Ethical Issues in Psychology

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We are going to explore the world of ethical issues in psychology. As in any medical or mental health fields there are rules we all must follow as professionals. In this essay today we will be exploring a case study where we have a young lady who has been stricken by a mental disability. We will be looking at the facts in which her disability was handled by a professional in the field of psychology. We also will be discussing the rights and wrongs that are presented in her case study. We will also be discussing the APA ethical codes and gain a clearer understanding of where some things went wrong and why shall we begin.

It started on a day in May when a fellow church member had many concerns about a young woman named Carolyn. Carolyn was a faithful church member and looked forward to visiting her church on weekly basics. Members of the church loved Carolyn and being around her. A fellow member of the church seemed to take much interest in Carolyn and her odd behavior. We will give this fellow member a name let’s call him John. Carolyn never spoke of her parents however, by her appearance everyone could evaluate she was from a poverty stricken home life. John had many concerns about Carolyn’s behavior she seemed to be very slow at anything she tries to do and becomes very frustrated to the point where she will cry and run and hide. Many times John has followed her many times and brought her back to the church and try to speak to her. John decided he is not a trained professional so he could not offer her the help she needed. John does have a friend who holds a P.H.D. in mental health and he requested this psychologist to see Carolyn. John did explain Carolyn had no money and requested if Carolyn could be p...

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...ed in a family environment? Three questions and to all three the only answer that is visible to us is I do not know. Since we are so unaware of Carolyn’s family background and we are also unaware if Carolyn can function on her own. We have one psychologists opinion is this enough? Absolutely not especially if there are small children in the new family. I as a future professional would feel very cautious in this situation. Another factor if the new family would have no experience with a mentally disabled human being this may cause much disruption in the family dynamics.

Works Cited

http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

VAN R.SILKA,MD;and MARK J. HAUSER, MD As published in the Psychiatric Annals 27:3/March 1997

Psychiatric Assessment of the Person

With Mental Retardation located at:http://www.psychiatry.com/mr/assessment.html

(Silka R. Van,1997)

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