Informed and Ethical Decision Making Flashcards
Values
The beliefs and attitudes that provide direction to our everyday actions
Ethics
Moral principles adopted by an individual or group that guide behaviour and inform right or wrong actions
Morality
Refers to our perspectives of right and proper (moral) conduct
Community standards
Define what is considered reasonable behaviour when a case involving malpractice is litigated. Community standards vary on interdisciplinary, theoretical and geographical bases
Reasonableness
The care that is ordinarily exercised by others practicing within that speciality in the professional community
Professionalism
The embodiment of a profession’s expertise, ethos and service to the public good
Basic moral principles to guide decision making
- Autonomy
- Nonmaleficence
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Fidelity
- Veracity
Ethical decision making approaches
- Client-centred approach
- Feminist model
- Social constructionist model
- Transcultural integrative model
Client-centred approach to ethical decision making
Support clients to make informed choices in the clients’ best interest, unconditional positive regard
Feminist model to ethical decision making
Calls for maximum involvement of the client at every stage of the process. Based on feminist principle that power should be equalized in the therapeutic relationship!
The social constructionist model of ethical decision making
Focuses primarily on the social aspects of decision making in counselling. Redefines the ethical decision-making process as an interactive rather than an individual process and places the decision in the social context itself
The transcultural integrative model of ethical decision making
Addresses the need for including cultural factors in the process of resolving ethical dilemmas
Steps in the ethical decision making process
Identify the problem, identify the people who will be involved or affected, consider personal bias, stress or self-interest that may affect decision, review relevant codes of conduct, ethics, standards, guidelines and policies, obtain consultation, consider possible and probable courses of action, analyze risks and benefits for all parties, choose and enact what appears to be the best course of action, evaluate impact of chosen action, assume responsibility for consequences, appropriate action to prevent future recurrence, document the decision and the rationale
Rational decision making process
- Define the problem
- Identify criteria
- Allocate weights to the criteria
- Develop alternatives
- Evaluate alternatives
- Select the best alternative
What is creative potential?
Creativity is the ability to produce novel and useful ideas and allows decision makers to fully appraise and understand problems, including seeing problems that others cannot see. Creative potential refers to some of the potential causes of creative behaviour.
