Introduction:

“From the initial meeting to the final process of treatment, the role of ethics is an important one in the field of psychology.” (EFPA, 1999) Ethical thinking is a significant element of psychology; ethical dilemmas are also an substantial element for psychotherapists to watch out for. As a psychologist it is important to obtain a correct amount of research while facing an ethical dilemma, so the psychologist does not do more harm to the individual they are treating.  Psychologists and psychotherapist need to use a few different resources to validate that they are making an appropriate ethical decision. A psychotherapist ensures that they realize all decisions made will affect their client; they need to be cautious so they do not make a poor decision and affect their client negatively.

The American Psychological Association “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.” will include the General Principles as well as a few sections including resolving ethical issues, human relations, privacy and confidentiality, and therapy. “. General Principles, as opposed to Ethical Standards, are aspirational in nature. Their intent is to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession” (American Psychological Association, 2010) General principles are more of a guideline for psychologists; they steer the psychologist in the right direction when facing an ethical dilemma. “Respected authors address seven of these challenges: Informed consent; confidentiality, privilege, and their limits; treatment of minors and their families; business matters of practice (e.g., money, fees, bartering, and advertising); clinical competence and scope of practice; boundaries and nonsexual multiple relationships; and termination and abandonment.” (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 569)

The Dilemma:

Here are the facts: a man brought his minor son to a psychotherapist for therapy. The man is the custodial parent of his minor son. The man and the client’s mother are divorced; the divorced was caused by the noncustodial mother of the client’s drinking complications.  The noncustodial mother continues to drink and has now requested to become a part of her minor son’s treatment. The minor son is in therapy because he was depressed and cutting himself. The dilemma is whether or not to allow the mother to become part of her noncustodial son’s therapy and weather she is allowed to have any of the client’s confidential information.  While facing this ethical dilemma a psychotherapist will look at a few different resources to help  make a good ethical decision as to whether or not the mother of the client would be allowed to participate or be involved in her minor son’s treatment. In order to make this appropriate decision the psychotherapist would study the Ethical Standards from the American Psychological Association, The Elements of Thought Model, as well as a scholarly source: in this case it will be an article by Barnett, “The Ethical Practice of Psychotherapy: Easily Within our Reach”.  Barnett’s article had a very similar dilemma in it and will be a good resource for this dilemma.

The Decision:

At this time considering the reasoning and research that has gone into the decision making process facing this ethical dilemma the psychotherapist has decided to decline the noncustodial parent from consolidating or having any confidential information about said client. This can be reevaluated at a later time once the mother has worked on her own inconveniences and entered a treatment and rehabilitation therapy of her own. At this time the psychotherapist feels as though the mother’s negativity and alcohol problems could be detrimental to the minor client. The psychotherapist has made this decision through careful research and with the well-being of the minor client in mind. This decision will be reevaluated in three months upon completion of mother’s therapy and alcohol evaluation.

The Reasoning:

               Looking at Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, the psychotherapist sees that it is important to respect the dignity of all people as well as respect the privacy and confidentiality rights of individuals and clients. This principle shows the psychotherapist the importance of respecting client’s rights. Looking at this particular situation the psychotherapist sees that respecting the client (the child) and the father who has enlisted in services is at the top of the priorities in this ethical dilemma. Also respecting the right to privacy of the client is very important and allowing the mother to know information even though she is not the custodial parent would be unprofessional and violating the clients privacy rights. “Psychologists are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making.” (American Psychological Association, 2010)

               Examining the other sections of the American Psychological Associations; section 3.07 discusses the third-party requests for services. Upon reviewing this section the psychotherapist realizes that facing this ethical dilemma this section directly pertains to the dilemma. Section 3.07 states “This clarification includes the role of the psychologist (e.g., therapist, consultant, diagnostician, or expert witness), an identification of who is the client, the probable uses of the services provided or the information obtained, and the fact that there may be limits to confidentiality.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) After examining this section a psychotherapist would realize that this should have already been discussed under the confidentiality clause that they would have the patient sign. This section is also telling the psychotherapist that if this has not already been discussed that this would be something they will need to discuss with the father of the client since the client himself is not of age. Section 3.10 b also discusses the process of informed consent; since the client is underage the psychotherapist will need to provide an explanation to the father and son, the psychotherapist needs to  seek the clients assent, consider the clients best interests, as well as obtaining permission from the legal guardian of the underage client; in this case his father. (American Psychological Association, 2010)

               Section 4.02 (a) is pertaining to discussing the limits of confidentiality with the client or guardian. In this discussion whether or not the mother will be allowed to be a part of therapy should be brought up by the psychotherapist. Section 4.05 discusses disclosures; this includes the appropriate consent of the client and organization. It also includes the fact that no information shall be disclosed without the consent of the client, or in this case the client’s father. This protects the client from harm. So following the guidelines the psychotherapist  now makes note of section 4.05 for further use in this case.

