and strategies that governments, militaries and other groups adopt in order to fight terrorism.” Counter Terrorism (CT) is a complex system driven by political, stress and time pressures that contribute to the enormous difficulty that involved people face in making sustainable ethical decisions. This chapter proposes a systems planning approach for enhancing the sustainability of crucial ethical decisions in CT. First, we describe the need for enhancing crucial ethical decision-making using some recent cases. Next, we evaluate the relevance and utility of a systems planning approach in providing such enhancements for CT. We develop the “ideal state” for tools and techniques to be used for crucial ethical decision-making in CT. We propose the POWER systems planning framework as a model for advancing towards this ideal state Finally, we consider how games and simulation could be used to envision and inform, aid synthesis of and support evaluation of decision-making through the POWER model.

Utilizing Emotions for Ethical Decision Making in Leadership

2015 ◽  
pp. 158-175
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Griffith ◽  
Thomas A. Zeni ◽  
Genevieve Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Emotional Component

Modern organizational leaders must rise to the challenge of making both ethically sound decisions as well as traditional fiscal decisions in order to remain competitive in today's marketplace. It is critical for leaders to be mindful of how emotions may assist or hinder them throughout the ethical decision-making process. Attempting to ignore the emotional component of ethical decision making or pretending that emotions do not exert influence on decisions is foolhardy and disregards both empirical and theoretical research suggesting otherwise. The challenge for leaders is how to best incorporate emotion into ethical decision making. This chapter examines several theoretical models of emotion and ethical decision making, applies theoretical and empirical findings to explain how two common emotions—anger and anxiety—impact ethical decision making, and provides recommendations for leaders seeking to improve ethical decision-making outcomes.

Ethics and Evaluative Consultations with Children in Small to Mid-Sized Australian Non-Government Organisations

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Program Improvement ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Children’S Voices

The value of listening to children's voices is well acknowledged. The vast body of literature surrounding this topic discusses children's voices in pedagogy, theory, methodology, and through empirical research. While some of this literature has focused on ethical considerations surrounding evaluative consultations with children in applied practice settings, there is a shortage of literature specifically relevant to small and medium-sized nongovernment organisations (NGOs). These organisations typically conduct consultations on a smaller scale and with fewer resources than their larger counterparts. This paper refers to Australian ethical guidelines using a practice example from a mid-sized NGO to examine ethics in child consultation from a practice-based program improvement perspective. The paper examines whether consultations with children always require formal ethics approval and discusses terminology and considerations surrounding ethical decision making processes.

Ethical Issues for Neonatal Nurses

1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaye Spence
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Neonatal Nurses ◽  
Ethical Decisions

This article examines the involvement of neonatal nurses in ethical issues, achieved through a survey of Australian neonatal nurses. The aim was to discover if nurses were involved in ethical decisions, to examine various categories of neonates and the concerns that nurses felt about them, and to determine the extent to which nurses saw themselves as advocates. A response rate of 65% was achieved from nurses in two states who worked in intensive care and special care nurseries. The findings show that nurses were more likely to be involved in clinical decision making than in ethical decision making, showed the greatest concern for infants who had an uncertain prognosis, and saw themselves as advocates for their patients. The issues surrounding these findings are examined.

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