Ethical Complaints Research Articles

A 9-Year Review of Ethics Complaints to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) provides an avenue for filing formal complaints regarding unethical behavior of members. These complaints are investigated by the ethics committee and referred to the judicial council if a violation may have occurred. A review of complaints filed with the ASPS from 2013 through 2021 was performed. Data surrounding both complaints and complainant type were reviewed, as well as region of complaint origin. Categories of violations resulting in formal investigations and judicial council referrals were also reviewed. A total of 584 complaints were filed with the ASPS ethics committee from 2013 through 2021, which was nearly 100 fewer than from a previous review of 2004 through 2008. Twenty-one percent of complaints were formally investigated by the ethics committee, and 26% of these were referred to the judicial council. The most common complaint investigated was related to advertising or misleading communications; the most common complaint referred to the judicial council was regarding expert testimony. Most complaints were filed by ASPS members. The total number of complaints filed over time has decreased significantly, the reasons for which are unclear. Evolution of culture and thought likely had an impact, not only on specific behaviors but also on the likelihood of reporting those behaviors. It remains incumbent on plastic surgeons to use the self-regulating mechanisms available to maintain the autonomy plastic surgery enjoys as a profession.

Accusation Is Not Proof: Procedural Justice in Psychology

In this article, we explicate a relatively ignored construct in clinical science—procedural justice. Procedural justice is concerned with adjudicative processes in which norms are applied to particular cases in which there is an allegation of some transgression. Psychologists often value social justice, but there can be no social justice without procedural justice. Procedural-justice concerns arise in a wide variety of interpersonal contexts, including diagnoses, administrative adjudications such as ethics complaints or Title IX hearings, conflicts clients experience with others, and more informal contexts such as gossip. Exemplars of problematic procedural justice relevant to psychologists are described. We argue that there are five general dimensions of procedural justice (epistemic, ethical, subjective, legal, and pragmatic) and 20 specific principles of procedural fairness. Suggestions for improved practice and future research are provided. Procedural justice exemplifies values embodied in the late Scott Lilienfeld’s work and life.

Ethical Practice in a Post-Roe World: A Guide for Social Workers.

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, concluding that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision in Dobbs immediately introduced challenging ethical issues for social workers who serve people who become pregnant. Key questions concern social workers' ability to protect clients' privacy and confidentiality, documentation protocols, and client abandonment. In addition, social workers must be concerned about the possibility that they are at risk of being named in licensing board and ethics complaints, lawsuits, and criminal court indictments because of their work with people who seek abortion-related information and services. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the Dobbs decision; discuss compelling ethical issues facing social workers who work with people who seek reproductive health information and services; present guidelines to assist social workers who face ethical dilemmas related to reproductive health services; and highlight the critical importance of ethics-informed social work advocacy related to reproductive health.

Ethical Dilemmas in School Psychology: Which Dilemmas Are Most Prevalent Today and How Well Prepared Are School Psychologists to Face Them?

Professional organization ethical codes are adopted to protect the public by educating their members to standards of conduct and by facilitating resolution of ethical complaints. Given that the last survey on ethics in school psychology was conducted over a decade ago, the aim of this study was to investigate the ethical dilemmas practitioners face today, along with their preparedness for resolving these dilemmas. We also examined workplace resources and whether preparedness and resolution were related to background variables (i.e., degree, setting, ethics training). Results indicated most school psychologists experienced at least one ethical dilemma over the past year, mostly in the areas of assessment and administrative pressure. Although most participants felt prepared to face ethical dilemmas, relatively few used a systematic decision-making model to resolve them. Last, most school psychologists reported feeling relatively unprepared for ethically delivering psychological services via telehealth. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Impact Statement Ethical school psychological practice is imperative to ensure effective and appropriate systems-level functioning and individual students’ educational and psychological needs are met. This study examined school psychologists’ experiences with ethical dilemmas and how various factors relate to their resolution of such dilemmas. The study findings are used to delineate implications for training and practice.

Weaponizing Clinical Mental Health in Family Justice Courts: Ethical and Legal Minefields

In child custody litigation, parents engage in complex and iterative patterns of conflict. These patterns may include allegations of interpersonal violence, addiction, mental health disorders, and parental alienation. In such cases, a licensed mental health professional (LMHP) may be providing clinical services for a child. However, the education and training of LMHPs may not include a thorough understanding of risk when exposed to child custody litigation, including ethical complaints and civil lawsuits. This article explores preventative strategies for managing that risk by applying a forensic model for case management when child custody conflict and litigation enters the clinical portal.

