Moral Dilemmas

Professionals and Parents vs. Child ResponsibilityRosemarie Patterson

Psychology 492Argosy University

Who is Responsible for the Death of a Child?

• The problem area is at what age or maturity level does the child or teen legally accepts total responsibility for their own actions? This concerns the HIPPA Laws, Informed Consent of Confidentiality, and the legal ramifications that could follow a moral dilemma (APA, 2002).

Who will society blame?

• Pending legal case in which a teenager delivers a baby at home and parents did not know their child was pregnant. The baby dies (Clarridge, 2009). Who is to blame?

• The teenager?

• The Parents?

• The professionals?

Responsibility Relationships

• 1. Parental

• 2. Professional

• 2. Parent and Child

• 3. Professional, child, and parent

• 4. Child responsibility

Parental• Parents are responsible for the

protection of their children. The fact that children are protected and have certain unalienable rights just as adults are entitled

to (Deen, 2009).

• The child is given the right to fair and equal treatment, the child given the right to food, shelter, clothing and not to be tortured (Deen, 2009).

• The child’s rights are demanded to be protected by the adoptive and biological parents (Adoption and Parental Responsibility, 2004)

• Children need parents to be more responsible in nurturing, parents need to express love, concern, educate them and also provide structure and discipline. Parents are more than a pizza in the fridge (Book & Perala-Littunen, 2008).

Three types of dimensions are explored:

1. Beginning

2. Diminished sense of responsibility

3. Obligated responsibility (Book & Perala-Littunen, 2008).

Professional

The professional is protected by:

• APA

• Informed Consent

• Confidentiality rules and

• HIPPA (APA, 2002)

Parent and Child

• Parent and child in the family can assume responsibility as a family no matter what the circumstances, even if the parent is disabled boundaries do not exist

• Parent out of control• Child out of control• Boundaries (APA, 2002; (Walton, 2003;

Arnold & Gemma, 1994; Van der Ende, Venderink, and van Busschback, 2010; and Brannigan, 2005).

Professional, Child and Parent

• Healthy Relationships between child and parent protected by the professional

• The duty to protect the child

• The duty to protect the unborn child (Glicken, 2004).

Child

• Child or teenager becomes an adult

• Adult is responsible for protecting child

• No boundaries between child and adult (Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 1996 and Inter Press Service English News Wire. 20 Nov. 2009).

Moral dilemma

Life Changing Moral dilemma:

• abortion,

• adoption,

• adjust

• Annihilate (McConnell, 2010).

Similar Cases

• Sixteen year old serves five years in juvenile detention (Lifetime Movie Network, 2010).

• Federal Way case of thirteen year old pending charges (Vera & Speight, 2003; Clarridge, 2009).

Unanswered Questions

• Will these issues affect the outcome of responsibility

• 1.Competency• 2. Multi-culturism• 3. Violence• 4. Males• 5. Females• 6. Age• 7. Confidentiality (APA, 2002)

Conclusion

• Parent and Child assume and share responsibility

• Professionals protected by Informed Consent, APA and confidentiality rules (Glicken, 2004; Vera & Speight, 2003).

Author Comments

• This ethical dilemma of responsibility should stir up questions in the legal and psychological community as cases of infant deaths become more publicized and outrage consumes the American culture.

Rosemarie Patterson

August 2010

References• American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of

psychologists• And code of conduct. American Psychologist, 57, 1060–1073.• Arnold, J.H. and Gemma, P. B. (1994). A Child Dies: A Portrait of Family

Grief. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia, PA: The Charles Press Publishers• Book, M. L., and Perala-Littunen, S. Childhood. Children Need Their

Parents More Than a Pizza in the Fridge. Parental responsibility in a Finnish newspaper. London: Feb2008.Vol.15. Iss. 1; pg 74

• Brannigan, M. C. (2005). Ethics across Cultures: An Introductory Text with Readings. New York: McGraw Hill

• Clarridge, C. (2009). Police say Federal Way teen killed newborn. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009021771_deadbaby11m.html

• Deen, Thalif. Development: Child Rights Progress, but Millions still Suffer. Inter Press Service English News Wire. 20 Nov. 2009

• Glicken M. D. (2004). Violent Young Children. New York: Pearson Education

• Lifetime Movie Network. (2010). Television aired July 17, 2010 on Comcast Cable

• McConnell, Terrance, "Moral Dilemmas”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

• Van der Ende, P. C., Venderink, M. M., and van Busschback, J. T. (2010). Psychiatric Services. With Success and Satisfaction among Parents with Severe Mental Illness: Arlington: Apr 2010. Vol. 61, Iss. 4; pg. 416

• Practice Q&As: Adoption and parental responsibility. (2004, July). Pulse, 33.  Retrieved July 7, 2010, from ProQuest European Business. (Document ID: 667263231).

• Vera, E. M. and Speight, S. L. (2003). Multicultural Competence, Social Justice, and Counseling Psychology: Expanding Our Roles, social justice forum: Loyola University Chicago

• Walton, Stephanie. "When violence hits home." State Legislatures. 01 Jun. 2003: 31.

• Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Trends in At-Risk Behaviors of Youth in Washington, January 1996