ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSIONALS

Forensic psychology professionals have two primary resources that guide their research and practice: the American Psychological Association's (APA) “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Ethics” (2017), which applies to all psychology specializations, and the American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of the APA, “Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists” (2011). The ethical principles are aspirational and reflect the highest standards of professional conduct, while the guidelines are enforceable standards. Ethics serve to help forensic psychology professionals maintain professional conduct, make appropriate decisions, and resolve conflicts. However, issues within the practice of forensic psychology are not always categorized easily into right and wrong, and it is one thing to understand ethical guidelines and quite another to consistently abide by them as you will read about in the Learning Resources this week. In this week’s Discussion, you will identify ethical guidelines that forensic psychology professionals might find challenging to adhere to. Using recent cases of ethical violations from the California Board of Psychology newsletter, you will also consider their impact on the perception of the field. Review the ethical guidelines found in this week’s Learning Resources. Find the most recent newsletter of the California Board of Psychology, which can be found in this week’s Learning Resources. Read the ethics violations listed in the newsletter, and then consider your reactions and thoughts about the violations. Post the following: Part 1 Description, in your own words, of at least one of the APA ethical guidelines (from either the“Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Ethics” or the “Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists”) that you think might be challenging to comply with, and describe why this may be the case Description of a solution or strategy you could apply to help ensure that you comply with all ethical guidelines Part 2 Description of your initial impressions of the ethics violations you read about in the California Board of Psychology publication Explanation of how learning about real-life ethics violations impacted your views about your subspecialty of interest and the ethical guidelines in general; specifically discuss how ethical violations of one psychologist may impact the perception of the entire discipline Note: Your posts should be substantial (2–4 paragraphs), supported with scholarly evidence from your research and/or the Learning Resources, and properly cited using APA style. Personal anecdotes are acceptable within meaningful responses but cannot stand alone as a response. American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017)Links to an external site.. https://www(dot)apa(dot)org/ethics/code American Psychological Association. (2011, January 1). Specialty guidelines for forensic psychologyLinks to an external site.. https://www(dot)apa(dot)org/practice/guidelines/forensic-psychology