Resources for Ethical Decision-Making

Purpose: This article is written from the perspective of a former American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Ethics (BOE) member and focuses on Step 3 of the ethical decision-making process: consulting resources. The ASHA Code of Ethics, the Assistants Code of Conduct, and general procedures of the BOE are summarized. Given that many of the complaints reviewed and settled by the ASHA BOE arise from disciplinary actions imposed by state licensing boards and state or federal courts, the “intersection” of the ASHA BOE and other regulatory agencies is considered. Several ethics resources available on the ASHA website are highlighted. Common themes of ethics complaints are presented, and suggestions to avoid being the subject of an ethics complaint are offered. Conclusion: Familiarity with available ethics resources can serve as an important buffer for ethical dilemmas that may occur in everyday professional practice.

Enforcement Procedures for the AOTA Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics

These Enforcement Procedures help ensure compliance with the Code, objectivity, and fundamental fairness to all persons who may be parties in an ethics complaint. The Code and the Enforcement Procedures are not intended to address private business, legal, or other disputes for which there are other, more appropriate forums for resolution. Whenever feasible and appropriate, AOTA members should first pursue other corrective steps within the relevant institution or setting and discuss ethical concerns directly with persons perceived to be violating the Code before resorting to AOTA’s ethics complaint process. However, the EC will review complaints of unethical conduct that it receives.

Effect of Participation in Relay Sports on the Quality of Work Life and Job Performance of Relief Workers with the Mediating Role of Professional Ethics: A Case Study of Hogam Competitions in Mazandaran Province, Iran

INTRODUCTION: Today, the importance of paying attention to human resources for the growth and development of relief organizations, such as the Red Crescent, emergency services, and fire stations, has been considered a key priority at the decisions and activities of the managers of these organizations. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of participation in relay sports on the quality of work life and job performance of relief forces with the mediating role of professional ethics in Mazandaran Province, Iran. METHODS: The present applied study was conducted based on a descriptive-survey approach. The statistical population of the study consisted of all relief forces, including firefighters, Red Crescent rescuers, and emergency service staff, (with unknown sample size) who participated in the Hogam relay sport. The research sample included 168 members of the above-mentioned forces who participated in an event related to the Hogam sport in Mazandaran Province, 2018. The samples were selected using the non-random convenience sampling method; regarding this, all participants in the mentioned event were entered into the research. The required data were collected using questionnaires, namely the Walton Quality of Work Life Questionnaire, Paterson Job Performance Questionnaire, Sports Questionnaire (developed by Taji et al., 2010), and Standard Professional Ethics Questionnaire (designed by Kadozir, 2002). FINDINGS: The results showed that participation in Hogam sport had a significant effect on job performance and quality of work life of relief workers with the mediating role of professional ethics. Therefore, it can be said that addressing this sport, which has its specific nature compared to other sports, can have a significant impact on the quality of work life and job performance of employees, which will be doubled by the observance of professional ethics. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the managers of these organizations can take steps to implicitly and explicitly institutionalize professional ethics by addressing ethical complaints of employees and implementing programs of strengthening ethics in employees to improve the quality of employees' work life.

Before You File an Ethics Complaint: What You Need to Know

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy)/Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) Code of Ethics for the Nutrition and Dietetics Profession (COE) reflects the core values and principles of the profession and is “vital to guiding the profession’s actions and to strengthen its credibility.”1,2 Although the COE applies to all CDR credentialed practitioners and all Academy members, credentialed or otherwise, the purpose of the COE is not to police practitioners but to provide “education, remediation, and self-regulation.”3,4 Personal grievances do not fit within the parameters of an ethics complaint; rather, ethics complaints are aimed at the practice of dietetics and protecting the welfare of patients, clients, and the public.

“Under the sword of Damocles”: psychologists relate their experience of a professional misconduct complaint

ABSTRACT Health practitioners run the risk of ethical board complaints or legal action against them in their professional careers. This experience can have a detrimental impact on personal wellness and professional practice. This study reports on the subjective experience of ten South African psychologists who received complaints. Semi structured interviews were conducted, and the transcripts analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The data indicates that (1) the participants experienced the effects of a complaint on an intensely personal level and (2) the experience of a complaint highlighted the challenging nature of working in the modern health care arena. The researchers hope to inform the psychological community of the emotional challenges experienced during a complaint process, to encourage a transparent discourse about the subject and muster support for practitioners during an often-isolating professional incident.

