For this week, you will review two case studies. Each study has some particular issues regarding ethics in psychology. For each case review the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and explain which specific ethical standards may be violated in the cases.
Case One:
Jackie made an appointment to see Dr. Roberts, a local psychologist. Over the past 6 months Jackie was having problems sleeping, seemed to get angry at both his family and co-workers with little provocation, and had lost weight. After several tests his physician had ruled out any potential medical issues and recommended that Jackie make an appointment with a psychologist.
At his appointment Jackie completed several forms including information regarding any use of medications, illegal drug use/alcohol consumption, sexual preference, and religion. He also completed some questionnaires regarding his mood state. Dr. Roberts reviewed the information and noticed that Jackie had described his sexual orientation as gay. Upon reading this Dr. Roberts had told Jackie that she will be unable to treat Jackie due to his sexuality. She explained that being gay presents problems that compound any psychological problems that he may have. Dr. Roberts then provided a resource for psychological services that may be a better fit for his type of person.
Case Two:
John recently graduated with his doctorate in psychology and was about to begin his internship hours required for his licensure. He reviewed several potential sites and thought the best one was with Dr. Roberts. According to the information presented on her web site, Dr. Roberts has been a licensed psychologist for over 10 years with specializations in child and adolescent psychology. Her web site was very inviting and listed several advertisements including one to an in-patient treatment center. There were several testimonials from former patients (names not included) regarding how Dr. Roberts was so helpful with their conditions. One of the things that caught John’s attention was Dr. Robert’s information on the use of hypnotism to examine repressed memories in order to get to the truth of a person’s problems. John was curious about digging a bit deeper regarding the information provided on the web source especially in regards to ethical issues.
