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21 Ethical Fallacies: Cognitive Strategies To Justify Unethical Behavior and Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Language

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About the Course

Common cognitive strategies can fool us by making what we know or suspect is unethical seem perfectly ethical. The most common ethical fallacies rely on twisted judgment, appealing fallacies, and juggled language. They can spin the most questionable behaviors into ethical ideals.

The overwhelming majority of psychologists are conscientious, caring individuals, committed to ethical behavior. However, no therapist is infallible and perhaps most therapists, at one time or another, have been vulnerable to at least a few of these ethical justifications. This course is designed to highlight some of the most common ethical justifications that a therapist might face at some point in his/her professional practice.

This course contains two articles

This course is based on the reading-based online article, 21 Ethical Fallacies: Cognitive Strategies To Justify Unethical Behavior and Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Language created by Ken Pope, Ph.D., ABPP and Melba Vasquez, Ph.D., ABPP in 2016.

Journal/Publisher

Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons

Publication Date:

2016

Course Material Authors

Course Material Authors authored the material only, and were not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Ken Pope, Ph.D., ABPP
Kenneth S. Pope is in independent practice as a licensed psychologist. He has chaired the Ethics Committees of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).
Melba Vasquez, Ph.D., ABPP
Melba J. T. Vasquez is a Psychologist in private practice. She served on the APA Ethics Committee, the APA Ethics Committee Task Force for the Revision of 1992 Ethics Code, and the APA Ethics Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility. She was the 2011 President-Elect of the APA.

Course Creator

Keith Gibson, Ph.D.
Dr. Gibson is a Clinical Psychologist with over 30 years in research, clinical and consulting practice. He has also held leadership roles in research administration and program evaluation and more recently has specialized in program evaluation and system analysis. He draws upon his years of expertise as a practicing psychologist, administrator, researcher and technologist to help universities evaluate their programs to implement, meet, and maintain CACREP standards.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses who seek knowledge about ethical vulnerabilities in clinical settings. This content is written at a beginner level.

Course Objectives:

After taking this course, you should be able to:

  1. Assess ethical dilemmas with objectivity rather than from a vulnerable, cognitive fallacy, or unclear thinking (especially when stressed, tired, or distressed) that could create an unethical or questionable handling of a sensitive, clinical matter.

Disclosure to Learners

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Faculty: Keith Gibson, Ph.D.

There are no relevant disclosures.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

Exam Questions

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Course Retired

Categorized in:

Course Number 101786
1 CE credit hour
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  • Reading-Based Online
Exam Fee $5.97
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