ICeGS Ethical issues in professional practice 7 th March, 2012 Jo Hutchinson Siobhan Neary Principal Research Fellows International.

iCeG

S

www.derby.ac.uk/icegs

Ethical issues in professional practice

7th March, 2012

Jo HutchinsonSiobhan NearyPrincipal Research FellowsInternational Centre for Guidance Studies

iCeG

S


Why does ethics matter to practice?

iCeG

S


Ethical practice – the basics

“One of the characteristics of contemporary society is the coexistence of different approaches to ethics”

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2009

“ethics…fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring and limiting life are evil”

Albert Schweitzer, 1949

iCeG

S


Ethics within professional practice

• With all professions it is difficult to separate ethics from professionalism "The Challenge of working ethically means that practitioners will inevitably encounter situations where there are competing obligations...members... are committing themselves to engaging with the challenge of striving to be ethical, even when doing so involves making difficult decisions or acting courageously”

BACP(2001, p.261)

iCeG

S


Ethics in the helping professions

Four principles of the helping professions (Mulvey, 2002):

• Beneficence – doing good for the client, which may have a positive action on behalf of the clients such as advocacy

• Non-malfeasance – the avoidance of harm• Autonomy – the client is facilitated to make

decisions• Justice – issues of equality and equity

iCeG

S


What do we mean by ethics?

• Definitions of ethics predominantly focus on conforming to standards of behaviors or sets of moral principles

• Ethics provide the common structure on which we base our professional practice within guidance

• Most professions will have an ethical code – in some they may be more important than others such a medicine and research.

iCeG

S


BACP Ethics framework

Values Personal moral qualities

Principles

Values include a commitment to (e.g.)

• Respect for human rights and dignity

Principles direct attention to important ethical responsibilities e.g.

• fidelity

• autonomy

Personal qualities are of utmost importance to clients and have an ethical or moral component: e.g.

• empathy

Values inform principles, which are action-oriented

Reliance on principles alone should not detract from personal qualities

Practitioners are encouraged to aspire to these

iCeG

S


Ethics and professional practice

• Careers Profession Alliance – building a core code of professional ethics– (draft code available on ICG website)– register of practitioners

• Organisations may have their own codes of conduct or professional standards.

iCeG

S


Our research

• Interviews with 7 practitioners across a range of UK settings

• Asked them to talk through and then reflect on an ethical dilemma which had an equality and diversity angle

• Agreed transcript with each practitioner

iCeG

S


Key findings: time of change and competition

• Organisational change driven by either contracts, competition for learners or policy change was a universal theme:– Example 1: immigration policy & student visas– Example 2: targets and action plans – Example 3: standing up to aggressive advice

from teachers in a client review

iCeG

S


Key findings: Values

• Practitioners feel compromised when their values do not match those of their employer, or of their clients

– Example 4: advising recently redundant managers on access to a training fund

– Example 5: advising clients with fundamental views

iCeG

S


Key issue: organisational support

• Organisational infrastructure– Active and supportive line management– Availability of specialist advice– 360° communication– Training– Professional resilience

iCeG

S


Key issue: codes of ethical practice

• Relevance of ethical codes of practice– All were aware of them– Employer organisations had some codes and

policies but they were more generic– Confidentiality was important– Dilemmas arose out of sense of compromising

personal values – a gap in the codes?– Dilemmas arose out of a conflict between

employer needs and professional ethics

iCeG

S


CONTACT US!

Jo Hutchinson

01332 591367

[email protected]

Siobhan Neary

01332 591580

[email protected]

ICeGS Ethical issues in professional practice 7 th March, 2012 Jo Hutchinson Siobhan Neary Principal Research Fellows International.

Documents

moral principles ethics

ethical practice

ethics matter

definitions of ethics

practitioner slide

equity slide

ethical code

ethical issues