Barnett also discusses ethical dilemmas and how to deal with them in his scholarly article. Psychologists work towards benefiting the individuals they work for, they are also careful so they do not harm those individuals. Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence of the APA Code of Conduct states, “Because psychologists' scientific and professional judgments and actions may affect the lives of others, they are alert to and guard against personal, financial, social, organizational or political factors that might lead to misuse of their influence.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) This shows the psychotherapist that while facing an ethical dilemma such as this one  any judgments and final decisions could possible affect the life of the client, the psychotherapist needs to be on guard looking at the effects both positive and negative that allowing the mother to take part in therapy will have on the client. In Barnett’s article he further verifies the importance of making a correct judgment so that the psychotherapist does not negatively impact the client by stating, “While reducing the risk of an ethics complaint or malpractice claim is obviously of great importance to all psychotherapists, as will be seen in the following articles, effective ethical practice embraces risk management, but retains its focus on the client’s best interests rather than on protecting the psychotherapist.” (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 569)

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility states that as a psychologist the clients trust me and the psychotherapist must trust them, they have the responsibility of upholding to specific communities, obligations, and behavior responsibilities. A psychotherapist needs to make sure their behavior, obligations and other responsibilities do not come in the way of the client and make the best decision to fit the client’s needs rather than their own. “Psychologists uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) This directly relates to the psychotherapists personal opinion on whether or not the mother should be allowed in the therapy. They have to make a knowledgeable decision on the dilemma.  

While looking at Principle C: Integrity, the psychotherapist notes that integrity is very important. “In situations in which deception may be ethically justifiable to maximize benefits and minimize harm, psychologists have a serious obligation to consider the need for, the possible consequences of, and their responsibility to correct any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that arise from the use of such techniques.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) In this ethical dilemma integrity is important because the psychotherapist will be making a very important decision based on accuracy, honesty, and truth. Looking forwards at the Justice side Principle D the psychotherapist notes that this general principle is important as well. Justice is important in every ethical dilemma because a psychotherapist need to be fair and make sure that justice is going to all individuals in the party regardless of their personal beliefs. At the same time the psychotherapist needs to make sure the final decision is not negatively influencing the client.

               Barnett’s article has a section in it with the steps a psychotherapist will need to go through while facing this specific dilemma. To summarize Barnett’s article steps state that the first thing to do would be to review the ethics codes and specific sections. If the issue of the mother had not yet been addressed the next step is to consult a colleague that has expertise in ethics and legal issues. Then the colleague refers the psychotherapist to a particular section of the law in that state that authorizes all noncustodial parents to have access to all treatment information concerning their children. Also that after reading literature, they will realize that based on recommendations they would need to schedule a meeting with both parents and review the relevant Ethics Code standards and the relevant statute, then with both parents modify the original informed consent agreement to the satisfaction of all. (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 572) This article is a great tool for the ethical dilemma the psychotherapist is facing because the steps really let the psychotherapist know which way they need to go with the dilemma. The psychotherapist needs to find out the laws in the particular state they am living and working in to find out if the legal situation is similar to the dilemma that the psychotherapist is facing. If the law is similar they can follow Barnett’s steps and do the same with their clients. If the law is different the psychotherapist will need to take a different approach possibly contacting the father for his permission to bring the mother into therapy. At this point it really depends on the state laws so the psychotherapist would be researching.

               While researching the state laws or having a colleague check on the state laws for the psychotherapist they would take a look at the Elements of Thought Model.  They would review the model and make sure they am making an ethical decision. The psychotherapist would look at all individuals point of view; from the point of view of the client himself the psychotherapist would realize the mother being involved could worsen his productivity in the therapy session, from the point of view of the father the psychotherapist can see that the mother would cause some additional stress and worry. Presumably the father will be worried about his son’s safety as the sole custodial parent. From the viewpoint of the mother the psychotherapist sees that she may want a change and may want to be part of her son’s life.  They need to make sure they “understand the limitations of your point of view and that you fully consider other relevant viewpoints.” (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007) The psychotherapist will need to be sure their purpose is justifiable and clear. In this case the purpose is to solve the ethical dilemma without a negative impact on the client. The question at issue is whether or not the psychotherapist should allow the noncustodial mother to be a part of her son’s therapy. The question is clear and precise and targets the issue itself. The psychotherapist will be gathering information from many different sources throughout the dilemma, they will make sure the information is not biased; it is relevant, and accurate. The psychotherapist must make sure to watch for any inferences, assumptions and also need to logically follow all leads and not inferring more than the situation implies.  Clarifying concepts will allow the psychotherapist to make sense of the situation and dilemma. Implications and consequences vary greatly on one hand if the psychotherapist decides to allow the mother into therapy it could help the client and help his mother on the other hand it could be detrimental to the mother son relationship and the mother could impact the client negatively. (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007)

Recommendations:

               While researching the laws in my state the Psychotherapist found that the state of North Dakota does not like alienating the noncustodial parent, they state that it could create more “issues” and “frequent returning to court”. The law however does not state such as in the example from Barnett’s reading above that the psychotherapist would have to include the noncustodial parent in therapy. It is actually dependent on what is best for the minor client. “Someone who has a mental disorder, abuses drugs or is abusive to people will require a more intense therapeutic intervention with a counselor, social worker, psychologists or psychiatrist. Most mediators are not qualified to work with those who need help specifically with parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome” and “Others who commonly need therapy are parents who spend too much time thinking about their divorce and having been betrayed by the system; parents who can't help driving by the marital home hoping for a glimpse of the ex-spouse or children; and parents who often think about their next phone call to the ex-spouse or the children and cannot seem to stop him or herself from making the calls. Other warning signs include an increase in the use of alcohol and drugs or an increase in high-risk behavior such as drinking and driving, unprotected sex, stalking, and harassing phone calls.” (Darnall, 1999) This basically lets the psychotherapist know that in this state whether or not the mother is to be involved in the child’s therapy is completely up to the psychotherapist in this specific dilemma. In this case after reviewing the final information the psychotherapist will have three discussions, the first will be with the custodial guardian the father. In this case the psychotherapist will inform him about the mother’s phone call and ask him his opinion on whether or not her entering therapy would be a good idea. After speaking with the father and if he thinks it would be okay to include the mother in therapy then the psychotherapist will have a conversation with the mother. In the conversation with the mother the psychotherapist would talk to her about getting help with her drinking problems and let her know that we could possibly include her in the therapy if it will help her son. But also let her know that her showing up drinking will not help her son and make sure it is included that she will not be drunk at the therapy and she will have to get help with her drinking problems. Before having the third conversation the psychotherapist would then consult the client on his feelings on his mother becoming a part of his therapy and that would be the deciding factor. The psychotherapist would bring up the negative and positive side effects as well as the stipulations with the father and client. The psychotherapist  would also make it aware that the mother would not be included in all of the therapy sessions it could probably be something to do  a trial on to see if that improves or worsens the clients condition. Dependent on what is decided at that time the psychotherapist will meet with all parties involved to discuss confidentiality and the client’s condition and therapy scheduling.

References:

American Psychological Association (2010). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of

Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and

Your Life (Custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing.

Barnett, J.E. (2008) The Ethical Practice of Psychotherapy: Easily Within our Reach. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(5) 569-575. Doi:10.1002/jclp.2047

Darnall, D. (1999). North Dakota Law Review. (Vol. 75, pp. 323-364). Retrieved from http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/pas/darnal99.htm

EFPA. (1999). Ethics of psychology. Retrieved from http://www.efpa.be/ethics.htm

Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2007). Elements of thought. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

Organizational Communication

Organizational communication is a process of coordinating employees and group members to reach company specific goals. Unbeknownst to most employees organizational communication is used every day.  In history individuals learn that organizational communication has been a center point in business communication and information for years. At one point there were many underlying assumptions that caused organizational communication to change theories and various beliefs. Using formal and informal communication an organization can be organized properly and effectively. Organizational communication is studied by many scholars even currently. This essay is designed to define and give a brief history of organizational communication as well as understand the underlying assumptions and changed viewed throughout the history and research process.

Organizational Communication is defined as a process by which the activities of a society or group are coordinated and collected to reach the goals of the members of that society or group. “It defines leadership in terms of being able to influence the management of meaning through the way in which decisions are framed using assessments. In this way, certain meanings are privileged over others and so meaning is managed.” (Clifton, J. 2012) Organizational Communication is an absolute necessity to having effective management in a work place environment. The way the organization gives the public and its employees specific information and its goals as well as to what it is planning on doing is also organizational communication. This type of communication is very important in any workplace setting no matter the size or tenure. All employees should have a full understanding of the aims of the organization or company, by affectively utilizing organizational communication skills.  This helps create an overall understanding and knowledge of the process of the goals of the company. 

As a brief history of organizational communication; the field traces the usage through business communication and information as well as early mass communication studies published in the 1930’s. Before then the organizational communication idea was used as a discipline that only consisted of a couple of college professors. These professors worked within speech departments and had an interest in writing and speaking in business settings. The organizational communication field has its own concerns and theories that are really distinct from other fields. In the 1950’s organizational communication focused on the role of communication in order to improve life. In the 80’s the idea really turned away from the business approach to being more concerned with the constitutive role in communication within the organization. As well as in the 90’s many critical theories held a strong influence on the organizational communication field as scholars focused on using it to liberate the organizational members. Organizational communication has really enveloped the ideas of organizing and successfully containing a work place group. Organizational communication may have changed and developed over the years but in the end it really is the same ideas and concepts that came about years ago that have been developed to the changing times.

In the early years of organizational communication there were many underlying assumptions that acted as the base for the theory. First assumption is that humans act rationally; as scholars have progressed they have found this to be false, in fact some people do not behave in a rational way at all. Individuals that are irrational will make excuses to cover their communication measures whether or not it is rational. This can cause organizational communication to be difficult in the workplace. The second underlying assumption is that formal logic and verifiable date should be the foundation upon which any theory should rest. This as well is false; the only thing really needed would be an observable behavior that can be transformed and changed into variables and can also be extended to underlying theories from observed past data. Organizations are mechanical things. Scholars have also found to be false; individual differences can be eliminated with careful management techniques. Individuals can learn to think as a group rather than as individuals. Bounded rationality challenges these assumptions; people making decisions in organizations do not always have the full information and after more information becomes available decision makers tend to just grab the first option rather than exploring things further. In the 90’s new theories on organizational communication were developed; these new theories included learning organization and systems thinking. These new theories are the main focus in the human resources department in the workplace. The new theories are now the main beliefs toward organizational communication in the workplace.

