Ethical Dilemma in Forensic Psychology - Essay Example

Here the focus of discussion will be the ethical dilemma faced by psychologists while pursuing forensics as a career with special emphasis on their dual behavior, multiple relationships, and conflict of interests. Dual roles: A psychologist is a person that reads and understands the human mind. A forensic psychologist, however, has to perform dual functions i.e. as a therapist as well as the evaluator of the issue for legal documentation associated with a particular criminal presented at the court.

The ethical dilemma associated with the dual role of a forensic psychologist is to maintain the confidentiality of the data. Acting as a therapist, a psychologist has to make sure that whatever is being told to him by the criminal should not be leaked out anywhere to any other party, and the information should only be used for legal documentation or for proving the criminal’s crime or innocence. According to Cornin (2006), an important ethical dilemma that is not concerned by psychologists is the appropriate filing and use of tests when acting as a therapist.

Moreover, psychologists while providing legal services, or acting as an evaluator, do not tend to evaluate the facts objectively as there exists a lack of communication and difficulty in conducting interviews with the third party. Multiple relationships: According to Moore (2011), conflicting relationships are one of the ethical dilemmas faced by forensic psychologists while practicing their job. These conflicting relationships occur in case a therapist develops some emotional feelings with any of his patients and might not be willing to treat patients in some other hospitals.

However, this occurs when the therapists prefer to treat patients they know personally, as it requires less counseling as compared to treating the person they don’t know. In addition to this, another type of conflicting relationship occurs between the attorney and a psychologist. He may be forced to provide testimony and declare the case of a particular person that is coherent with the success of a particular case in the court. This gives rise to the development of the adverse and conflicting relationships of psychologists with the parties they deal with on a daily basis.

According to Weinberger and Sreenivasan (1994), sometimes in prison, forensic psychologists are forced to do tasks that are not related to their area of expertise. In case a prison is less staffed and they need to have a staff for security, it is quite possible that forensic psychologists are asked to perform such duties, which not only lead to conflicting roles but also to the development of conflicting relationships with the prison staff. Conflict of interests: Forensic psychologists often confront a conflict of interest.

According to research, it is pointed out that forensic psychologists are often reluctant to treat their immediate relatives because their interests do not coincide. They know very well the pros and cons of anticipated therapist-patient relationships, which is why they feel reluctant in treating their professional and personal contacts. Similarly, another important thing being pointed out is that while performing dual roles, often they tend to maintain confidentiality so that the rights of the patients are not violated, leading to the conflicting interests between a therapist (or evaluator) and a patient.