Professional and ethical issues by mohsin ali

1. Professional Ethical
Issue
Presented by:
Mohsin Iftikhar ---------082 ----------------------UOG

2. Learning Objective 1
Distinguish ethical from unethical behavior in personal and
professional contexts.

3. What Are Ethics?
• Ethics can be defined broadly as a set of moral principles or values.
• Each of us has such a set of values.
• We may or may not have considered them openly.

4. Need for Ethics
• Ethical behavior is necessary for a society to function in an orderly manner.
• The need for ethics in society is sufficiently important that many commonly
held ethical values are merged into laws.

5. Recommended Ethical Principles
• Trustworthiness(Honesty)
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness(Equality)
• Caring(Helpful)
• Citizenship

6. Why People Act Unethically
• The person’s ethical standards are different from those of society as a whole.
• The person chooses to act selfishly.
• In many instances, both reasons exist.

7. A Person Chooses to
Act Unethically– Example
• Person A finds a briefcase containing important papers and $1,000.
• He throws the briefcase and keeps the money.
• He show off to his friends about his good luck.
• This action probably differs from most of society.

8. Cont..
• Person B faces the same situation but responds differently.
• He keeps the money but leaves the briefcase.
• He tells nobody and spends the money.
• He has violated his own ethical standards and chose to act selfishly.

9. Learning Objective 2
• Resolve ethical problems using an ethical framework.

10. Principles of Practice
• Personal Conduct
• Clients
• Colleagues
• Agency
• Profession
• Society

11. Ethical Dilemmas issue
• An ethical dilemma is a situation a person faces in which a decision must be
made about appropriate behavior.

12. What is an ethical dilemma? It is a Conflict
between ...
• one’s personal and professional values
• two values/ethical principles
• two possible actions each with reasons strongly favorable and unfavorable
• two unsatisfactory alternatives
• one’s values/principles and one’s apparent role
• the need to act and the need to reflect

13. Can ethical dilemma be avoided?
• You can avoid ethical dilemmas! But...
• You cannot completely avoid ethical dilemmas!

14. You can avoid ethical dilemmas! An Example
• Your placement is in a school, you should give prior thought to how you
would respond when a child reveals abuse or neglect.
• Find out how your field instructor wants you to handle these situations.
• What information does the school expect you will share with concerned
teachers? The principal?

15. You cannot completely avoid ethical dilemmas!
• It is best to prepare yourself for them by examining your own values from
time to time and learning all you can about:
• how past ethical problems in your placement settings were resolved.

16. • What are the behaviors that will almost always be viewed as
unethical?
Behaviors to be avoided

17. Erotic intimacy with clients

18. Libeling or slandering a client

19. Sharing confidences without compelling
professional reasons

20. Assaulting, causing physical injuries, or placing
clients in danger

21. Discriminatory practices

22. Failure to warn and protect the victim of a
violent crime

23. Failure to exercise reasonable precautions with
a potentially suicidal client

24. Promising “cures” for problems

25. How do I avoid rushing into ethical dilemmas?
• Develop a working knowledge of the Code of Practice
• by necessity they cannot be specific to every possible ethics violation
• By anticipating likely trouble spots before they occur.

26. How do I resolve ethical dilemmas?
• The first step is recognizing the problem and identifying the source of the
conflict.
• You also must keep all parties informed of your legal and ethical obligations.
• Engage clients or involved parties in dialogue, and brainstorm the “best”
course of action.

27. Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
• 1. Obtain the relevant facts.
• 2. Identify the ethical issues from the facts.
• 3. Determine who is affected.
• 4. Identify the alternatives available to the
• person who must resolve the dilemma.
• 5. Identify the likely consequence of each
• alternative.
• 6. Decide the appropriate action.

28. Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
• Make sure you are constantly keeping in mind the mission of the profession
and observing the client’s right to self-determination.
• If you are still unclear about what to do, discuss the situation with your field
instructor.
• Protect the identity of the client if necessary, and present the situation as a
“hypothetical” case if you need external help.

29. How do I know whether I am doing the right
thing?
• It is not always possible to know,
• but there is a greater chance that we can feel good about the decision
we have to make .
• if we go through a deliberate process where we examine our values,
seek additional information, and consult others.

