Rationale: This assignment is to help you develop a deeper understanding of Codes of Ethics as action-guiding documents, to better realise the strengths and weaknesses inherent in them, to recognize how organizational, cultural and social differences may influence codes, while at the same time seeing the dominance of Western views of ethics in nationally and internationally.

Step 1. Read and be familiar with the NASW Code and APA code

Step 2. Search for and select a code of ethics from either (a) a US profession that is related to psychology (e.g. social work, physical therapy, engineering, banking, legal services, medicine or similar) or your likely future work area (e.g. banking, HR, finance, advertising) or (b) search for and select a code of ethics from a psychological organization in another country; I encourage you to explore widely for this step.

Step 3.

(a) comparison of the code you have selected with that of the NASW and APA by identifying:

what ethical principles and issues are common to both;

which of the key elements each code has or emphasizes;

elements or principles unique to either code;

propose possible reasons for the differences in the two codes

(b) Identify how each code might have been influenced by the special needs of different organizational pressures or national cultures.

(c) Identify how well each code (and its associated guidelines, if any) specifically addresses and accommodates the needs and values of a minority or marginalised group of interest to you.

(d) A brief closing summary stating which code you would prefer to work under and why.