Morals and values is something that every individual may uphold in life. So similar to such, so do professional organizations, especially those within the human services profession. With those morals and values, which are also called professional ethics, comes codes of conduct. Codes of conduct are rules and regulations that are set in place to help avoid conflict and adversity within professional environments. These rules and regulations are also set in place to help maintain the safety and welfare of both the professionals and the clients. However, while there are several arenas within the human services field, it allows the opportunity for numerous professional associations to be available within our society. Being that I am an individual who is passionate about helping others within their times of adversity as well as advocating for diversity/equality, the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics is what I would adhere within the mentioned professional environment.
The American Counseling Association (ACA) is the world’s largest professional association that was founded in 1952. The ACA places emphasis on growth and enhancement within the counseling profession with their headquarters being located in Alexandria, VA. However, their code of ethics did not come into existence until 1963; eleven years after their existence. Since then, their code of ethics has been revised twice due changes with our society and other social justice issues. Its latest revised went into effect July 1, 2005 with the approval from the ACA Governing Council. Although its approval was by Governing Council, it was the ACA’s Ethics Code Revision Taskforce who took on the assignment of revising their code of ethics. Yet, its current code of ethic...
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...policies and procedures assist employees with conflict but they will also assist with setting the standard within the professional environment as it relates to the safety and welfare or the clients and the professionals as well. Along with the continuous changes within society, these codes of ethics and conduct would have to be updated to adhere to those changes; however not saying that they have to be changed every year.
Works Cited
American Counseling Association (2005). 2005 ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
Race, D. G. (2003). Leadership and Change is Human Services: Select Readings From Wolf
Wolfensberger. New York: Routledge
American Counseling Association (2005). Highlights of the ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved
from http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/ethics_highlights.pdf?sfvrsn=2
I believe that every company should encourage a relationship of trust, loyalty, honesty, and responsibility among staff members at all levels. It’s important that each staff member works together to achieve excellence in a business, so the code of conduct is put in place. The purpose of the code is to provide guidance and set common ethical standards for employees from the top of the food chain to the bottom of the food chain. Some of the areas that I find to be significant of importance in a business are sexual harassment, discrimination and simply being professional in a work environment.
Understanding the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) ethical codes is an important aspect of developing one’s professional identity as a mental health counselor. More specifically, in order for a counselor to be professionally competent and ensure he/she is able to uphold ethical boundaries, it is essential that one becomes familiar with the codes. Furthermore, both ethical codes share a multitude of similarities as well as differences, including that the AMHCA code of ethics profoundly draws from the ACA code of ethics. However, it is important to note that the AMHCA code presents ethical criteria geared specifically towards mental health counselors whereas the ACA code
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The Code of Ethics can help us understand what our professional responsibilities are to the children in our care, to the families of the children, to co-workers, and to the community and society in general.
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American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. - See more at: http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics#sthash.13ImD8Lb.dpuf
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Nowadays, society is governed by the implications of rules and legal restrictions. All of these rules were created to uphold and maintain the idea of ethical and moral values. Even children growing up were taught by some very important codes of ethics at school. These lessons learned as a youth growing up carry over into adulthood, as an employee or manager. Managers and workers both follow a similar code of ethics within the work place. Today, as a management consultant, I am going to prepare a code of ethics for my clients as they have recently started a restaurant called Knox, it is important to have a code of ethics in every company for their employees and also a circular by explaining the purpose and benefits of a good ethics. And finally, a brief report on the steps of strategic formulation and implementation.
Maureen H. Miner recommends in his article that any training in ethics will be judged by the quality of ethical choices made by those who complete it. If psychologists are to be recognized as professionals who are committed to best practice, then we should take ethical training very seriously. (Miner, 2005)
Prior to having the class of Professional Values and Ethics, I assumed I understood the basic concepts of what defines a professional who has competence of values and ethics. Nevertheless, by being enrolled in this course, I have gained great knowledge of which professional values and ethical principles must be held by a social worker, which I did not know before. Progressively in this class, by learning professional values and ethics, my motivation to succeed as an upcoming social worker has gotten stronger.
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