Abstract
The chapter considers what can go wrong in ethical decision making and the models available to ensure that it goes right. Ethical decisions involve a complex interplay of professional regulations (as in ethics codes), the law, and the roles of the various stakeholders involved, including the mental health practitioner. Ethical dilemmas arise when there are no straightforward ways of resolving ethical issues and, when this transpires, a practitioner’s mental health ethics code can be a valuable resource. However, the mental health practitioner should never consider that one’s ethics code is the only or best resource that is available for resolving ethical dilemmas. The first part of the chapter reviews the types of logical fallacies and personal biases that can impact proper ethical decision making. The second part of the chapter reviews extant models of ethical decision making. They include anywhere from 17 to 4 steps. On the basis of these models, the chapter includes an integrative one that involves 35 steps. They are organized into seven phases, which helps organize the steps.
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Young, G. (2017). Ethical Decision Making: Fallacies/Biases and Models. In: Revising the APA Ethics Code. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60002-4_8
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