Catherine Dorion’s Fashion Show: Professional Dress in Quebec’s National Assembly

Catherine Dorion, who represents the riding of Taschereau in Quebec’s National Assembly, has been at the centre of debates surrounding appropriate parliamentary dress since her election in October 2018. By wearing a series of casual outfits to work and staging a controversial 2019 Facebook photo in which she dressed up as a ‘regular’ politician for Halloween—the incident led to a formal ethics complaint against Dorion and an eventual refusal to let her attend parliamentary procedures because she was wearing a hoodie—she has generated much discussion around institutional dress codes, personal appearance, and decorum. This article explores how Dorion’s outfit choices relate to performance and how the critical response she has received, from parliamentary colleagues and media commentators alike, has been largely informed by the idea of incompetence. It also examines how her wardrobe and self-presentation highlight tensions around class, taste, and theatrical performance in political spaces.

Ethical Considerations for Healthcare Organizations.

Ethical misbehavior in the delivery of healthcare creates harm not only to individual therapists and administrators who might choose to overstep ethical boundaries but also, more broadly, causes harm to patients, to healthcare organizations, to professional organizations, and ultimately to society. Both corporate codes of conduct and professional codes of ethics are important, because they set standards of conduct and penalize noncompliant or unethical conduct. The purposes of this article are (1) to differentiate corporate compliance from ethics in a healthcare organization; (2) to explain the application of ethics principles to organizational and professional behaviors; (3) to discuss three important ethical issues (cultural competence, conflict of interest, and employer demands); and (4) to emphasize that, whether applying a corporate code of conduct or a professional code of ethics (or both), the integrity of each individual is essential to ethical behavior. To illustrate these concepts, ASHA's Code of Ethics is discussed in detail (including the ethics complaint adjudication process), and hypothetical case studies are presented under the macro headings of Cultural Competence, Conflict of Interest, and Employer Demands.

Ethical Issues in Psychotherapy Training in China

ABSTRACTThe growth of psychodynamic psychotherapy in China has been accompanied by a small number of ethical complaints. Some particular aspects of the logistics of building a practice in China have contributed to these ethical situations and are discussed. The CAPA Ethics Committee has worked with its Chinese counterparts to explicate the basic concepts of ethics and professional behavior, and ethics investigations, as they are articulated in the CAPA Ethics Procedures, the Ethics Code of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the Ethics Code of the Chinese Psychological Society. Continued education by CAPA and CIC about the essence of ethical and professional behavior will be a feature of its training going forward, and should be extended after graduation by means of continuing education programs.

Enforcement Procedures for the AOTA Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics.

Abstract The principal purposes of the AOTA Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (hereinafter referred to as the Code) are to help protect the public and to reinforce its confidence in the occupational therapy profession rather than to resolve private business, legal, or other disputes for which there are other, more appropriate forums for resolution. The Code is also an aspirational document to guide occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and occupational therapy students toward appropriate professional conduct in all aspects of their diverse professional and volunteer roles. It applies to any conduct that may affect the performance of occupational therapy as well as to an individual’s behavior in another capacity that reflects negatively on the reputation of occupational therapy. The Enforcement Procedures for the AOTA Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (hereinafter referred to as the Enforcement Procedures) have undergone a series of revisions by the Association’s Ethics Commission (EC) since their initial adoption. This public document articulates the procedures followed by the EC as it carries out its duties to enforce the Code. A primary goal of these Enforcement Procedures is to ensure objectivity and fundamental fairness to all individuals who may be parties in an ethics complaint. The Enforcement Procedures help ensure compliance with the Code, which delineates enforceable Principles and Standards of Conduct that apply to Association members.

