Informal Resolutions Versus Formal Resolutions

Informal Resolutions versus Formal Resolutions

Within the APA Code of Ethics, there are many ethical standards that give ethical and moral guidance on a number of topics. The first standard is Standard 1: Resolving Ethical Issues which is all about ethical misconduct and resolving this misconduct in either formal or informal ways depending on the type of violation that occurs.

The first type of resolution is an informal resolution which is covered under APA Code of Ethics Standard 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations). Now, an informal resolution occurs between two psychologists without the official intervention of an ethics committee or review board. Standard 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) requires that an informal conversation occur between the individual who committed the violation and the individual who catches the violation as long as the discussion does not violate confidentiality and as long as there was no harm that came or could come to anyone because of the violation.

An example of an informal resolution would be, as a student, engaging in some kind of relationship with a faculty member other than the initial student/teacher relationship. As the relationship is based on the consent of both parties, no harmful potential is present, however, it is against several APA Ethical standards. According to Standard 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010), another psychologist should approach the faculty member and attempt to identify the ethical standards that are being broken, and then focus on remedial actions that can be taken by the offending individual to rectify the situation (such as breaking off the inappropriate relationship).

On the other side of the informal resolution is a formal resolution. Standard 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) takes into account the possibility that an informal resolution may not be feasible. Circumstances where this might occur includes instances in which previous informal resolutions have failed to change violators behavior, or instances in which the ethical standards violated has caused or could cause substantial harm to an individual. To rectify these instances of ethical violations, the APA Ethics Code (2010) states that a formal resolution is appropriate under Standard 1.05 (Reporting Ethical Violations).

Standard 1.05 (Reporting Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) provides several options for reporting an ethical violation which cannot be settle via an informal resolution (meaning the violation has caused or could cause substantial harm to an individual such as sexual misconduct, insurance fraud, etc.). These options include filing a complaint with the APA, referring the case to a state licensing board, or passing on the case to an institutional committee (Fisher, 2013).

Relating this standard to my previous example of the student and faculty member engaged in an inappropriate relationship, if the relationship is not based on the legitimate consent of both parties (by this I mean one forced themselves on another, or one is being taken advantage of), then Standard 1.05 (Reporting Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) would apply and a psychologist should report the violation to the appropriate committee or institution as long as confidentiality is not breached (unless one party is underage then it is mandated reporting).

Both Standard 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations) and Standard 1.05 (Reporting Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) have a major focus on keeping a person’s confidentiality, meaning that even if there is an ethical violation, if an individual’s confidentiality will be broken by reporting it (such as a sexual relationship between student and teacher), and if the reporting will do more harm to the individual than leaving it alone, then it is better to leave it alone.

To summarize, there are numerous ways to violate the APA Code of Ethics. When a violation occurs, one can engage the violator in an informal resolution or a formal resolution with an informal resolution being a discussion, and a formal resolution being referral to some ethical review board whether it is a part of the APA or an institution. Both standards 1.04 (Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations) and 1.05 (Reporting Ethical Violations) of the APA Ethics Code (2010) maintain that confidentiality is of the utmost importance and should be considered heavily when attempting to resolve an ethical violation by both formal or informal resolution.

The confidentiality of an individual is an important part of any working relationship and considering this before attempting to resolve violations is a smart move. In my first example of an informal resolution, the potential harm that may occur from revealing the violation could be greater than leaving it alone. However, sometimes saving a little face isn’t enough reason to keep confidentiality if an ethical violation has occurred.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct with the 2010 amendments. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

Fisher, C. B. (2013). Decoding the ethics code: a practical guide for psychologists (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE.