Abstract
All psychological professionals who work with offenders will encounter ethical dilemmas, typically ones that bring the interest of the individual prisoner or offender into conflict with the interests and values of the state or society. Forensic psychologists may find that they have to negotiate an ethical tension between the welfare of a vulnerable adult, the welfare of the society to which they may return, and the process of balancing these two groups of interests, while adhering to a process that is just and fair. In this chapter, we discuss some of the different kinds of ethical dilemmas that arise in forensic psychology and key processes and principles for holding ethics in mind in all decision-making.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allan, A. (2019). Being ethical psychologists in correction settings. In The Wiley international handbook of correctional psychology (pp. 30–44).
Allan, A. (2018). Moral challenges for psychologists working in psychology and law. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 25(3), 485–499.
Alzheimer Europe. (2010, March 29). Justice: The four common bioethical principles. https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Ethics/Definitions-and-approaches/The-four-common-bioethical-principles/Justice.
American Psychological Association. (2013). Specialty guidelines for forensic psychology. The American Psychologist, 68(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029889.
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed.). Oxford University Press.
British Psychological Society. (2018). Code of ethics and conduct. Retrieved November 15, 2020 from https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct.
British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Working party on extremism. (2018). Ethical guidelines for applied psychological practice in the field of extremism, violent extremism and terrorism. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/ethical-guidelines-applied-psychological-practice-field-extremism-violent-extremism.
Day, A., & White, J. (2008). Ethical practice from the perspective of the forensic psychologist: Commentary on the uses and value of the Australian Psychological Society (2007) code of ethics. Australian Psychologist, 43(3), 186–193.
Day, J. M., & Tappan, M. B. (1996). The narrative approach to moral development: From the epistemic subject to dialogical selves. Human Development, 39(2), 67–82.
Forde, R. A. (2017). Bad psychology: How forensic psychology left science behind. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Fox, E., Myers, S, & Pearlman, R. A. (2007). Ethics consultation in United States hospital: A national survey. The American Journal of Bioethics. Taylor & Francis.
Gilligan, C. (1977). In a different voice: Women’s conceptions of self and of morality. Harvard Educational Review, 47(4), 481–517.
Hanson, R. K., & Bussiere, M. T. (1998). Predicting relapse: A meta-analysis of sexual offender recidivism studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology., 66(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.66.2.348.
Health Care Professions Council. (2016). Standards of conduct, performance and ethics. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
Human Rights Act 1998. Available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents. Accessed 11 February 2021.
Jahn, W. T. (2011). The 4 basic ethical principles that apply to forensic activities are respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 10(3), 225–226.
Kaslow, F. W. (1980). Ethical problems in prison psychology, 3–9.
Knapp, S. J., & VandeCreek, L. D. (2012). Practical ethics for psychologists: A positive approach (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.
Lösel, F., Link, E., Schmucker, M., Bender, D., Breuer, M., Carl, L., Endres, J., & Lauchs, L. (2020). On the effectiveness of sexual offender treatment in prisons: A comparison of two different evaluation designs in routine practice. Sexual Abuse, 32(4), 452–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063219871576.
Martindale, D. A., & Gould, J. W. (2012). Ethics in forensic practice. Chapter 3 (37–61), Volume 11, Forensic psychology, of the handbook of psychology (2nd ed.). I. Weiner, series editor; R. K. Otto, volume editor. Wiley.
Metwally, M. (2019). Forensic organizational psychology: Shedding light on the positive repercussions of ethical leadership in forensic medicine. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 9(1), 32–40.
Niveau, G., & Welle, I. (2018). Forensic psychiatry, one subspeciality with two ethics? A systematic review. BMC Medical Ethics, 19(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0266-5.
Patel, N. A., & Elkin, G. D. (2015). Professionalism and conflicting interests: The American Psychological Association’s involvement in torture. AMA Journal of Ethics, 17(10), 924–930.
Pfafflin, M., Robert, R., & Reiter-Theil, S. (2009). Evaluating clinical ethics consultation: A European perspective. Healthcare Ethics. HeinOnline.
Pratt, M. W., Arnold, M. L., & Lawford, H. (2009). Growing towards care: A narrative approach to prosocial moral identity and generativity of personality in emerging adulthood. In Personality, identity, and character: Explorations in moral psychology (pp. 295–315).
Schmitz, D., Gross, D., Frierson, C., Schubert, G. A., Schulze-Steinen, H., & Kersten, A. (2018). Ethics rounds: Affecting ethics quality at all organisational levels. Journal of Medical Ethics, 44(12). https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2018-104831.
Stams, G. J., Brugman, D., Dekovic, M., Van Rosmalen, L., Van Der Laan, P., & Gibbs, J. C. (2006). The moral judgment of juvenile delinquents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(5), 692–708.
Strasburger, L. H., Gutheil, T. G., & Brodsky, A. (1997). On wearing two hats: Role conflict in serving as both psychotherapist and expert witness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(4), 448–456.
Tappan, M. B. (1989). Stories lived and stories told: The narrative structure of late adolescent moral development. Human Development, 32(5), 300–315.
Ward, T., & Birgden, A. (2007). Human rights and correctional clinical practice. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12, 628–643.
Suggested Reading
Bowers, L., & Friendship, C. (2017). Forensic psychological risk assessments for the Parole Board. In Assessments in forensic practice: A handbook (pp. 103–121).
Downing Hansen, N., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Navigating the nuances: A matrix of considerations for ethical-legal dilemmas. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 30(5), 495–503.
O'Donohue, W. T., & Ferguson, K. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of professional ethics for psychologists: Issues, questions, and controversies. Sage.
Pirelle,G., Beattey, R. A., & Zapf, P. A. (2017). The ethical practice of forensic psychology: A casebook. Oxford University Press.
Weissman, H. N., & DeBow, D. M. (2003). Ethical principles and professional competencies. In I. B. Weiner (Series Ed.) & A. M. Goldstein (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of psychology (Vol. 11). Forensic psychology (pp. 33–53). Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Moore, E., Adshead, G. (2022). Ethical Issues in Forensic Psychology. In: Garofalo, C., Sijtsema, J.J. (eds) Clinical Forensic Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80882-2_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80882-2_31
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80881-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80882-2
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)