Ethics Case Study Paper

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Ethics Case Studies by Specialization

Applied Behavior Analysis

Situation 1:

Jamie is a BCBA. For the past year, she has been working with children with autism, ages 5–8 years, in their homes. She enjoys her work, but it is tiring to travel from home to home. She was recently offered a job as a BCBA for a local nursing home, providing behavioral support to senior citizens with dementia. What are the ethical concerns with Jamie accepting this position?

Situation 2: Sam is a BCBA providing parent training to families of children with autism. One of the parents showed Sam a brochure for a new kind of therapy involving dance, horses, and sensory integration. She wants to implement this therapy with her child. What are Sam’s ethical responsibilities?

Situation 3: Adam’s brother is interested in becoming a BCBA. He has completed his coursework but is having a hard time finding a supervisor. What are the ethical implications if Adam supervises his brother for fieldwork hours?

Child and Adolescent Psychology

Situation 1: Sybil’s mom has been asked to allow Sybil to participate in a research study on blended families, and she agrees. Sybil is a 7-year-old child who wears glasses and is somewhat overweight. When Sybil is brought to the interview session and is asked a question about her stepsisters, she starts to cry and refuses to talk. The researcher tells her that her Mom agreed to her being in the study, so she has to answer the questions. Sybil cries even harder and will not look at the researcher. Finally, the researcher gives up and Sybil is sent back to class. He then calls her mother and reports that Sybil was uncooperative. Ethics Case Study Paper

Situation 2: Manny, a skinny and short 9-year-old, is very quiet in class, which is unusual. Mrs. Sykes notices a bruise on his arm and asks him about it. He says that he walked into a door. When she persists in asking questions, he asks her not to do anything, because he is afraid of what will happen to him. She agrees and lets it go.

Clinical or Counseling Psychology (ABA: Situations 1, 2, 4–7)

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Situation 1: As Dee Compensating became increasingly psychotic, Lucia Panicky, PhD, did not want to continue treating her because Ms. Compensating refused to enter the hospital or take any medication. Dr. Panicky informed Dee that she could not be her client any longer, because she refused to cooperate with the treatment recommendations.

What are the ethical issues involved?

Situation 2: Fred Narrow is a Caucasian-American from a small city in the Midwest where there are very few Asian people. He is working with a client who recently moved into the area from Japan. When asked how he is dealing with any cultural issues, he stated that he has read several books on Japan and has asked his neighbor, who is also Japanese, what issues he should be aware of.

What are the ethical issues involved?

Situation 3: Dr. Dave has a widely listened-to radio show, which involves giving advice to individuals who call in about relationships, child rearing, and mental health issues. During an interview with a newspaper, Dr. Dave states that while he does have training in counseling, his doctorate is in human physiology. The interviewer asks if it is ethical for Dr. Dave to use the title “doctor” since his doctorate is not in counseling or psychology. Dr. Dave answers that he does have a doctorate and therefore he is not doing anything unethical. Ethics Case Study Paper

What are the ethical issues involved?

Situation 4: A 23-year-old man, Mr. L., has been in psychotherapy with a psychologist, Dr. T. During the course of treatment, Mr. L. has described his anger at his former girlfriend, Ms. S., an undergraduate student at a local university. As therapy has continued, Mr. L.’s anger with Ms. S. has become more intense. During the most recent session, Mr. L. stated he was going to kill Ms. S. and left the office.

What are the ethical issues involved?

Situation 5: Mr. M. has been severely depressed and meets the DSM-IV criteria for a person diagnosed with unipolar depression. His psychiatrist, Dr. D., has prescribed medication and psychotherapy as treatment for Mr. M. Mr. M. told his psychologist, Dr. S., that he refuses to take any medication, stating that he has read about the side-effects of this medicine and wants no part of it.

What are the legal and ethical issues, if any, confronting Dr. D.?