The Divide Between Journalists and the Audience: Perceptions of Journalism Credibility at a Statewide Level

This two-part study examined the perception of journalism ethical standards by both the public and media professionals on a statewide level. In part one of the study, a statewide poll found that only 14% of Arkansas residents rated the honesty and ethical standards of journalists as high or very high. The results are about 9 percentage points below the findings of a national Gallup poll in 2015 in which the public ranked the ethical standards of journalists. In contrast, part two of the study revealed that 75% of Arkansas media professionals surveyed rated the honesty and ethical standards of journalists as high or very high. Still, 85% of the media professionals also said they thought ethical violations were damaging their profession. Journalists were split about the most common ethical complaint from readers and viewers – 45% said bias, 45% said inaccuracy, and 10% said fairness. Asked what medium they thought was the source of the most ethical violations, 20% blamed broadcast (TV); 25% blamed the Internet; 40% blamed social media; 5% blamed social media and broadcast; 5% blamed social media and the Internet; and 5% blamed social media, broadcast, and the Internet. The responses of these journalists were consistent with the theory of paradigm repair, which posits that journalists engage in discursive strategies to defend their profession in the face of ethical scandals, such as ignoring these ethics offenses or shifting the blame to other sources, such as new technology

Regulatory Enforcement of Accounting Ethics in Puerto Rico

This paper examines ethical violations committed by Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Puerto Rico (PR) in the 2002–2010 period and the related disciplinary actions taken by the local regulatory bodies. The institutional settings for the accounting profession in PR are different from those of the United States. Ethical complaints are investigated by the PR Society of CPAs and evaluated based on the Code of Professional Conduct of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), although most CPAs in PR are not affiliated with the AICPA. Our study is based on data provided by the PR Society of CPAs that is not publicly available. We examine the association between the occurrence of the ethical violations and certain variables such as gender, type of practice performed by the CPA, and whether the CPA participates in a peer review program. Results of a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) suggest that not being a member of the AICPA, practicing as a sole practitioner, and not participating in a peer review program seem to be more associated with the occurrences of ethical violations by CPAs. We compare our findings with prior research on ethical infractions committed by CPAs in the United States and find some differences attributable to the institutional settings in PR. Overall, our results suggest the importance of codes of conduct in the accounting profession and compliance with such ethical guidelines by practicing accountants.

Trends in Ethical Complaints Leading to Professional Counseling Licensing Boards Disciplinary Actions

This article presents findings of a content analysis of the types of ethical violations that led to disciplinary actions (N = 936) across state counseling licensing boards for professional counselors during the time frame of 2010 to 2014. The most frequent types of ethical violations included failure to acquire the appropriate amount of continuing education, dual relationships (sexual and nonsexual), and misrepresentation of credentials. Implications of the findings and future research needs are discussed.

Strategies for Ethics Education with Health Profession Students Before, During, and After Placements

Health professionals must practice ethically in order to ensure compassionate and effective client care; function as good interdisciplinary team members; and protect themselves from litigation, and conduct and ethics complaints. Ethics education is a routine inclusion in health profession degrees, but may only be taught in the classroom, divorced from practice. This article argues that students need ethics education before, during, and after practice placements. We suggest that many powerful opportunities for teaching ethics on and after placements are missed or under-utilised. We have reviewed the scant evidence, and the literature more broadly, to identify strategies for teaching ethics before, during, and after placements; and have added strategies drawn from our own experiences as clinical educators. We highlight where interdisciplinary perspectives can be added to ethics education. We conclude that more research is needed into approaches and strategies for teaching ethics in different contexts.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Commission on Dietetic Registration Disciplinary and Ethics Complaints Process

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Commission on Dietetic Registration Disciplinary and Ethics Complaints Process

The Ethics Resistance

Legal ethics complaints have been filed against several of the high-ranking lawyers in the Trump Administration. While individual complaints have caught the public eye, the collective movement to use legal ethics to resist Trumpism has escaped attention. This is not altogether surprising: legal ethics rules have not historically been an attractive tool for political change. Perhaps, desperate times have called for desperate measures. This “Ethics Resistance” will face significant opposing forces. Legal ethics complaints seldom result in punishment. Further, the agencies that are asked to investigate these high-profile and controversial matters will not be eager to leave their comfort zone; they are accustomed to complaints from clients who are unhappy with their lawyers over straightforward matters like unreturned phone calls or high fees. There will also be loud dissenting voices from those who will see the movement as the weaponization of a tool designed for the modest task of lawyer self-governance. Finally, the complaints will have to navigate between powerful constitutional protections of lawyer speech and federal power. But we should not dismiss this movement simply because it is unusual or challenging. The wisdom of the Ethics Resistance can only be judged after we understand its distinctive qualities and consider how they further or hinder our legal, institutional, and pragmatic interests. In this Article, I undertake that analysis and conclude that the movement has the capacity to be legally permissible, institutionally sound, and prudent. I further offer a list of best practices for future complaints.