Ethics is an essential aspect of every sphere of life. A primary goal of this essay is to explain the differences, similarities, and correlations between terms such as morals, value, and ethics. Moreover, the role of ethics is analysed in the context of forensic psychology with the help of two particular examples.
Firstly, it is important to define morality, ethics, and values. Morals can be explained as providing rather broad principles of right and wrong based on the experience of wise people (Nagarazan, 2006). As for the value, this term can be defined as personal emotional views and dogmas, which have a substantial influence on one’s success (Nagarazan, 2006). Moreover, values have a high level of importance to the individual. Speaking of ethics, the term is hard to define, as it combines principles of values and morals. However, ethics can be considered as a branch of philosophy, which discovers the primary principles of morality. It could be said that ethics provides the set of rules such as rights, duties, responsibilities, acceptable behaviour, which one must follow to improve his/her living standards and reach the harmonized state of mind (Nagarazan, 2006).
It could be said that relation between these terms is rather strong as, for example, ethics has a tendency to combine vital principles of other terms. It could be said that a primary goal of ethics is to understand the acceptable principles and provide clear explanations of these phenomena. However, vigorous differences between ethics and morals can be discovered. The main dissimilarity is the fact that morals are rather general and are vehemently based on the cultural traditions and customs (Nagarazan, 2006). Moreover, morals have a strong focus on determination and distinction between right and wrong. In turn, ethics focuses on elements that are more specific, as describing accepted moral values and principles. As for the personal values, their development might vary depending on the particular intentions and background of an individual. As for the points the terms have in common, a primary similarity is the fact that all of the aspects have the same intention to bring the understanding and increase the mental well-being of people universally.
It is apparent that personal ethics has a significant role to me as forensic psychology professional, as some challenges might be a cause of complications and misunderstandings. One of the ethical dilemmas is a reveal of the potential child abuse while having the attorney evaluation (Hall, 2006). Psychologists Better and Able faced this situation, and it was unclear to determine whether their possible decisions were right (Hall, 2006). In this case, it would be a challenge for me as a forensic specialist, as it is unclear whether to respect attorney-client privilege or file the report on the potential existence of the child abuse. Another potential challenge is the evaluation of the inmates sentenced to the capital punishment (Shapiro, 2005). The limited definitions of the law pose restrictions and 45-75% of prisoners avoid capital punishment due to “Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity” (Shapiro, 2005, p.77). This evaluation will be hard to conduct to me, as my personal ethical principles do not support the death penalty.
In conclusion, it could be said that in forensic psychology, personal values should not interfere with the working principles and law. The decisions have to be objective and based on the facts and logic. In this case, being emphatic is unacceptable, as it leads to the wrongful decisions and might negatively affect the society.
References
Hall, S. (2006). Child abuse reporting laws and attorney-client privilege: ethical dilemmas and practical suggestions for the forensic psychologist. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 6(4), 55-68.
Nagarazan, R. (2006). Textbook on professional ethics and human values. New Delhi, India: New Age International (P) Ltd.
Shapiro, D. (2005). Ethical dilemmas in competency for execution evaluations. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 5(4), 75-82.