Interpersonal communication is between individuals in the face-to-face processes. Interpersonal communication is a part of organizational communication. Interpersonal communication can take numerous different forms; this could be verbal or by body language, as well as nonverbal messages an individual may receive in a form of silence. Each form of interpersonal communication can have different meanings such as verbal communication. As individuals in this class have learned over the previous weeks verbal and nonverbal communication are very important in the workplace. “HR professionals carry out many important organizational initiatives, including dealing with employee disputes, serving as a liaison between the employee and the organization, and drafting and enforcing organizational policies and procedures.” (Cowan, R. L. 2012) The HR department in the work place focuses on training individuals about interpersonal communication as it is a study that many individuals are unaware of.  There are numerous variables that express interpersonal communication and how it is used in the workplace.

There are two main approaches that are used in organizational communication informal and formal. Informal communication is associated with horizontal and interpersonal communication. “Issues of the nature of informal communication between supervisors and employees at work and issues of manifestations of linguistic politeness and differences that informal communication takes across diverse industry sectors.” (Freihat, S., & Al-Machzoomi, K. (2012) It ensures effective conduct of work in modern organizations. The top down approach is also known as downward communication this is used to implement guidelines and policies as well as allow top level management to communicate to lower levels. The top down approach is most effective when used for feedback. There are four constitutive flows of communication that become related in order to constitute organizing the organization these include organizing structure, membership negotiation, activity coordination and institutional positioning.

Organizational communication was driven by research and methodologies in the past. This included functional organizational communication research and surveys, text indexing’s, and behavior modeling. When the interpretive revolution took place it was argued that opening up methodological space for narrative analyses, interviewing, participant-observation, as well as rhetoric approaches to reading. Currently research from post-positive, interpretive, postmodern, critical, and paradigms are being published and researched in the organizational communications field. Most organizations are seeking to influence the reputation of the organization through activities that express their identity and promote their specific image.

It has previously been considered that formal communications have a directional characteristic. This meaning that its content is very clear because it originates at a higher level of expertise and experience. This is used quite frequently in military communication. One-way communication is a faster way to communicate but two ways communication is more accurate. Receivers of the two way communication are sure of themselves when making judgments. The sender feels under attack in the two way system because at times the receivers may pick up on mistakes and point them out to the sender. The two way method is also nosier and looks more disorderly than the neat and efficient once way method. For example if a manager is concerned with businesslike appearance then a one-way communication would be preferred.

There are several networks within an organization. A network is an aspect of direction and a flow of communication. This has been shown that patterns or networks of communication influence the group members in very important ways. The patterns could affect the completion of the task on time, the position of the leader in the group, and even affect the member satisfaction rates. They have important implications for the dynamics of the formal organization communications. These changes are usually classified as different names such as the Circle or the Chain or the Wheel and the Star. They are named like so because of the bottling affect or chain of command from managers to employees. In networks there is a group responsibility for passing along messages that is split up between the members this betters the group’s moral.

This essay was designed to give readers a common knowledge of organizational communications as well as the aspects of the organization and the communication methods that have been used previously. Readers have learned what organizational communication is also a brief history of organizational communication as it has been formed. Organizational communication has changed with time throughout history and will be a constant in organizing any business or workplace. Readers have had an overview of organizational communication and should be able to relate to the known facts of organizational communication in their personal workplaces. If an individual looks closely they will see organizational communication daily.

References

Clifton, J. (2012). A Discursive Approach to Leadership: Doing Assessments and Managing Organizational Meanings. Journal Of Business Communication, 49(2), 148-168.

Cowan, R. L. (2012). It’s Complicated: Defining Workplace Bullying From the Human Resource Professional’s Perspective. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(3), 377-403.

Freihat, S., & Al-Machzoomi, K. (2012). The Picture of Workplace Oral Communication Skills for ESP Jordanian Business Graduate Employees. International Journal Of Business, Humanities & Technology, 2(1), 159-173. 

Groupthink
While we sit in a group do you ever feel like a sheep lost in a crowd, like your opinions or voice just don’t matter; groupthink can make individuals feel that way. This week on Wikipedia I learned that groupthink “is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome.” (Wikipedia) Groupthink is really a loss of individual creativity and uniqueness as well as a gain for group creativity. Most examples of groupthink come from looking back at American history as well as in our everyday lives. This essay is designed to define groupthink to readers as well as give examples of groupthink and gives examples of how to prevent groupthink in the workplace.
So now that we know the definition of group think next we should figure out what groupthink means. Loyalty you a group really requires the individuals in that group to try not to raise any controversial issues. Groupthink is a constant part of social psychology; as well as a controversial subject. Many individual creative ideas are lost because the individuals in the group are creating group ideas and often some individual ideas may be lost in the crowd. Group members are trying to reach a good decision without doing a critical evaluation or considering alternative ideas.
Groupthink has many examples of how it is used in everyday life for example in political and military decisions. Sometimes military commanders and politicians make poor decisions in a group setting. For example the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War; even the US administrations view on Saddam Hussein that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. As well as the attack on Pearl Harbor. As well as military and political decision groupthink is often present in the corporate world. The effects of ineffective group decision making can really affect the growth and health of a company. As well as in an office setting for example the company I work at sells manufactured and modular homes, if we make a poor group decision in the corporate office it affects every office immensely. In the corporate work place and everyday life we see groupthink all of the time.
Groupthink can be prevented. There are a few ways such as leaders assigning each member the role of critical evaluator this lets the members of the group freely air their doubts; as well as giving a chance for individualism. Leaders should not express opinions while assigning a task to the group this causes individuals to lean more towards the leader’s opinion. We actually see this in the school setting quite a bit. For example if your professor stated how much he or she liked a certain subject and wanted the students to write a paper on that subject. As students we would then write about the positive side of the subject rather than evaluating it with our own ideas and deciding for ourselves weather or not we enjoyed the subject or form our own opinions about it. Organizations should set up separate groups to work on the same problem this way all effective alternatives can be fairly examined. Along with this each member should discuss the ideas with people outside of the group to not only get other opinions but if done successfully expert opinions.
Readers should now have a full knowledge of what groupthink consist of along with examples of groupthink in everyday life as well as how to prevent groupthink in your workplace. In my personal opinion I believe that groupthink will continue being a controversial topic for psychology (my major) along with work place settings everywhere. As readers have learned groupthink is very important and it is equally important as business professionals to avoid groupthink.
 
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

Analyzing “The Debilitating Effects of TV on Children”

After reading “The Debilitating Effects of TV on Children” written by Grohol my opinions on television and children and adults alike changed greatly. I do not have children but I have four younger siblings so I know a thing or two from personal experience. I think this article is full of research supporting Grohol’s argument. In Grohol’s article he states, ““Ah,” but you argue, “I grew up on TV and I came out okay!” Sure, personal anecdotes and analogies are great, but not a great way to inform public policy or carry on a serious public health debate.” (Grohol, 2009) Before reading this article I was that person who watched TV as a child and came out okay. After reading the article and looking at the data provided by Grohol I saw things a little differently. This is because of the second line of the quote, Grohol is right just because I turned out okay watching television as a child does not mean that it is the case for the majority of children who grow up in front of the “boob tube”. There have been so many studies that are showing the opposite, one case does not create research. Research includes many cases and many studies; and that is what changed my mind. During this paper I will be examining Grohol’s main purpose, arguments, evidence, inferences, assumptions, and line of reasoning.

Dr. Grohol’s main purpose for writing this article is to inform the public that as American we allow our children to watch too much T.V. and we also watch too much T.V. as well. This purpose is the biggest argument he pushes towards during the entire article. Grohol is pressing the issue that watching too much T.V. is causing negative effects on child development. In Grohol’s article he states “The upshot — we Americans watch way too much TV and we raise our children on TV, somewhat oblivious to its negative effects on our children’s development.” (Grohol, 2009)

Grohol’s main arguments are based on his research, data, and facts. Grohol uses evidence in his article to support his arguments. The main argument that he is making is the fact that watching too much T.V. and watching T.V. in general has negative effects on individuals as adults and children. Grohol even states information on toddlers not watching T.V. at all. Grohol’s main arguments are based on his research, data, and facts. His research includes the research of Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2007. This research was showing the negative attitude and poor academics caused from 14 year olds watching T.V. only one or more hours per day. He also included research from the American Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine; this data showed that the more time that was spent watching T.V. is related to the lower levels of adult education. As well as a study by the University of Michigan Health System which mentioned smoking, high cholesterol, weight, and sleep problems all caused by excessive T.V. watching.  

The main conclusion that Grohol comes to in his article is that watching T.V. is bad for you; there are many negative side effects to watching T.V. at all ages. There are not many assumptions in Dr. Grohol’s articles but one noted assumption is the fact that Dr. Grohol assumes that many individuals just plop their children in front of a T.V. at a young age. Through current knowledge this could be true, but at the same time from personal experience I know that not all individuals let their children watch excessive amounts of television at a young age, and some parents limit the amount of television children are watching.

If I am to accept Dr. Grohol’s reasoning the implications for me personally would be to follow his line of advice and limit the amount of television children are watching, possibly to spread the information of Dr. Grohol’s so that more individuals can educate themselves on the side effects of watching television. The implications of rejecting Grohol’s research and line of reasoning would be to continue doing things the way they are. Researchers will continue to see the negative side effects of watching television especially at a young age. This would be the same as turning a blind eye to an important issue.

References:

Grohol, J. (2009, September, 9.). The debilitating effects of TV on children [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/09/27/the-debilitating-effects-of-tv-on-children/




Additional Note: 

Looking back at the Elements of Thought model I feel as though I thoroughly went through the model while analyzing Grohol’s article.

