Ethics Case Analysis  (40  pts.) - This assignment should be submitted to:  psy301@csulb.edu with a copy sent
                                                       to yourself. (Do not send it as an attachment.)  You may want to type the answers
                                                       on your word processor.  Then you can paste that into the body of the e-mail (or it
                                                       can be deposited in the yellow drop box in the peer advising office, but it must
                                                       arrive by the peer advising closing time on Tuesday, May 8th).

                                                       Subject header should say:  (your last name) /Case A, B, C,or D analysis
                                                           (5 pt. deduction if this is omitted.)

Select just one of the following cases. For the case you select, answer the seven questions that follow the cases. The questions should be answered in detail --approximately two to three pages if printed.

The cases:

A) A university researcher is interested in studying whether depressed individuals are more upset in the presence of arguments than normals. He hopes to conduct a study using volunteers from introductory psychology classes. They will be given the Beck Depression Inventory to determine their placement as depressed or non-depressed participants. The actual study would involve asking the participants to rate a movie and then complete a series of mood checklists supposedly indicating their reaction to the movie. For half of the participants in both depressed and non-depressed conditions, a realistically staged altercation would take place immediately outside the room during the movie. The participants would not know until they were debriefed that the argument between the other students was related to the purpose of the research. They would be offered an opportunity to receive the results of the study if they leave their names and addresses on an envelope as they leave. The researcher wonders whether he should go ahead with his plans.

B) A 41-year old man has been in therapy for two months. The presenting problem was his obsessive thoughts about the impending death of his mother despite the fact that she is in good health. This obsession had interfered with his productivity in work and his relationships with his wife and children. Because of his obsession, he nearly had three automobile accidents, since his attention in driving was severely disturbed. It was the last of these near misses that motivated him to seek psychotherapy. During the two months of therapy the focus of the sessions had been on his obsessive thoughts about the impending death of his mother.
    In session eight, which was a very emotional one, the client broke down and sobbed silently for five minutes, after which he admitted to raping a woman three years before. The woman committed suicide soon after. No one was arrested for the rape. He tells the therapist the name of the woman, where it took place, and gives the therapist graphic details of the circumstances surrounding the rape. The therapist had followed the newspaper account of this rape and realizes the client has revealed information never reported by the newspapers. The therapist is convinced that this is not a compulsive confession. The client is well respected in the community and has an excellent reputation as a family man. Due to the extensive battery of psychological tests administered early in the course of therapy and information gained from therapy sessions, the therapist has no reason to suspect that he will commit rape again. The therapist wonders whether he should report the crime.

C) A psychologist in a full-time, solo private practice advertises that he limits his practice to marital problems. In 20 years in private practice, he has been successful in solving his clients' marital problems but not in saving his own marriage. Because he works 60 to 70 hours each week, he is able to avoid focussing on his own problems. His secretary schedules his 5:00 opening with a new client, a 35-year old married woman, and leaves to catch the 5:00 bus. The client impresses him as someone in need of confirmation of her own worth; after several sessions she admits that she was molested as a child by her father and that her sexual relationship with her husband is both unsatisfactory and coerced. After 3 months passes, the psychologist realizes that he is looking forward to seeing this client each week and is beginning to feel sexually attracted to her.

D) You are a clinical psychologist with a specialty in marital and sexual dysfunction. You are asked by a local television talk-show host with a large viewing audience to appear once a week on his show to be the guest expert on adult sexual dysfunctions. His show runs for two hours in the mid- afternoon. The format he proposes to you is to appear each Thursday for an hour. During the first fifteen minutes you are to present one of your clinical cases to the audience describing the presenting symptoms and then explaining your diagnosis, treatment, and the outcome of the case or to demonstrate how clinical psychologists use diagnostic tests. During the remaining 45 minutes of your hour, you will answer questions about sexual behavior from callers or from the studio audience. The TV talk show host views his show as very educational. You must decide whether to accept his offer.

The questions:

1. ( 8 pts.)What options are available to the applied psychologist (or researcher)?   Be sure to give several possible options and explain each thoroughly.

2.  (3 pts.) What resources could you consult to help you decide among the options?

3.  (6 pts.)  What do you think the psychologist (or researcher) should do?  Explain thoroughly including the reason you have chosen that alternative and why you did not choose the other(s).  Is there anything else you wish you knew when making your decision.

4. (4 pts.) Who would benefit by your decision? How?

5. (4 pts.)  Who would be harmed by your decision? How?

6. (10pts.)   What do the current APA principles and standards suggest should be done? Cite the number and/or letter of the principle(s) and standard(s) and give a brief explanation of how each applies to the case. Generally more than one principle and/or standard will apply to any given situation.  Often, four or five principles and/or standards apply.  For some situations, there may be up to ten.  Be sue to include references to both principles and standards.

7. (5 pts.)  Have there been any changes in the proposed draft of the revised ethics code that are relevant to the case you chose.  If so explain how that might change the options available and/or your recommendations.  Be sure to mention the standard number.   If there are no changes, explain whether you think there should be any.

Don't forget to identify in the subject header of your e-mail which case you are discussing.