What other connections do you see between their future career visions and the ethical principles, standards, and codes of conduct you reviewed?

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Response Guidelines:

  • What points do you agree or disagree with in your peers’ assessments of the issues?
  • What about their proposed resolutions?
  • What other connections do you see between their future career visions and the ethical principles, standards, and codes of conduct you reviewed?

Be sure to provide substantive responses to help your peers build on their learning. Reference any relevant assigned readings, additional resources, or professional literature to support your response.

(peer post)

The case study I chose is:

A 23-year-old man, Mr. L., has been in psychotherapy with a psychologist, Dr. T. During the course of treatment, Mr. L. has described his anger at his former girlfriend, Ms. S., an undergraduate student at a local university. As therapy has continued, Mr. L.’s anger with Ms. S. has become more intense. During the most recent session, Mr. L. stated he was going to kill Ms. S. and left the office. What are the ethical issues involved?

In this specific case, the major ethical dilemma that I found relevant is the limits to confidentiality being challenged with regards to Mr. L stating that he is going to kill Ms. S.

According to the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (2017), informed consent is a mandatory process when beginning a therapist-patient relationship.  Furthermore, informed consent can be in the form of oral or written language, but must be properly documented.  Informed consent describes the nature of therapy, fees, third parties, and limits to confidentiality.  Confidentiality, in Canada, respects the privacy of the client and therapist.  For instance, in the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (2017), confidentiality means to protect information about colleagues, team members, other collaborators, primary clients, research participants, and more regarding what one deems confidential.  Also, confidentiality clarifies what measures will be taken to protect privacy, as well as the responsibilities of group members in protecting such information.  Confidentiality allows for sharing information only with others who are directly needed for the purpose of sharing (e.g., supervisor) and describes the limits to confidentiality.  The limits of confidentiality in Canada include: reporting immediate and imminent harm or danger to a minor/child, reporting immediate or imminent harm or danger to seniors or people who are dependent on others, such as non-verbal, and reporting immediate or imminent harm or danger to oneself or others.

With that being said, in this case, Mr. L has now disclosed immediate or imminent danger towards Ms. S.  Therefore, Dr. T has the obligation to report this to the authorities.  This is obvious through the language that Mr. L uses such as “… I am going to kill…”  Mr. L does not say “I have had thoughts, or I had dreams about killing Ms. S.”  If Mr. L did disclose language such as thoughts or dreams, then Dr. T could explore that more with high monitoring before reporting.

If I was Dr. T in this situation, resolving would be mean reporting this to the authorities.  It does not describe the script that Dr. T would have used at the beginning of this therapeutic relationship, but Dr. T had the obligation to explain informed consent, confidentiality, and limits to confidentiality.  As an addictions counselor now, I am held to a high professional standard ensuring that these confidential standards are met.  I conduct group therapy and on the first day of group we process and discuss confidentiality at length.  In this discussion, I describe and explain the techniques that will be used and why, such as CBT, I explain that the program is voluntary, I explain the importance of boundary setting, and I explain the written documentation.  To discuss the limits of confidentiality, I ask the group members what they think confidentially mean and if they can think of reasons why I would have to break it.

This specific case study interested me because it is very real.  All of them were real of course and dilemmas that could occur, but this one is that fine grey line.  Also, the more I study, read, or discuss limits to confidentiality, maybe the more prepared I am for when or if this happens to me.

References

Canadian Psychologist Association. (2017). Canadian code of ethics for psychologist. Retrieved from cpa.org.

Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the different theories and their approaches to explaining language development.

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Theories of language development attempt to explain how humans, especially children, learn language. This course focuses on first language development (regardless of whether a child has one or multiple native languages) and not on second or foreign language development. The theories you explore may be categorized into three primary groups: behavioral, linguistic, and interactionist. The first approach, behaviorism, may be familiar from other areas of developmental psychology. Within the study of language, behaviorists view language as a learned skill like any other, albeit a very complicated one. Stimuli from the environment (parents and other language inputs) condition children to make connections between concepts and exhibit verbal behavior.

The second category of approaches is known as linguistic or nativist. These approaches propose that language could not possibly be a set of acquired behaviors. Instead, proponents of this school of thought suggest that humans have an innate language component in their brains, called a language acquisition device (LAD), that allows them to process the language around them, much like a computer. Development of this faculty must occur over a period of time but is evidenced by the fact that any infant has the capacity to develop any language.