Looking at the question at issue section in the model I notice that I used a few of the questions such as. “What is the question I am trying to answer?”  “Is this question clear? Is it complex?” (Grohol, 2009)I felt as though the question Grohol was asking was not exactly a question but it could be broke down into a question form; such as asking myself Is it okay for children, teens, and young adults to watch television? Also is it okay to watch excessive amounts of television? What are the problems created by watching television? I felt as though once the questions were broke down they were not complex at all.

Looking at the Information section of the model, I tried to answer all of the questions while analyzing the article. Grohol included a lot of research in his article and this helped while analyzing it. Before reading the article I was very skeptical about it but once reading his research it became very interesting and persuading. A few of the questions I used while analyzing where “What data are relevant to this problem?” “What experience convinced you of this? Could your experience be distorted?” and “Have we left out any important information that we need to consider?” (Grohol, 2009)I felt all data included in Grohol’s article was relevant to the problem, he did not include any unnecessary and for the length of the article I feel like he gave a sufficient amount of research. Experience actually led me to the arguing side of the article, my experience could be a bit distorted but experience did lead me to disagree with Grohol; the research convinced me otherwise. I felt that Grohol did not leave out any important information.

While reading over the point of view part of the model I notice that I did not consider too much about other readers point of view on the subject. For example “Have you ever considered the way ____(Japanese, Muslims, South Americans, etc.) view this?”(Grohol, 2009) I did consider the authors viewpoint and the fact that some viewpoints make more sense in given situations. I also realized that my view would not be the only reasonable view; this argument could be answered either way.

The next section of the model that I used questions from was purpose, I really dug into this section with my analyzation because I felt it was something that should be elaborated on. Grohol had a justifiable purpose that he was extremely clear about. A few of the questions I used include, “What is the objective of this assignment (task, job, experiment, policy, strategy, etc.)?” “What is your, my, their purpose in doing________?” “What is your central aim in this line of thought?” (Grohol, 2009)I felt as though the purpose of this article was to educate individuals on the negativities of television, I believe Grohol felt as though he had a purpose for writing this article and intended to make an impact by doing so. I think the central aim in Grohol’s line of thought is to make it known that watching television at any age is not a good thing, especially in excessiveness.

References:

Foundation For Critical Thinking. (2007). Elements of thought. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

Grohol, J. (2009, September, 9.). The debilitating effects of TV on children [Web log message]. Retrieved fromhttp://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/09/27/the-debilitating-effects-of-tv-on-children/

By: April Carlson
07/30/2013


Introduction:

“From the initial meeting to the final process of treatment, the role of ethics is an important one in the field of psychology.” (EFPA, 1999) Ethical thinking is a significant element of psychology; ethical dilemmas are also an substantial element for psychotherapists to watch out for. As a psychologist it is important to obtain a correct amount of research while facing an ethical dilemma, so the psychologist does not do more harm to the individual they are treating.  Psychologists and psychotherapist need to use a few different resources to validate that they are making an appropriate ethical decision. A psychotherapist ensures that they realize all decisions made will affect their client; they need to be cautious so they do not make a poor decision and affect their client negatively.

The American Psychological Association “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.” will include the General Principles as well as a few sections including resolving ethical issues, human relations, privacy and confidentiality, and therapy. “. General Principles, as opposed to Ethical Standards, are aspirational in nature. Their intent is to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession” (American Psychological Association, 2010) General principles are more of a guideline for psychologists; they steer the psychologist in the right direction when facing an ethical dilemma. “Respected authors address seven of these challenges: Informed consent; confidentiality, privilege, and their limits; treatment of minors and their families; business matters of practice (e.g., money, fees, bartering, and advertising); clinical competence and scope of practice; boundaries and nonsexual multiple relationships; and termination and abandonment.” (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 569)

The Dilemma:

Here are the facts: a man brought his minor son to a psychotherapist for therapy. The man is the custodial parent of his minor son. The man and the client’s mother are divorced; the divorced was caused by the noncustodial mother of the client’s drinking complications.  The noncustodial mother continues to drink and has now requested to become a part of her minor son’s treatment. The minor son is in therapy because he was depressed and cutting himself. The dilemma is whether or not to allow the mother to become part of her noncustodial son’s therapy and weather she is allowed to have any of the client’s confidential information.  While facing this ethical dilemma a psychotherapist will look at a few different resources to help  make a good ethical decision as to whether or not the mother of the client would be allowed to participate or be involved in her minor son’s treatment. In order to make this appropriate decision the psychotherapist would study the Ethical Standards from the American Psychological Association, The Elements of Thought Model, as well as a scholarly source: in this case it will be an article by Barnett, “The Ethical Practice of Psychotherapy: Easily Within our Reach”.  Barnett’s article had a very similar dilemma in it and will be a good resource for this dilemma.

