Every field of work has a standard of operation that is in connection with the society in which it functions. This are based on a mutual agreement ant trust and involves the community offering support for the perfect operation of the discipline in exchange for an n assurance that the discipline will offer any eventual benefits to the society.
The codes of conduct are outlined by the Canadian Psychological Association. These codes explain the values, principles and the quality standards that a psychologist needs to offer for his or her client. The code of conduct engrosses all members be it the teachers, student, trainee, practitioners among others. The four key principles that drives the operation of psychologist include; Respect for dignity of persons, responsible caring, Integrity in relationships, responsibility to the society.
Respect for dignity involves the acknowledgement that each individual must be treated as a person and not as an object. By doing this the psychologist recognize the fact that every person has a worth as human beings. This worth is not dictated by their ethnicity, age, gender, race, religion among other variables. Those in direct contact with the psychologist such as students, clients and research persons however require more of this respect than those that are in contact to the psychologist indirectly like the third party payers and their employers. The psychologist also has to understand the moral right of every single person and give them respect accordingly. This can be achieved by not engaging publicly with the reports or by giving degrading comments based on a person’s gender, race or way of life. He also has to use a language that shows respect of dignity and avoid vulgarity. He also has to alienate himself from any form of sexual harassment (C.P.A 8).
Subsequently, Responsible caring involves the protection of the welfare of those that are most vulnerable. These are more often the students, client and the research participants. It comprises the psychologist taking care to distinguish between the harmful and beneficial outcomes and the probability of their occurrences. He only proceeds when the benefits outweigh the potential harms. The psychologist also has to be ready to take responsibility of the consequences of his actions. He should also avoid giving information to anyone who seems to use it to harm others. They must also avoid delegating duties to those who are not qualified and competent enough. They also have to be up to date with the relevant knowledge so as to offer quality services. This is by always reading the relevant literature and attending the developmental seminars created for them (C.P.A 15).
In addition, integrity in relationships involves honesty, accuracy, openness, and transparency in their duties to avoid bias. The psychologist must ensure that he does not knowingly participate or tolerate dishonest or fraud. They also have to take tribute for the work they have done as well as the ideas that they have generated and also acknowledge the efforts of others. They must also react very swiftly to distorted information by any person relaying his research, especially the media (C.P.A 22).
The last principle that guides the codes of a psychologist is that of responsibility to the society. This involves the use of the psychology knowledge in making policies that are of benefit to the society. They also help the society learn how to dwell among one another without discrimination (C.P.A 28).
The codes of ethics of the psychologist however conflict in some cases. For instance, in the principle of dignity of persons, there is emphasis on moral rights being given the highest weight however in circumstances where it may bring danger to anyone it is not allowed. The responsible caring principle should also be given weight only if it respects the dignity of persons. It is these codes of conducts that have given me the urge to venture into the study of the relationship between the communities and the psychologist.
Works Cited
Canadian Psychological association, (2000). Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. — 3rd edition.
http://ethics.iit.edu/ecodes/node/4644 as per 17th September 2013.
