Case 1:
Dr. Arnold is a clinical psychologist who specializes in child and adolescent issues. From time to time, she provides consultation on high lethality cases within the juvenile court system. Recently, she was referred a case involving a 15-year-old male who has a history of aggression, angry outburst, destructive behavior, and cyberstalking. Concerned for her safety and well-being, Dr. Arnold input the client’s name into a search engine, which yielded the client’s social network page. Dr. Arnold is uncertain whether or not to look at the client’s social network page.
In your initial post, assume the role of a colleague to the doctor named and analyze the ethical issues encountered in your chosen scenario:
When it comes to ethics, every organization has a code that employees are required to abide by. It is no different for psychologists who are ethically bound to abide by the APA’s ethical guidelines and code of conduct. But why is this so important? Well, to put it simply, a code of ethics sets the tone for any and all organizations. For those who follow the APA code of ethics, it is imperative to uphold established standards and expectations to ensure civilized treatment of all parties. These guidelines are also put into place to avoid ethical dilemmas, such as malpractice, invasion of privacy, conflicts of interest, so on and so forth.
In the abovementioned case-study, Dr. Arnold is unsure whether or not doing an online search on a potential client is unethical. We can see that the situation is a unique one, wherein Dr. Arnold is concerned for her own safety and well-being. While Dr. Arnold has every right to feel concerned, conducting an online search on the client’s social networking page seemingly teeters that line between ethical and unethical practice. Although many have argued the fact that information posted online is public, it stands to reason that observing clients and/or potential clients without their prior knowledge or consent is unethical.
Given the situation described in the case study, recommend how your colleague should proceed. Provide support for your response by citing the required articles for this discussion:
Given the unique situation Dr. Arnold has found herself in, as a colleague I am also bound by the code of ethics to ensure that my fellow colleagues are upholding their oath to abide by APA ethical standards and practices. Thus, I would recommend that Dr. Arnold refrain from conducting an online search about her potential patient and instead set-up an initial intake interview to get to know more about the client. As maintained by Harris & Robinson Kurpius (2014):
it would generally be considered unethical to observe clients without their knowledge and consent. This also holds true for the online environment. Even though mental health professionals may unintentionally encounter information about their clients online (e.g., client is featured in a prominently displayed online news article), purposefully searching out information without client consent could be considered a violation of a client’s rights (p. 18).
There are a number of safety measures that Dr. Arnold can take to ensure her safety and well-being. She can create a safe environment by placing herself closer to the door so that she can get out quickly in the event the patient becomes aggressive and violent, she can require the patient to place all belongings in a locker before entering her room, have a “panic button” installed so that she can call for help without agitating the patient, or even allow her session(s) to be interrupted with this specific patient to help combat the potential for assault (Munsey, 2008). These are much better and more ethical ways to handling a situation such as the one described in the case study.
Consider the current and potential actions of your colleague and explain whether or not he or she is currently, or potentially will be, in violation of the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Provide support for your explanation by citing Standard 3: Human Relations:
The potential actions of Dr. Arnold would potentially place her in violation on the APA’s ethical principles and code of conduct. For starters, section 3.10 Informed Consent explicitly states the following:
(a) When psychologists conduct research or provide assessment, therapy, counseling, or consulting services in person or via electronic transmission or other forms of communication, they obtain the informed consent of the individual or individuals using language that is reasonably understandable to that person or persons except when conducting such activities without consent is mandated by law or governmental regulation or as otherwise provided in this Ethics Code (APA, 2010, Standard 3.10).
Additionally, section 3.06 Conflict of Interest maintains that “Psychologists refrain from taking on a professional role when personal, scientific, professional, legal, financial, or other interests or relationships could reasonably be expected to (1) impair their objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in performing their functions as psychologists” (APA, 2010, Standard 3.06). By conducting an online search of this patient, Dr. Arnold is potentially setting herself up to develop biases, adversely impact her ability to be objective when listening and interacting with the client, and therefore negatively effecting her ability to perform her duties in a professional and competent manner.
Explain how your colleague might avoid this type of ethical dilemma in the future:
Dr. Arnold might avoid this type of ethical dilemma in the future by either declining the consultation and/or referring the potential client to another more capable colleague that is more equipped to handle potentially aggressive and violent clients.
Describe what policy or policies you might put in place if you were your colleague:
If I were my colleague, I would implement a policy where psychologists must undergo mandatory education and training every 6 months on how to handle potentially violent patients. Additionally, there would be a mandatory policy wherein a minimum of 3 people must be in the office at all times and no one is allowed to see patient’s after dark alone.
References:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Standard 3: Human relations (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=6
Harris, S. E., & Robinson Kurpius, S. E. (2014). Social networking and professional ethics: Client searches, informed consent, and disclosure. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(1), 11– 19. doi: 10.1037/a0033478
Munsey, C. (2008). Stay safe in practice. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/04/client-violence.aspx
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