The Decision:

At this time considering the reasoning and research that has gone into the decision making process facing this ethical dilemma the psychotherapist has decided to decline the noncustodial parent from consolidating or having any confidential information about said client. This can be reevaluated at a later time once the mother has worked on her own inconveniences and entered a treatment and rehabilitation therapy of her own. At this time the psychotherapist feels as though the mother’s negativity and alcohol problems could be detrimental to the minor client. The psychotherapist has made this decision through careful research and with the well-being of the minor client in mind. This decision will be reevaluated in three months upon completion of mother’s therapy and alcohol evaluation.

The Reasoning:

               Looking at Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, the psychotherapist sees that it is important to respect the dignity of all people as well as respect the privacy and confidentiality rights of individuals and clients. This principle shows the psychotherapist the importance of respecting client’s rights. Looking at this particular situation the psychotherapist sees that respecting the client (the child) and the father who has enlisted in services is at the top of the priorities in this ethical dilemma. Also respecting the right to privacy of the client is very important and allowing the mother to know information even though she is not the custodial parent would be unprofessional and violating the clients privacy rights. “Psychologists are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making.” (American Psychological Association, 2010)

               Examining the other sections of the American Psychological Associations; section 3.07 discusses the third-party requests for services. Upon reviewing this section the psychotherapist realizes that facing this ethical dilemma this section directly pertains to the dilemma. Section 3.07 states “This clarification includes the role of the psychologist (e.g., therapist, consultant, diagnostician, or expert witness), an identification of who is the client, the probable uses of the services provided or the information obtained, and the fact that there may be limits to confidentiality.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) After examining this section a psychotherapist would realize that this should have already been discussed under the confidentiality clause that they would have the patient sign. This section is also telling the psychotherapist that if this has not already been discussed that this would be something they will need to discuss with the father of the client since the client himself is not of age. Section 3.10 b also discusses the process of informed consent; since the client is underage the psychotherapist will need to provide an explanation to the father and son, the psychotherapist needs to  seek the clients assent, consider the clients best interests, as well as obtaining permission from the legal guardian of the underage client; in this case his father. (American Psychological Association, 2010)

               Section 4.02 (a) is pertaining to discussing the limits of confidentiality with the client or guardian. In this discussion whether or not the mother will be allowed to be a part of therapy should be brought up by the psychotherapist. Section 4.05 discusses disclosures; this includes the appropriate consent of the client and organization. It also includes the fact that no information shall be disclosed without the consent of the client, or in this case the client’s father. This protects the client from harm. So following the guidelines the psychotherapist  now makes note of section 4.05 for further use in this case.

Barnett also discusses ethical dilemmas and how to deal with them in his scholarly article. Psychologists work towards benefiting the individuals they work for, they are also careful so they do not harm those individuals. Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence of the APA Code of Conduct states, “Because psychologists' scientific and professional judgments and actions may affect the lives of others, they are alert to and guard against personal, financial, social, organizational or political factors that might lead to misuse of their influence.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) This shows the psychotherapist that while facing an ethical dilemma such as this one  any judgments and final decisions could possible affect the life of the client, the psychotherapist needs to be on guard looking at the effects both positive and negative that allowing the mother to take part in therapy will have on the client. In Barnett’s article he further verifies the importance of making a correct judgment so that the psychotherapist does not negatively impact the client by stating, “While reducing the risk of an ethics complaint or malpractice claim is obviously of great importance to all psychotherapists, as will be seen in the following articles, effective ethical practice embraces risk management, but retains its focus on the client’s best interests rather than on protecting the psychotherapist.” (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 569)

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility states that as a psychologist the clients trust me and the psychotherapist must trust them, they have the responsibility of upholding to specific communities, obligations, and behavior responsibilities. A psychotherapist needs to make sure their behavior, obligations and other responsibilities do not come in the way of the client and make the best decision to fit the client’s needs rather than their own. “Psychologists uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) This directly relates to the psychotherapists personal opinion on whether or not the mother should be allowed in the therapy. They have to make a knowledgeable decision on the dilemma.  

While looking at Principle C: Integrity, the psychotherapist notes that integrity is very important. “In situations in which deception may be ethically justifiable to maximize benefits and minimize harm, psychologists have a serious obligation to consider the need for, the possible consequences of, and their responsibility to correct any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that arise from the use of such techniques.” (American Psychological Association, 2010) In this ethical dilemma integrity is important because the psychotherapist will be making a very important decision based on accuracy, honesty, and truth. Looking forwards at the Justice side Principle D the psychotherapist notes that this general principle is important as well. Justice is important in every ethical dilemma because a psychotherapist need to be fair and make sure that justice is going to all individuals in the party regardless of their personal beliefs. At the same time the psychotherapist needs to make sure the final decision is not negatively influencing the client.

