Conversation Hour

TITLE

Ethical Dilemmas in Organizational Psychology: Discussion of Circumstances, Impact, Outcomes

ABSTRACT

This conversation hour provides opportunities to discuss real-life ethical dilemmas in the practice of I/O Psychology: what is salient and the reasons they occur. This session will examine case studies submitted by psychologists working in three work contexts: internal / organization, independent practitioners, and consultants in consulting firms.

PRESS PARAGRAPH

The purpose of this session is to discuss real life ethical dilemmas in the practice of I/O Psychology: what is most salient, the most challenging, and the common reasons behind the dilemmas. This session will provide the opportunity to examine case studies submitted by Georgia organizational psychologists working in three contexts: internal to an organization (not headed by psychologists), independent practitioners, and consultants working for consulting firms. Additionally, we will provide information on the influence of demographics (tenure, licensure, membership in one of three consulting groups, etc.)
to frame the discussion.

Background:

We all know that ethics are important to psychologists and their clients. In this day and time an increased emphasis on ethical practice is called for, particularly in the wake of the scandals that have impacted American business and our society. Yet beyond graduate school, how much time and thought is really put into this topic for the day-to-day practitioner or the internal or external consultant? Often, our ethical judgments are influenced by the culture and leadership of the organization in which we practice. This can be especially difficult when colleagues are non-psychologists or when practicing solo.

For licensed psychologists, most states do have continuing education requirements on Ethics. However, many states still do not license I/O psychologists and many I/O psychologists practice without the requirement of licensure or continuing education.

Talk to the ethics experts, and they’ll tell you the best defense against an ethical problem is a good offense (Smith, 2003). The 2002 Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct became effective on June 1, 2003. While full of changes from the 1992 version, many I/O psychologists would probably still view it as most relevant to Clinical psychologists.

I/O psychologists have an interest in ethical practice, evidenced by the recent addition of a column devoted to ethical practice concerns in TIP. However, that is one of the few outlets that is specifically devoted to the ethical issues and concerns faced by I/O psychologists.

Purpose:

The purpose of this session is to discuss real life ethical dilemmas in the practice of I/O Psychology: what impacts us the most, what are the most common dilemmas / violations, what are most common reasons behind the dilemmas / violations, where do they most commonly occur and how are they usually resolved. Further, we will discuss the opportunities that we as psychologists have to avoid these dilemmas or the steps we can take that will mitigate the impact.

As practitioners, if we can be more aware of the types and severity of the ethical dilemmas to which we are often exposed, we can plan and take steps to avoid or mitigate the results. Continued dialogue around the standards and the dilemmas we face is helpful in bringing the standards to mind, helping practitioners understand what others have done to either avoid or deal with a presenting dilemma, and general agreement on what a good solution is can be very helpful.

Method:

In advance of the session, we will do pre-conference surveying within our local (Georgia) I/O psychology groups to gather real world ethical dilemmas that are being faced by I/O psychologists in this area. The case studies for discussion in this session will be submitted by Georgia organizational psychologists working in three contexts: internal to an organization (not headed by psychologists), independent practitioners, and consultants working for consulting firms. We will be able to determine the frequency of the various types of dilemmas and the level of importance they have to practitioners in terms of what they really deal with and how they are usually resolved.

Each Case Study will cover the following:

1) Explanation of the situation.

2) The context / position this occurred.

3) The broad category that most accurately fits the ethical dilemma topic.

4) The factors that contributed to making this a “dilemma”.

6) The factors (ethical guidelines, standards, etc.) that contributed to the decision or resolution of this dilemma.

7) Looking back, were there things that could have/should have been done differently?

The outcome of this survey will be to determine which issues cause us the most angst in our practices and what steps we could take that would prevent these dilemmas from occurring in the future. We will examine the case studies to determine if there are unique pressures faced by individuals in each of the three areas where organizational psychologists most often work: as independent consultants, as internal consultants, and as consultants working for consulting firms.

We will present the findings of our survey to give some context for the audience to frame the discussion. Additionally, we will provide information on the influence of demographics (tenure, licensure, membership in one of three consulting groups, etc.); we will facilitate a group discussion to determine if our findings mirror the audience’s experience as well.

Questions to those attending the session:

1)How often do you find yourself facing an ethical dilemma?

2)Which ethical dilemmas do you encounter most often?

3)What is your most common path to resolution, i.e., how do you determine the best way to handle/resolve an ethical dilemma?

4)Do you feel there is sufficient support or adequate guidelines to guide you in resolving those dilemmas?

References

Smith, D. (2003). 10 ways practitioners can avoid frequent ethical pitfalls. Monitor on psychology, 34(1), p. 50.

American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, American Psychologist, 57(12).

Leaders:

Dr. Welyne M. Thomas – Welyne Thomas is a licensed psychologist who works as a senior consultant for Personnel Decisions International. She works with individuals and organizations to improve their business results by increasing their effectiveness. She has nearly fifteen years of experience in her areas of practice, which include leadership development and succession planning, high-potential identification and development, and executive assessment and coaching. Welyne received her master’s and doctoral degrees in organizational psychology from Georgia State University.

Dr. Joy McCarthy – Joy E. McCarthy is a licensed psychologist with over eighteen years of experience consulting in a wide range of organizational settings and with people at all organization levels. As an independent practitioner, Joy works with organizations, teams, and individuals to achieve improved performance. Her areas of focus include leadership assessment and coaching, organization and team development, and conflict identification and management. Joy earned her master's and doctoral degree in organizational psychology from Georgia State University.

Dr. Jaci Jarrett Masztal – Jaci is a licensed psychologist who heads Burke, Inc.’s Practice for Employee Engagement and Retention Management. She works with organizations to improve their business results by increasing the effectiveness of its employees. She has nearly 20 years’ applied experience providing services to improve individual and organizational performance. Jaci has worked internally as a researcher/ consultant in employee selection and development. She has been working as an external consultant for the past 12 years. Jaci received her doctoral degrees in organizational psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology.