Examining Standards, Domains, Principles, and Meta-principles

Abstract

This chapter examines further the standards, domains, and principles in various mental health codes, as well as presenting meta-principles that apply to the revisions being proposed to the APA ethics code. The chapter first examines the standards in the CPA ethics code (Canadian Psychological Association, Canadian code of ethics for psychologists (3rd ed.). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Psychological Association, 2000; Ibid., The Canadian code of ethics for psychologists (4th ed.). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Psychological Association, 2017). The second topic of the present chapter examines, in particular, the relationship between the five proposed domains of standards and the five proposed core ethical principles for the APA ethics code. Third, the chapter describes the meta-principles that can help organize into a hierarchical structure the five core ethical principles and the five supplementary principles being proposed. Aside from the meta-principle that the core principles are related to the Neo-Maslovian model that Young (Unifying causality and psychology: Being, brain, and behavior. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2016) has developed, another major meta-principle relates to Responsibility. The chapter concludes by briefly comparing standards in the APA ethics code, the AMA ethics code (American Medical Association, Code of medical ethics. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, 2017), and the ASPPB set of standards (Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, ASPPB code of conduct, 2014).