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Quality Improvement in Behavioral Health pp 289–302Cite as

Quality Improvement, Professional Competence, and the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct

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Abstract

The American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (APA, 2010) are foundational partly because they prove the ethical and legal definition of how psychologists ought to behave and conduct themselves professionally. Failure to abide by the enforceable standards advanced by the APA may result in a wide range of negative consequences ranging from harm, to the client as well as potentially embarrassing and consequential disciplinary hearings, to the loss of one’s professional license. Due to these implications, for these ethical standards to be useful to both the mental health professionals and consumers of mental health services, it is important that they are clear, effective, and continue to meet the need of the diverse stakeholders that they are designed to serve (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, USA

    Alexandros Maragakis

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    William O’Donohue

Authors
  1. Alexandros Maragakis
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  2. William O’Donohue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandros Maragakis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    William O'Donohue

  2. Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, USA

    Alexandros Maragakis

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Maragakis, A., O’Donohue, W. (2016). Quality Improvement, Professional Competence, and the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct. In: O'Donohue, W., Maragakis, A. (eds) Quality Improvement in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26209-3_19

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