               Barnett’s article has a section in it with the steps a psychotherapist will need to go through while facing this specific dilemma. To summarize Barnett’s article steps state that the first thing to do would be to review the ethics codes and specific sections. If the issue of the mother had not yet been addressed the next step is to consult a colleague that has expertise in ethics and legal issues. Then the colleague refers the psychotherapist to a particular section of the law in that state that authorizes all noncustodial parents to have access to all treatment information concerning their children. Also that after reading literature, they will realize that based on recommendations they would need to schedule a meeting with both parents and review the relevant Ethics Code standards and the relevant statute, then with both parents modify the original informed consent agreement to the satisfaction of all. (Barnett, J.E. 2008, pp. 572) This article is a great tool for the ethical dilemma the psychotherapist is facing because the steps really let the psychotherapist know which way they need to go with the dilemma. The psychotherapist needs to find out the laws in the particular state they am living and working in to find out if the legal situation is similar to the dilemma that the psychotherapist is facing. If the law is similar they can follow Barnett’s steps and do the same with their clients. If the law is different the psychotherapist will need to take a different approach possibly contacting the father for his permission to bring the mother into therapy. At this point it really depends on the state laws so the psychotherapist would be researching.

               While researching the state laws or having a colleague check on the state laws for the psychotherapist they would take a look at the Elements of Thought Model.  They would review the model and make sure they am making an ethical decision. The psychotherapist would look at all individuals point of view; from the point of view of the client himself the psychotherapist would realize the mother being involved could worsen his productivity in the therapy session, from the point of view of the father the psychotherapist can see that the mother would cause some additional stress and worry. Presumably the father will be worried about his son’s safety as the sole custodial parent. From the viewpoint of the mother the psychotherapist sees that she may want a change and may want to be part of her son’s life.  They need to make sure they “understand the limitations of your point of view and that you fully consider other relevant viewpoints.” (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007) The psychotherapist will need to be sure their purpose is justifiable and clear. In this case the purpose is to solve the ethical dilemma without a negative impact on the client. The question at issue is whether or not the psychotherapist should allow the noncustodial mother to be a part of her son’s therapy. The question is clear and precise and targets the issue itself. The psychotherapist will be gathering information from many different sources throughout the dilemma, they will make sure the information is not biased; it is relevant, and accurate. The psychotherapist must make sure to watch for any inferences, assumptions and also need to logically follow all leads and not inferring more than the situation implies.  Clarifying concepts will allow the psychotherapist to make sense of the situation and dilemma. Implications and consequences vary greatly on one hand if the psychotherapist decides to allow the mother into therapy it could help the client and help his mother on the other hand it could be detrimental to the mother son relationship and the mother could impact the client negatively. (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007)

Recommendations:

               While researching the laws in my state the Psychotherapist found that the state of North Dakota does not like alienating the noncustodial parent, they state that it could create more “issues” and “frequent returning to court”. The law however does not state such as in the example from Barnett’s reading above that the psychotherapist would have to include the noncustodial parent in therapy. It is actually dependent on what is best for the minor client. “Someone who has a mental disorder, abuses drugs or is abusive to people will require a more intense therapeutic intervention with a counselor, social worker, psychologists or psychiatrist. Most mediators are not qualified to work with those who need help specifically with parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome” and “Others who commonly need therapy are parents who spend too much time thinking about their divorce and having been betrayed by the system; parents who can't help driving by the marital home hoping for a glimpse of the ex-spouse or children; and parents who often think about their next phone call to the ex-spouse or the children and cannot seem to stop him or herself from making the calls. Other warning signs include an increase in the use of alcohol and drugs or an increase in high-risk behavior such as drinking and driving, unprotected sex, stalking, and harassing phone calls.” (Darnall, 1999) This basically lets the psychotherapist know that in this state whether or not the mother is to be involved in the child’s therapy is completely up to the psychotherapist in this specific dilemma. In this case after reviewing the final information the psychotherapist will have three discussions, the first will be with the custodial guardian the father. In this case the psychotherapist will inform him about the mother’s phone call and ask him his opinion on whether or not her entering therapy would be a good idea. After speaking with the father and if he thinks it would be okay to include the mother in therapy then the psychotherapist will have a conversation with the mother. In the conversation with the mother the psychotherapist would talk to her about getting help with her drinking problems and let her know that we could possibly include her in the therapy if it will help her son. But also let her know that her showing up drinking will not help her son and make sure it is included that she will not be drunk at the therapy and she will have to get help with her drinking problems. Before having the third conversation the psychotherapist would then consult the client on his feelings on his mother becoming a part of his therapy and that would be the deciding factor. The psychotherapist would bring up the negative and positive side effects as well as the stipulations with the father and client. The psychotherapist  would also make it aware that the mother would not be included in all of the therapy sessions it could probably be something to do  a trial on to see if that improves or worsens the clients condition. Dependent on what is decided at that time the psychotherapist will meet with all parties involved to discuss confidentiality and the client’s condition and therapy scheduling.



References:

American Psychological Association (2010). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of

Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and

Your Life (Custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing.

Barnett, J.E. (2008) The Ethical Practice of Psychotherapy: Easily Within our Reach. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(5) 569-575. Doi:10.1002/jclp.2047

Darnall, D. (1999). North Dakota Law Review. (Vol. 75, pp. 323-364). Retrieved from http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/pas/darnal99.htm

EFPA. (1999). Ethics of psychology. Retrieved from http://www.efpa.be/ethics.htm

Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2007). Elements of thought. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm