Introduction
The concept of psychology is essential since it is applicable in different fields, such as health, counseling, forensics, school, and industrial organizations. Assessments in these disciplines can result in specific violations that might affect the experiences of the targeted subjects. Such occurrences require immediate solutions to improve the integrity of this sector.
Ethical Issues and Violations
Human service professionals in different fields of psychology might commit various offenses that can violate the targeted individuals. All areas are capable of triggering such ethical issues, including counseling, forensic, and school psychology. In school psychology, professionals might share the information of underage children with unauthorized users or fail to consider parental consent (Muleya et al., 2017). In health, medical workers might share personal data, or fail to keep patient confidentiality. In the field of counseling, some of the common ones include failing to get informed consent, poor debriefing processes, and deception (Arslan, 2018). In forensic psychology, professionals can fail to maintain the anonymity of different criminals, suspects, or clients. In industrial-organizational psychology, similar offenses might occur during assessment whereby workers in need of support can have their information shared with unauthorized people.
Solutions to Potential Violations
The nature of the ethical challenges and violations in the field of psychology requires a multifaceted approach. First, all stakeholders need to be involved to ensure that the informed consent of every beneficiary or individual is taken into consideration. Second, different organizations and institutions should implement appropriate codes of conduct that will guide all professionals in different settings. Third, all social workers, psychologists, and human service professionals need to be on the frontline to analyze the nature of these violations and consider the best strategies to overcome them (Muleya et al., 2017). They can read widely and follow some of the guidelines different agencies have presented. This strategy can make it easier for them to be prepared and address the potential sources of such violations.
Fourth, all individuals involved in this field can develop appropriate professional philosophies that guide them to act ethically and protect their respective subjects. When all people take this issue seriously, chances of overcoming such challenges will increase significantly (Beidas et al., 2015). Fifth, players in different fields of psychology can engage in lifelong learning to understand the challenges many people have to go through. Some of them would include social workers, human service professionals, organizational leaders, therapists, and counselors (Yip et al., 2016). Such an approach will improve the nature of assessment in the field of psychology and make it possible for more patients to achieve their goals. Finally, the relevant associations and organizations in psychology can offer timely guidelines to minimize cases of abuse and violation of clients’ rights (Muleya et al., 2017). Therefore, such ideas will make it possible for different members to improve their competencies continuously.
Conclusion
The above discussion has identified various ethical violations that might occur during assessment in every psychology discipline. When such problems occur, both the psychologist and the subject will be unable to achieve the outlined aims. The implementation of the above suggestions or solutions will minimize most of these occurrences. Professionals can also engage in lifelong learning and consider emerging guidelines in an attempt to meet the demands of more beneficiaries and eventually maximize the integrity or effectiveness of assessment in psychology.
References
Arslan, R. (2018). A review on ethical issues and rules in psychological assessment. Journal of Family, Counseling, and Education, 3(1), 17-29. Web.
Beidas, R. S., Stewart, R. E., Walsh, L., Lucas, S., Downey, M. M., Jackson, K., Fernandez, T., & Mandell, D. S. (2015). Free, brief, and validated: Standardized instruments for low-resource mental health settings. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 22(1), 5-19. Web.
Muleya, V.R., Fourie, L., & Schlebusch, S. (2017). Ethical challenges in assessment centres in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 43, a1324. Web.
Yip, C., Han, N. R., & Sng, B. L. (2016). Legal and ethical issues in research. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 60(9), 684-688. Web.