Situation 6: Dr. R. has been seeing Joan T., a 15-year-old girl for counseling. Mr. and Mrs. T. have requested to see Dr. R. to find out how the counseling is going. During the meeting, Mrs. T. requests to see Joan’s case file. Dr. R. refuses, citing confidentiality. Mrs. T. demands to see the file, stating that as the parent of a minor, she has every right to see the file.

Does she have the right? What are the ethical issues involved?

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Situation 7: Carrie is a graduate student at a local university. While still undecided about her specialization, she is leaning toward a specialty in clinical psychology. As a very religious person, Carrie is a strong believer in the power of prayer and does not believe in the idea of diagnosis or psychopathology. She really believes that all mental illness is a punishment by God for not being a true believer. So, she intends to develop a practice as a spiritual therapist when she graduates.

You are her clinical supervisor. What ethical issues are presented by Carrie’s approach to clinical work?

Educational Psychology

Situation 1: (Note: this case is also appropriate for industrial- organizational psychology.) As an educational psychologist with expertise in program evaluation, you have been contracted to evaluate programs and services offered by an area agency that provides services to the public. The agency receives funding from several private and public sources and is required to complete periodic program reviews. Your contract indicates that you should provide your results in written form to the board of directors for the agency.

After you complete your evaluation, the results indicate that some of the programs and services are effective and efficient, but that a number of others are poorly managed and provide low- quality services to the public. You deliver the report to the board of directors, as specified. You assume that the report will be forwarded to the sponsoring funding sources. A few weeks later, you find out that only the positive aspects of the report were released to the funding sponsors. You return to the board of directors and express your concerns but you are told, politely, to mind your own business and that if you pursue this inquiry you will never be employed by this agency again. You decide to seek advice from a colleague.

What are the ethical issues involved?

Situation 2: (Note: This case is also appropriate for anyone planning a career in which conducting research is an important part of the work.) As an educational psychologist, you are employed in higher education to teach undergraduate students enrolled in a teacher education program. You have an ongoing research program that involves studies on the perceptions and training of undergraduates enrolled in teacher education programs. As a course instructor, you offer extra credit for students to participate in your ongoing research. Typically, this involves completing various surveys and paper-and-pencil instruments of perception and beliefs related to becoming a teacher. A colleague suggests to you that students in your courses are really not free to choose to participate, because they may fear that their final course grade will be influenced by their choice to participate. You have assured your students that their participation will not affect their final course grade. Ethics Case Study Paper

What are the ethical issues involved?

General Psychology – Addictions (ABA: Situation 2)

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Situation 1: A psychologist works in a setting where he or she has to complete substance abuse assessments. He or she is only given 30 minutes to complete each assessment, though an accurate assessment requires 60–90 minutes. The psychologist is concerned that the information may not properly represent what is being assessed and may potentially cause harm. The person in charge of the setting, however, is demanding assessments and is unwilling to extend more time.

What are the ethical issues and choices the psychologist must consider?

Situation 2: A psychologist who is a recovering alcoholic sees a client at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

What are the ethical issues involved?

General Psychology – Health (ABA: Situation 2)

Situation 1: A patient sees his or her physician with complaints of chest pain and job stress. The goal is to ascertain psychosocial and physical processes that may cause the chief complaint, chest pain. The physician asks for a history of recent life stressors and behaviors and wants a consultation with a psychologist. Based on a combination of psychological factors and standard lab tests, the physician forms a diagnosis but does not want to meet with the patient, until the patient has seen the psychologist. However, this 45-year-old gentleman does not agree to see the psychologist and will not listen to reason as to why this is recommended.

As a trained health psychologist, what do you advise the physician?

