PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL DEONTOLOGY

Course objectives

Any psychological project and intervention, from the most clinical and health-oriented to organization-oriented to the forensic and research fields, needs to implement actions in accordance with professional competence and according to principles of quality, sustainability, ethics and professional deontology. The objective of the module is for the psychology student to acquire the concepts of ethics and professional deontology since all professional psychological interventions have deontological implications and should ensure fairness in procedures, towards the commissioning parties, towards the target subjects if different from the commissioning party, and towards the profession. Ethics, a term derived from the Greek to ethos, "character," "behavior," "custom," " habit," or " usage," is a branch of philosophy that studies the rational foundations that allow human behavior to be assigned a deontological status, that is, to distinguish it into good, right, lawful, versus unjust, unlawful, improper, or bad behavior according to a human behavioral model. Deontology which is derived from the Greek tò déonta means "duties"; therefore, Code of Deontology (CD) is synonymous with code of duties, and practicing a profession implies compliance with a set of "duties." The CD is a set of moral rules governing the practice of a profession and is thus an expression of professional ethics. Law 56/89, establishing the profession of Psychology, provided for the profession to have a Code of Ethics (CD). Such compliance, makes possible the explication to members and their users of the ethical principles to which professionals must conform and is the reference tool for the evaluation of non-compliant behavior. The function of the CD, in fact, is to give a structure, to organize the profession according to an organic and comprehensive model that makes it possible to achieve the kind of professionalism that respects fundamental criteria such as responsibility, integrity, autonomy, specific competence and respect for others. The CD defines: professional responsibility and behavior and at the same time responds to a function of threefold protection: of the user/recipient/community/society; of the psychology professional; and of the psychology profession.

Channel 1
ANNA MARIA GIANNINI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course program includes: 1. Fundamentals and ethical and deontological principles of the profession; 2. Law No. 18/1989 and the Deontological Code: structure, goals, practical applications; 3. Sanctions and disciplinary procedures; 4. Protection of the client (confidentiality and professional secrecy, informed consent); 5. Protection of the professional towards colleagues (collegiality); 6. Protection of the professional group (professional decorum and dignity); 7. Responsibility towards society.
Prerequisites
The course requires a good knowledge of Italian and a good knowledge of English
Books
Stampa, P., Civitillo, A., & Gibilisco, S. (2023). Atlante illustrato di deontologia per psicologi e studenti di Psicologia. Franco Angeli. ISBN 9788835146568.
Frequency
Attendance is optional but strongly recommended.
Exam mode
The practical test will consist of a multiple-choice test related to a proposed case on which students must trace the types of code violations and possible disciplinary measures
Lesson mode
Teaching will be carried out in the classroom, through exercises and presentations, in addition to classical face-to-face teaching.
  • Lesson codeAAF2365
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • Coursecorso|33569
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year3rd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDN/D
  • CFU2
  • Subject areaAltre conoscenze utili per l'inserimento nel mondo del lavoro