The Presence of Social Justice Principles Within Professional and Ethical Guidelines in International Psychology

Abstract

The ethical guidelines produced by organisations such as the American Psychological Association help establish the identity of, and to some extent publicly represent, psychological professions. This paper examines guidelines from the USA and the UK with reference to the way in which they engage with “social justice” values and practice. Specifically, the codes of the American Psychological Association, and the British Psychological Society, and the standards of the (UK's) Health and Care Professions Council are discussed. While the professional and ethical codes, standards and guidelines of these two countries do reflect some level of engagement with social justice, the American Psychological Association appears to be further ahead than its UK counterparts in embracing a social justice perspective. Additionally, the limited engagement with social justice in such documents, particularly in the UK, raises questions in relation to the identity of the profession of psychology and whether or not that identity even features social justice. The article concludes that if social justice is a priority for psychology then, as a starting point, the aspirational elements of such ethical guidelines should be amended to reflect such a commitment.