A Perspective on Ethical Issues in Community Psychology

Abstract

Early analyses identified community psychology (Golann, 1969) and the related field of community psychiatry (McNeil, Llewellyn, & McCollough, 1970) as emerging areas of ethical concern. As community psychology developed in areas of research and practice, these concerns continued. Rappaport (1977), for example, wrote that community psychology is fraught with inherent complexities because it lies at the juncture between society and the individual, suggesting that the field faced special ethical problems. And Weithorn (1987) asserts that special issues that may characterize prevention research with children create "ethical dilemmas" - situations when what is ethically correct is not clear, and any of several ethically defensible solutions may be arrived at, depending on one's analysis of the issue (p. 230). Despite these ongoing concerns, consideration of ethical issues within community psychology has received limited attention.