Evolution of Clinical Military Psychology Ethics

Abstract

Ethical quandaries for military psychologists are a challenge. Effective military mental health providers must have a thorough understanding of their ethics code, pertinent military instructions, military law, and the mental health laws of the countries in which they practice. This article traces the evolution of clinical military psychology ethics from World War II to present day and serves to introduce the manuscripts within this special issue of Military Psychology. The authors have addressed the issues of multiple relationships, cultural competency, mixed agency, informed consent and confidentiality and provided guidelines in order to effectively address these dilemmas.Psychologists as mental health providers in the military do not have a long history. In fact, formal military clinical psychology is only about 60 years old, arising during World War II to meet the mental health needs of veterans (Cranston, 1986). Subsequently, clinical psychology internships were born in the Veteran's Administration in 1946 and two years later the first active duty clinical military psychology internships were established in the Army (for more information on the history of military psychology see Kennedy & McNeil, 2006). As can be expected, as the field of clinical military psychology evolved, the unique and challenging ethical issues specific to this relatively new area of psychology grew accordingly.

Promoting Military Cultural Awareness in an Off-post Community of Behavioral Health and Social Support Service Providers

“…Civilian providers help make decisions before and after combat about fitness for duty and mental health status. This involves privacy issues for the solider, as well as assuring military commanders that the soldier is prepared to meet mission readiness (Kennedy & Moore, 2008). Therefore, an understanding of military medical care, principles, practice, and policies is very important when treating this population.…”

Operational psychology: Proactive ethics in a challenging world.

“…Accordingly, the Ethics Code can serve as a rational foundation for how the profession of psychology should act in remaining responsive and relevant to a changing world by providing "a common set of principles and standards upon which psychologists build their professional and scientific work" (APA, 2010a). Nonetheless, as with shifting paradigms of practice (Kuhn, 1970), expanding roles and areas of practice among psychologists are always the subject of much debate, prompting the need to expand the Ethics Code as the new domains result in increasing numbers of ethical dilemmas (Kennedy & Moore, 2008).…”

Preparing psychologists for high-risk jobs: Key ethical considerations for military clinical supervisors.

“…Military psychologists are very likely to be both directly and vicariously exposed to traumatic events and disturbing images. They also encounter ethical quandaries that defy easy solutions and create professional conflicts and ongoing stress (Jeffrey, Rankin, & Jeffrey, 1992; Kennedy & Johnson, 2009; Kennedy & Moore, 2008; Staal & King, 2000). We identify three primary levels of risk for military psychologists that exceed those usually faced by civilian practitioners.…”