30. A Decision-Making Model: 5 Steps (M.V.
Joseph, 1983)
• 1. definition of the dilemma.

31. A Decision-Making Model: 5 Steps (M.V.
Joseph, 1983)
• looking at all the relevant facts and developing valid arguments for various
courses of action,

32. A Decision-Making Model: 5 Steps (M.V.
Joseph, 1983)
• 3. consideration of practice wisdom, personal beliefs and values, and how
these might influence the final decision,

33. A Decision-Making Model: 5 Steps (M.V.
Joseph, 1983)
• 4. developing options, exploring compromises, evaluating alternatives in an
attempt to find a course of action with the least negative effects, and

34. A Decision-Making Model: 5 Steps (M.V.
Joseph, 1983)
• 5. choosing a position that you can defend.

35. Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
ACM Code of Ethics (1)
General moral imperatives: “As an ACM member I will…”
1. Contribute to society and human well-being.
2. Avoid harm to others.
3. Be honest and trustworthy.
4. Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
5. Honour property rights including copyrights and patents.
6. Give proper credit for intellectual property.
7. Respect the privacy of others.
8. Honour confidentiality.

36. ACM Code of Ethics (2)
Specific professional responsibilities: “As an ACM computing
professional I will”:
1. Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the
process and products of professional work.
2. Acquire and maintain professional competence.
3. Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work.
4. Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
5. Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer system and
their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.

37. Cont..
6. Honour contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
7. Improve public understanding of computing and its consequences.
8. Access computing and communication resources only when authorized
to do so.

38. ACM Code of Ethics (3)
Organization leadership imperatives: “As an ACM member and an
organizational leader, I will:”
1. Articulate social responsibilities of members of an organizational unit
and encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities.
2. Manage personnel and resources to design and build information
systems that enhance the quality of working life.
3. Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an
organization’s computing and communication resources.

39. Cont..
4. Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a design have their
needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of requirements;
later the system must be validated to meet requirements.
5. Articulate and support policies that protect the dignity of users and
others affected by a computing system.
6. Create opportunities for members of the organization to learn the
principles and limitations of computer systems.

40. ACM Code of Ethics (4)
Compliance with the Code: “As an ACM member, I will:”
1. Uphold and promote the principles of this Code.
2. Treat violations of this code as inconsistent with membership in the
ACM.

41. Ethical decision making: Case 1
• Joe is a database programmer
• large statistical program needed by his company (actuarial requirements)
• company programmers are encouraged to publicize their work
• Joe has found himself stuck on a problem
• Has persisted at this for several months.
• His manager does not recognize complexity of problem.
• She insists job be completed in the few days.
• Joe remembers:
• co-worker had given him source listings of their current work
• he also has an early version of commercial software developed at another company

42. Ethical decision making: Case Study
• Joe studies these programs
• Sees two areas of code which could be directly incorporated into his own
program
• He uses segments of code both from his coworker and from the
commercial software
• He does not tell anyone or mention it in the documentation.
• He completes the project and turns it in a day ahead of time.
• How does the Code of Ethics help us understand this case?

43. Applying the code: Case Study
• This case highlights issues involving intellectual property
• 1.6: “Give proper credit for intellectual property”
• Specifically, do not take credit for other’s ideas or work.
• Property rights principle (1.5)
• copyrights, patents, trade secrets, license agreements
• Restrictions also ground in:
• integrity (1.3)
• complying with existing laws (2.3)

44. Applying the code: Case Study
• Joe violated professional ethics in two areas:
• Failure to give credit for another’s work.
• Using code from a commercial package that (presumably) was copyrighted.
• If Joe only “looked” at co-worker’s source code:
• Could he then write his own program and still have an obligation to give credit?
• Yes:
• He should have acknowledged credit in documentation.
• (Some professional discretion possible here, especially if intellectual material is trivial.)

45. Applying the code: Case Study
• Use of commercial software code was also not appropriate:
• Joe should have checked to determine whether or not company was
authorized to use source code before using it.
• In general:
• Desirable to share and exchange intellectual materials
• But using bootlegged software is definitely a violation of code.