Situation 2: A physician refers a hospitalized patient to you for consultation. The patient is terminally ill, with (at best) a month to live. He is in considerable pain and on morphine, which makes him sleep most of the time. When awake, he is still suffering. He is completely bedridden, needing assistance even to turn over. He has dialysis treatments three times a week. The patient has said he wants all life-saving procedures possible, but the doctor and the patient’s family feel he has suffered enough and would like to remove him from dialysis. You agree that this would be a reasonable and ethical course of action. The doctor explained to you, the health psychologist, that if the patient has no more dialysis treatments, he will fall asleep and die peacefully in a day or two. The lack of dialysis will not lead to more pain or discomfort than he is already experiencing. You are asked to evaluate the patient for competency to make his own decisions. The physician does not believe he can really understand his situation and wants you to talk the patient into stopping dialysis. You interview the patient and find that he has a clear understanding of his condition, his impending death, and the implications of stopping dialysis. In spite of all this, he wants all measures to sustain life continued. Ethics Case Study Paper

As a trained health psychologist, what is your responsibility in talking with the family and physician?

General Psychology – Sport

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Situation: The president of a national sport organization hires you to evaluate the top-level athletes and coaches of this sport on their ability to work together and group cohesion. You suggest testing, such as the Group Environment Questionnaire, and conducting interviews. After collecting dozens of questionnaires and conducting a multitude of interviews, you find out that the president wants a detailed report, complete with the weaknesses of the coaches. After a little digging, you find out that the president’s true agenda is to find reasons to fire some of the coaching staff. Ethics Case Study Paper

How would you approach this situation? Is there anything you could have done or should have done prior to being hired?

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Situation 1: A large pharmaceutical firm let go 1,100 employees in one week. All of the affected individuals were told that in order to receive their final paychecks, they must attend a three-day job search seminar. At the end of the seminar, they would collect their final paychecks. Seminars were held at a nearby hotel and individuals were dispersed into small group workshops. On the second day, representatives from HR stopped by to observe the workshops. The workshops had been guaranteed to be confidential and the individuals had been told that they would be able to share their concerns without HR interference or knowledge about what they said.

As the seminar leader trained to work with individuals and groups in this setting, what are the issues and how will you handle them?

Situation 2: A personnel psychologist who lacked training in the interpretation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) hired a clinical psychologist to purchase MMPI materials from the test publisher, then administer and interpret the tests. The clinical psychologist was trained to read and interpret the test records of applicants for nuclear power plant positions and to determine their emotional fitness for work in one of two power companies. After a period of time, because of financial pressures, the personnel psychologist discontinued the use of the clinical psychologist. The personnel psychologist continued to purchase the MMPI from the test publisher and did not inform the test publisher that the services of the clinical psychologist had been discontinued. Ethics Case Study Paper

The test publisher’s agreement to provide the needed test materials was based on the understanding that consultation by the clinical psychologist, trained in the interpretation of the MMPI, was ongoing. The personnel psychologist also continued to provide the psychological screening service to the two power companies without informing these two organizations of the lack of his knowledge of MMPI interpretation.

What are the issues involved? What should be done?

Reference Bersoff, D. N. (2003). Ethical conflicts in psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

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School Psychology or ABA

Situation: A 15-year-old high school student has been seeing the school psychologist for social skills training sessions to help her develop better relationships with her peers. She shares that she has befriended a group of girls who have some things in common. She admits to the school psychologist that she engages in cutting behavior, as do her friends. She asks the school psychologist not to tell anyone because her parents do not know and it is helping her make friends at the school. She said that she is cutting her thighs so no one sees the marks. She said the cuts are not deep and that she is just doing it to be part of the group.

The school psychologist has never discussed confidentiality issues with the student and feels that the student is not suicidal. The student shares that she and her friends go on the Web and post about their experiences, so that she has a group of friends from all over the world. She is so happy to have friends and begs the school psychologist not to report the behavior. She shares that she is sure her parents and teachers do not know about the cutting behavior. She states that she will stop cutting if the school psychologist promises not to tell anyone. She noted that she really did not mean to tell the psychologist, but did so only because she was so happy to have made some friends and she wanted to share that with the psychologist. Ethics Case Study Paper

What are the responsibilities of the psychologist? What should he or she do?