Ethical Issues Diagnosis and Assessment

Ethical Issues in Diagnosis and Assessment
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Abstract
Ethics is increasingly becoming an integral part of any profession. Professionals are being urged to adhere to specific ethical guidelines in their field. The field of psychology involves a high level of interaction between any professional in this field and the client since it’s from this interaction that a solution will be found. Clients will trust that by opening up about their problems, their personal information will be safeguarded and their privacy protected. Several decision-making models have been advanced by different scholars to help psychology professionals make desirable ethical decisions. ‘Integrative Decision-Making Model of Ethical Behavior’ is a model for ethical decision making under practice-based models of ethical decision making developed by Tarvydas in 1998.The model identifies steps and guiding principles that a psychology professional will use to arrive at a better decision when solving a problem. This paper analyses Bobby’s case and uses Tarvydas’s model to explore ways of explaining and solving different ethical issues arising from the case. These ethical concerns include professionalism, honesty, confidentiality, right to results and protecting privileged information.
Ethical Issues in Diagnosis and Assessment
Bobby’s case offers a wider picture of the various ethical issues confronting psychology professionals in their daily work. There are many psychological problems that affect young people, and Bobby’s case is no different.

Changes in family structure and relationships present some psychological challenges to children. Solving these challenges often comes with dealing with different ethical issues either directly or indirectly. In the Vignette, there are many ethical issues arising, and these include confidentiality, Honesty, professionalism, handling privileged information and right to results.
Privileged information has to be protected, and in the Vignette, there is much information that both Bobby and her mother have concerning their family. As a professional working in this case, there is information which has to be kept such as the cause of divorce, family relation status and results of the diagnosis and assessment. Honesty is another issue that is special to this case. There are some of Bobby’s behaviors that have to be disclosed to her mother and sister for them to understand Bobby. Professionalism is a third ethical issue to be observed in this case. Working with Bobby for six weeks mean there are some attachment and mutual understanding, this opportunity should not be used to ask for unprofessional information or misuse the trust to make Bobby more attached to the counselor than her mother, sister or father. Confidentiality is another important ethical issue whereby both information by Bobby and her mother or any family shared has to be protected. The family’s right to privacy should be protected. Finally, Bobby and her mother have right to the results of diagnosis and assessment, and these results have to be the true reflection of the issues identified.
Decision-Making Model
‘Integrative Decision-Making Model of Ethical Behavior’ is a model for ethical decision making under practice-based models of ethical decision making. This model was developed by Tarvydas in 1998 and reliably borrows from the works of Kitchener, Rest and both Cottone and Tarvydas’s 1991 work (Cottone & Claus, 2000). This model is best suited to deal with ethical issues arising from Bobby’s case. The model is specifically designed to illuminate deep thought and feeling by a specific professional working on an ethical issue that requires some broad considerations before a constructive decision is reached to solve a problem. The model analyses specific contextual cirmstumces of an ethical challenge or the process involved in arriving at a particular solution (Brabender & Bricklin, 2010). It is from Kitchener’s work about levels of thinking which are described as intuitive and critical that informed Tarvydas model’s analysis and adoption of the best decision or course of action. The model makes it easy for a counselor or any other professional in the psychology field to make an appropriate ethical decision. This is because the model outlines comprehensive stages in the process of ethical decision making. Tarvydas emphasized the need for a person or professional deciding to be self-aware and pay special attention to the context of the specific problem at hand. Collaboration is another critical element in this model, and it involves the counseling professional and the person being counseled together with all the relevant parties or stakeholders (Hanley, 2013). Bobby’s case requires a practical solution that can be best solved using Integrative Decision-Making Model of Ethical Behavior. This problem requires deep thought and a balancing act that ensures all the parties in the case are informed and involved in the solution or decision reached.
Application of the Model
Tarvydas’s model will be applied to Bobby’s case by first interpreting the situation surrounding the entire family. This is a family that has just divorced with the brother being 12 years old and the sister being one year old. The age difference is quite significant as it is point towards something in the relationship status of the family. This period might have made Bobby think that he is the only child in the family and hence the birth of her sister is causing lack of comfort and unease in the family. Another problem might be that Bobby was loved more by his father than the mother who might have probably loved the sister more hence when the parents divorced, Bobby was left with no love and affection.
The situation leads the professional to some ethical dilemma as the information required might be too personal to ask. The dilemmas, in this case, are ways of balancing the ethical issues identified. How far should the right to privacy be respected? What will be the level of honesty required towards Bobby’s mother and sister? Are Bobby’s mother and sister entitled to the results of Diagnosis? How will the resultant relationships be managed while being professional? These are some of the dilemmas to be reviewed.
The third steps demand identification of standards that are specifically applicable to the Dilemma. These standards include integrity, professionalism, respect, collaboration and sound client relationship management. These standards are in the best interest of coming up with best solutions to the dilemma. The fourth stage demands that a counselor comes up with a course of action that is practical. Specific actions to be taken in this case include respecting privacy, being honest, protecting privileged information, managing client relationship well and adhering to other rights such as rights to results of diagnosis and assessment. Specific consequences to the above-identified course of action should also be fully identified. The next step is to consult with peers who have had similar cases on the best ways the matter would be dealt with. All the actions to be taken in this case will be based on sound ethical values identified by weighing all the alternate values available. The final stages of this model to be applied are planning, evaluating and executing the course of action. Any action taken has to adhere to confidentiality, right to results, honesty, professionalism and protection of the right to privacy.
Summary of Outcomes
Adhering to all the identified ethical standards with regards to solving the identified ethical issues comes with different results. Being honest means revealing some information that will assist Bobby’s mother in understanding and managing the relationship between her son and daughter. Being professional in dealing with this case will demand that Bobby is slowly made to be open to his mother and sister about his feelings just the same way he does with me as the counseling professional. Bobby and his mother will get the results of Diagnosis. Bobby’s mother will work towards ensuring proper adjustment of her son and initiate some warm relationship between him and her one-year-old daughter. Adhering to confidentiality when dealing with some information means Bobby’s sister might not be informed that her brother fed her with a chocolate laxative. This might trigger hatred from Bobby’s sister. The family’s private information will be protected as I will act with confidentiality and protect any privileged information I have when dealing with the matter.
References
Brabender, V., & Bricklin, P. (2010). Ethical Issues in Psychological Assessment in Different
Settings. Journal Of Personality Assessment, 77(2), 192-194. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa7702_02
Cottone, R., & Claus, R. (2000). Ethical Decision-Making Models: A Review of the
Literature. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 78(3), 275-283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01908.xHanley, T. (2013). Adolescent counselling psychology. London: Routledge.