Personal Value and Ethical Standards - Essay Example

Personal Value and Ethical Standards Introduction The development of my personal values, ground rules and ethics has taken a significantly long time but I feel that I am at that stage in life when I have to understand what my own ethics are and how they come in line with the ethics that I have to follow as a competent human service professional. There was a time when I did not distinguish between law and ethics and thought that they were the same things and at another point in my life I thought that ethics was the inner voice of my conscience. However, I now realize that the idea of ethics is far more than both and this is due, in no small part, to my study of ethics and personal life experiences. Ethics In purely lexical terms, the word ethics comes from the Greek word ethikos which means ‘based on habit’. In present terminology, ethics is taken to be a branch of philosophy which judges individual and collective actions as being right, wrong, good or bad. In business and professional fields like finance, construction, public relations, advertising and many others, the application of ethical principles is said to be a part of the good practices which create and increase credibility for the business interest (Alexandra & Woodruff, 1990). The field of human services is not exempt from the practice of ethics and there is an entirely different branch of ethics connected with the actions of those who interact with individuals in need. In fact, even those who have no contact with others and are only conducting research on the various topics under the field have to follow ethical and legal guidelines that govern how research can be done on any particular topic (Scanlon, 2000). Thus, every individual from researchers to those who actually provide services have to follow ethical guidelines. Therefore, it is important to understand what ethical guidelines are in actuality. Velasquez et. al. (1987) report that when people on the street were inquired about the meaning of ethics, they said that ethics have to do with internal feelings of what is right and wrong or that ethics are religious beliefs or that ethics are legal requirements. People also considered ethics to be acceptable behavior as per the rules of society and some simply did not know what it meant. While the responses stated above may come naturally given the context the word ethics is so often used in. It must be clarified that ethics have nothing to do with the internal feelings of a person (Alexandra & Woodruff, 1990). This is because personal feelings and emotions about something may lead a person to do what is wrong rather than what is right. A person’s feelings can change and what is hated today as unacceptable may be perfectly acceptable depending on how the schemas of the individual change with time. Personal Experience I certainly have personal experience with that since there was a time when I was an addict and I never thought that there was anything wrong with my behavior. I considered whatever I was doing to be the right thing because I felt that it was the right thing to do. However, with time I realized that my judgment about my actions was unethical and that I should not behave in the same manner. This change did not come about overnight and it took me a long time to understand why I need to change myself. However, it also made me realize how understanding my own self can lead to a better understanding of my professional abilities and my work. There was also a time when I thought that religion or religious teachings could form the basis of ethics for all concerned individuals but it was made clear by Velasquez, et. al. (1987) that religion has very little to do with ethics. They rightly say that if ethics were based on religion then every person might be free to follow his/her own set of ethical guidelines. Additionally, those who do not believe in any religion might consider them free of all ethical concerns while clearly everyone has to accept the given ethical guidelines for his or her profession. In this sense, it might be useful to think of ethics as the laws which govern how certain professionals have to discharge their duties but laws themselves are not the whole answer for ethics because legal clauses may include or be based on ethical principles but all laws at all times may not be ethical. Consider the example of the discriminatory laws which were in place before the civil rights movement or the slave ownership laws before the civil war. If we take ethics to mean whatever is acceptable to society then it would be ethically acceptable to be anti-Semitic if a person were living in Germany during the Nazi era (Velasquez, et. al. 1987). Moreover, it is nearly impossible to accurately judge what is acceptable to society since the acceptance of certain things changes dynamically with time. Values Therefore, ethics have to be taken as the professionally mandated standards of right and wrong supported by reasonable arguments given by experts in the field that explain how human services professionals ought to perform their duties. These have been given in combination by those who have been active in the development of ethics and those who have been active in the performance of human services duties. It is these ethics which have to be followed by me and I feel that I shall have no difficulties in doing so. This is because ideas such as respecting the privacy of others, understanding the various cultures which make up those who need services, being respectful of the relationship between service provider and receiver