Ethical Decision Making Paper
Michael D. Love
PSYCH 545
Sept 10th, 2012
Erica Wansel, Psy. D.

Ethical Decision Making Paper
Introduction
The development of ethical reasoning abilities is very important for both living an ethical life and creating an ethical world. This paper will attempt to examine the foundations of ethical reasoning. It will also to introduce some intellectual tools that can be used to gain the skills necessary for reasoning through ethical issues and problems in an insightful manner. Education is considered the moral enterprise that supports our values, beliefs and cultural norms of our society. It is important in building the character of our society and the persons involved in this are not only diverse in nature but also possess greater significance in terms of deciding the overall contents of the education system of our nation. Within this context, ethics are therefore considered as one of the prime concerns for all the stakeholders.
The following is an example of a possible ethical dilemma in the psychological academic arena.
“As the result of a colleague’s sudden serious illness, a clinical psychologist is asked to teach a psychological course, which is definitely outside his area of expertise. The course begins in one week. The department chair recognizes that the psychologist is not competent in this area, but he is as qualified as anyone else in the department and is the only person whose schedule can accommodate the course. The course is required for graduation. And several seniors will not graduate at the end of the semester if they do not take the course now.”’ STATE THE QUESTION, DILEMMA, OR CONCERN AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE

The ethical dilemma here deals with the competency of the clinical psychologists and his or her ability to effectively teach the course. He or she may be knowledgeable in area of psychology, however he or she has not been trained or certified as a teacher.
ANTICIPATE WHO WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE DECISION As noted in our text No one lives in a vacuum, and the decision to allow knowledgeable, but not certified teachers to instruct such courses; could open the door for similar situations. For example..a basketball coach with a Bachelor’s Degree in general science, could be asked to substitute for a chemistry teacher . Decisions such as this can affect hundreds of teachers and students as well
FIGURE OUT WHO, IF ANYONE, IS THE CLIENT
Is there any ambiguity, confusion, or conflict about who the client is? No, in this situation the client or the person being served is the student(s). And the students are being denied a quality education all because of a shortage in qualified teachers. Also the ethical reasoning of the department head or chair is something that needs to be questioned as well.

ASSESS WHETHER OUR AREAS OF COMPETENCE AND OF MISSING KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE, OR EXPERTISE— ARE A GOOD FIT FOR THIS SITUATION
The department chairs moral and ethics as well as his or her ethical decision making technique needs to be examined. The ethical and more prudent action would have been for the department chair to step in and teach the course. He or she would have been both qualified and competent enough to provide the proper instruction to the students.
REVIEW RELEVANT FORMAL ETHICAL STANDARDS
Ethical standards are clearly being violated in this situation. First the person selected to teach the course is not academically qualified to teach the course. Secondly the department head has violated both professional and personal ethics. Professional there are standards and qualifications that needed to be meet before someone is allowed to teach a class. Personally, the department head knowing appointed and subsequently will allow an unqualified person to teach a class they are not certified to instruct.
REVIEW RELEVANT LEGAL STANDARDS
Every state has their own legal criteria on what is needed to become a teacher. Certain test need to be taken and past, and also certain courses and training also needs to be completed. Any deficiency will automatically disqualify any person from obtaining a teachers certificate.
REVIEW THE RELEVANT RESEARCH AND THEORY
As far as any relevant research or pioneering theory(s)…there are none. The aforementioned situation is solely deals with current academic and basic teacher certification.
CONSIDER WHETHER PERSONAL FEELINGS, BIASES, OR SELF-INTEREST MIGHT AFFECT OUR ETHICAL JUDGMENT
Personally, the situation seems to illustrate what could possibly be a reoccurring practice within the field of academics. Person’s who may have the academic qualifications to teach, but have not yet been certified. Not everyone can be a teacher, and some current teacher’s should not be in a classroom teaching. The department head is clearly acting in his or her own self interest.
CONSIDER WHETHER SOCIAL, CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS, OR SIMILAR FACTORS AFFECT THE SITUATION AND THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST RESPONSE
The same act can take on sharply different meanings in different societies, cultures, or religions. What seems ethical in one context can violate fundamental values in another society, culture, or spiritual tradition. The biggest disappointment would be that the public could lose all trust and ethical belief in the academic institution.

CONSIDER CONSULTATION
Prior to making the decision to appoint and uncertified person to teach the course, the department head could have consulted a nearby institution of higher learning. Or he or she could have postponed the start of the class for a few days until a suitable teacher could be found.
DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION
As previously mentioned the department head could have taught the course or as also previously stated the course could have postponed a few days until a suitable teacher could be located
THINK THROUGH THE ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION
The department head did not think through any other alternative courses of action. If he or she had, then another solution may have been found. Maybe another department head could have been found who was more qualified and also certified to teach.

TRY TO ADOPT THE PERSPECTIVE OF EACH PERSON WHO WILL BE AFFECTED
Putting ourselves in the shoes of those who will be affected by our decisions can change our understanding. If I were to put myself in the shoes of the department head; I can sympathize on the fact the course is needed by those preparing to graduate soon. However on the other hand I think I would have attempted to find other solutions to the problem.
DECIDE WHAT TO DO, REVIEW OR RECONSIDER IT, AND TAKE ACTION
Once we have decided on a course of action, we can if time permits rethink it. Sometimes simply making a decision to choose one option and exclude all others makes us suddenly aware of flaws in that option that had gone unnoticed up to that point. Rethinking gives us one last chance to make sure we have come up with the best possible response to a challenging situation.
Therefore, from a perspective of competence, it is imperative that if the issue is viewed within the context of good will, such as competence therefore shall not matter as the proposed actions to be taken are done out of duty no matter such actions fail to deliver the perceived utility.
The proper role of ethical reasoning is to highlight acts of two kinds: those which enhance the well-being of others—that warrant our praise—and those that harm or diminish the well-being of others—and thus warrant our criticism. Developing one’s ethical reasoning abilities is crucial because there is in human nature a strong tendency toward egotism, prejudice, self-justification, and self-deception. These tendencies are exacerbated by powerful socio-centric cultural influences that shape our lives—not least of which is the mass media. These tendencies can be actively combated only through the systematic cultivation of fair-mindedness, honesty, integrity, self knowledge, and deep concern for the welfare of others. We can never eliminate our egocentric tendencies absolutely and finally. But we can actively combat them as we learn to develop as ethical persons.
The ultimate basis for ethics is clear: Human behavior has consequences for the welfare of others. We are capable of acting toward others in such a way as to increase or decrease the quality of their lives. We are capable of helping or harming. What is more, we are theoretically capable of understanding when we are doing the one and when the other. This is so because we have the capacity to put ourselves imaginatively in the place of others and recognize how we would be affected if someone were to act toward us as we are acting toward others.

References
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2003). The Minature Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning. Dillion Beach CA.
Pope, K. S., & Vasquez, M. J. T. (2011). Ethics in psychotherapy and counseling (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.