You are a prison psychologist, and during the course of your counseling session with one drug offender, he confesses that has been using drugs.
Obviously, this is a serious violation of prison rules. Should you report him? What if the drugs help manage his mental illness? What if he tells you of an impending escape plan?
Use the ethics decision making template attached and answers all questions posed.
Put the template with the questions listed and your answers to the questions in the discussions section for this week.Recognize an Ethical Issue
1. Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to some group? Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two "goods" or between two "bads"?
2. Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?
Get the Facts
3. What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?
4. What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are some concerns more important? Why?
5. What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been consulted? Have I identified creative options?
Evaluate Alternative Actions
6. Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
• Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? (The Utilitarian Approach)
• Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights Approach)
• Which option treats people equally or proportionately? (The Justice Approach)
• Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members?
(The Common Good Approach)
• Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue Approach)
Make a Decision and Test It
7. Considering all these approaches, which option best addresses the situation?
8. If I told someone I respect-or told a television audience-which option I have chosen, what would they say?
Act and Reflect on the Outcome
9. How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?
10. How did my decision turn out and what have I learned from this specific situation?