The third group, interactionist, lies somewhere between the former two groups. Theories within the interactionist paradigm include Piaget’s theory of language and cognitive development, the information processing approach, and the social-interactionist approach. Each of these proposes differing views on the influence and interaction between innate cognitive processes and social environments in which children hear and use language.

For this Discussion, you examine a case study of hearing-impaired children who developed their own language system. To do this, you will apply one theory from the behaviorist, linguistic, or interactionist approaches as a lens through which to interpret the phenomena present in the case.

To prepare:

· Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the different theories and their approaches to explaining language development.

· Read the article “A Linguistic Big Bang” and consider the language developed by the children in the case study.

· Select a theory from one of the following categories to apply to the case study: behaviorist, linguistic (e.g., Chomsky), or interactionist.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 4

Post an explanation of how your selected theory would explain the language development of the children in the case study and why.

Note: Be sure to identify the theory you selected in the subject line of your post.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources. Use proper APA format and citations.

Resources for this week, make sure to use resources when answering question.

Gleason, J. B., & Ratner, N. B. (2017). The development of language (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

  • Chapter 7, “Theoretical Approaches to Language      Acquisition” (pp. 158–195)

Osborne, L. (1999). A linguistic big bang. New York Times Magazine, 84–89. 

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Weisleder, A., & Fernald, A. (2013). Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2143–2152. doi:10.1177/0956797613488145

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Optional Resources

Serious Science. (2014, February 17). Language design – Noam Chomsky [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLk47AMBdTA

In what ways might the couple’s decision to stay together (despite the infidelity) impact the 3 children involved? (Hint: Consider effects of divorce, the children’s social and emotional development, and/or Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory)

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Middle Childhood Discussion-1st post due by 11/24

 

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A wife and mother of 2 middle childhood-aged sons cheated on her husband. Her infidelity resulted in her having a son with her secret lover. Her husband, J.M., did not learn that the newborn was not his until her lover saw that the baby looked just like him. He showed up at the married couple’s home to demand that he see his son. They sent him away.  Soon after the lover’s visit, J.M. got a paternity test that ruled him out as the father. However, he decided to stay with his wife and raise the child as his own. Later, the lover took the couple to court to get joint custody of his child. Below is the court’s ruling:

“Request for and consent for paternity testing of the minor child is denied. Defendant J.M. is determined to be and is hereby declared to be the legal father of B. S. M.”

The court denied the paternity test and request for custody because (despite the infidelity) the couple was married. Please share your reactions to this TRUE story by answering the following questions:

  • What do you think about this verdict?
  • In what ways might the couple’s decision to stay together (despite the infidelity) impact the 3 children involved? (Hint: Consider effects of divorce, the children’s social and emotional development, and/or Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory)
  • This couple argues quite a bit, which is a source of stress for the middle childhood-aged children. What might help the children cope with this type of adversity? Be specific!

Do you think the study results might have been different if the participants were from a different cultural, ethnic, or gender group? How so?

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Select one of the following classic studies in social psychology. While many of these studies are referenced in Social Beings, you may need to do additional research using the University Library or other resources.

  • Solomon Asch’s (1940, 1956) classic work on normative influence and conformity; sometimes referred to as the Asch effect
  • Stanley Milgram’s (1965, 1974) research on obedience and the situational variables that make obedience to authority more likely
  • Leon Festinger’s (1957) study of cognitive dissonance or Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1959) work on cognitive dissonance
  • Henri Tajfel and his colleague’s (1971) work on the impact of minimal groups and ingroup bias
  • Muzafer Sherif and colleague’s (1961) classic Robbers Cave study, including the concept of shared goals and the contact hypothesis
  • Darley and Latane’s (1968) study of the bystander effect, including the concept of diffusion of responsibility and the conditions under which people are more or less likely to help
  • A different classic social psychology study approved by your course instructor

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper about a classic study in social psychology that includes the following information:

  • A summary of the study and how it was conducted
  • An explanation of the study results: What happened? Were there any unexpected findings? What did the authors conclude? What did the results mean, and what are their implications?
  • An explanation of how the concept situationism applies to the study results
  • Answers to the following questions:
    • Do you think the study results might have been different if the participants were from a different cultural, ethnic, or gender group? How so?
    • Do you think the results of the study are important and relevant to contemporary society? Explain.