Ethics, Standards, and Professional Practice in Forensic Settings
Ethical architecture
The APA Ethics Code and Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology emphasize competence, informed consent, avoiding harm, and clarity of role. The exam tests whether you can apply general principles to forensic conflicts, not recite them.
Core rules
- State the purpose, retention, likely disclosure, and limits of confidentiality at the outset; the examinee is not the client in most court-ordered evaluations.
- Obtain informed consent unless the evaluation is court-ordered; explain that participation may affect the case.
- Use only tests and methods within your competence and validated for the population and legal question.
- Avoid multiple relationships that could impair objectivity; do not provide therapy to a forensic examinee.
- Test materials are protected; test data may be released to qualified professionals under legal process, but raw data require safeguards.
- Fees must not be contingent on findings.
Worked example
An attorney demands all raw test data after an evaluation. The psychologist should not refuse outright or dump materials. Instead, follow law and ethics: release test data to the attorney or a qualified psychologist, protect copyright and security, and document the response. Reasoning: the attorney is entitled to data relevant to the opinion, but test security and test integrity remain obligations.
Traps
Promising absolute confidentiality; treating a forensic evaluation as therapy; accepting a contingency fee; using outdated norms; releasing test questions to unqualified persons; letting the retaining party dictate conclusions.