are all things which have come to me as I have recovered from the lowest points in my life. As an addict I felt rejected by society until I could get professional help from those who believed in my and I feel that really helped me realize how belief in a person can help them be much more than what they are. Without taking any names, I had friends, family, associations and professionals who were willing to give me their time and support me when I needed it most. I feel that the selfless devotion that they showed to me has gone a long way towards making sure that I can give some of that back to society just as I was helped a long time ago. These values of doing something for others without having a selfish motivation will certainly impact my work as a human service professional in the coming years. For example, a part of the ethics for human services professionals is to respect the integrity and welfare of all clients at all times and to treat each client with dignity and acceptance. I have gone through a part of my life where I was not accepted and I understood the pain one goes through when s/he is considered less than what s/he is. I believe that I will have no problems or issues in giving people the respect they deserve as human beings and I shall be able to treat them with dignity and accept them regardless of their past or current situation since they do wish to improve their situation. At the same time, I do expect that I might have to get some more experience in the field before I can fully apply the idea of confidentiality when confidentiality might harm the client or others. I feel that such situations can be very tricky to deal with since I personally respect the idea of having confidence in professional individuals. However, I also know that with the assistance of my coworkers and supervisors in the field I should be able to manage the issue effectively especially on a case by case basis. Ethical Standards The idea of looking at issues on a case by case basis is certainly applicable to some other situations as well. For instance, in the use of psychological tests in the courtroom judges are allowed to make their own judgment as to whether they will allow certain evidence into the proceedings of the case or not (Rothstein, 1999). In terms of ethics there is still a debate on the topic but I feel that those ideas which are accepted by the scientific community should be allowed as evidence since our social system certainly connects on a very deep level with technology and science. The same argument can be given for the lie detector that since the majority of scientists are not settled on the issue of the validity of a lie detector test, to use such tests would be unethical. However, again as in the case of psychological evaluations, it becomes the duty of the ethical judge to evaluate the presented data and expert opinions on both sides of the argument to come up with their individual judgments as to the ethical validity of using lie detector tests as permissible evidence gathering techniques. Judges and medical professionals can also help courts to decide whether an individual fits the legal criteria for being insane or not since the ethics of such a procedure certainly demand help from medical and legal professionals (Rothstein, 1999). Of course a topic which does not and should not need expert scientific opinion is the idea of boundaries of competence where a person should be able to come to their own decision as to which competencies they have and which competencies they do not. In case a person thinks that a certain process or certain situation is at the boundary of their competence they should seek out help in order to provide better service to a client. However, if an emergency is present or if help can not arrive in time, it is only logical that the client be helped by individuals who are available in the present moment (NOHSE, 1997). Finally, the topics of integrity, sexual harassment and human differences are covered as a part of the professional ethics that human service professionals have to uphold since they also come with legal implications. For example, the relationship between the service provider and the client can be a difficult one due to the power and influence an unethical service provider might have over the client. However, with the concepts of integrity and ethical performance of duties the relationship can remain positive for both parties that wish to benefit from the connection rather than suffer from it (NOHSE, 1997). Overall, I feel that ethics are an essential part of being professional and working in the field of human services since contact with others often means that a person not only has to maintain an ethical responsibility towards themselves but also towards others. Works Cited Alexandra, A., & Woodruff, A. (1990). Ethics and the professions. Prentice-Hall. NOHSE (National Organization for Human Service Education). (1997). Ethical Standards of Human Service Professionals. Retrieved January 20, 2007 from website: http://www.tacomacc.edu/home/jcarroll/ethical.htm Rothstein, M. (1999). The Impact of Behavioral Genetics on the law and the courts. Retrieved January 20, 2007 from Human Genome Project Information website: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/publicat/judicature/article5.html Scanlon, C. (2000). A professional code of ethics provides guidance for genetic nursing practice. Nursing Ethics, 7(3), 262-268. Velasquez, M. et. al. (1987). What is Ethics? Retrieved January 15, 2007 from SCU.edu website: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html Read More