Advanced Ethics for Addiction Professionals

Michael J. Taleff

Ethical decision-making is without doubt one of the most difficult, trying processes for addiction professionals. It is for this reason that guidance on ethical decision-making is absolutely essential. But what addiction professionals need is a different kind of guidance-guidance that does more than just provide a laundry list of the dos and don'ts. Rather, what is needed is a book that adds the critical thinking component to ethical decision-making. Dr. Taleff thus presents a guide not on 'what to do' when confronted with difficult ethical dilemmas, but how to think about what to do.

The goal of this book is to help addiction professionals not only revise their ethical practice, but their ethical thinking. Taleff presents common ethical dilemmas that addiction professionals face in their daily work. The unique purpose of this book is to get readers to consider their own responses to common dilemmas, and how to apply new models and modes of thinking to their practice. The authors discuss how applying a different framework might lead to a different ethical conclusion.

Key topics discussed:

How critical thinking skills and can impact and improve the process of ethical decision-making
How biases, emotional reactions, and fallacies can dull ethical decision-making
How to implement the "Ethics Dilemma Kit" that can be used to help students make their own ethical decisions

About the Author

Mike Taleff, Ph.D, CSAC, MAC has worked in the alcohol and other drug field for over thirty-five years, and teaches substance abuse courses at Leeward Community College in Hawaii. He was the first editor of the Journal of Teaching in the Addictions. He has published some 100 articles that address various aspects of addictions studies education. He has also published several books including A Handbook to Assess and Treat Resistance in Chemical Dependency, Critical Thinking for Addiction Professionals, and writes a bi-monthly column for Counselor Magazine. He served on the editorial board of The Journal of Counseling and Development, and the Journal of Offenders and Addiction Counseling. Presently, he is on the editorial board of The Counselor. Dr. Taleff served two terms as president of the International Coalition of Addiction Studies Educators, and presents widely on state-of-the art addiction research, critical thinking, and advanced ethics.

Table of Contents
Preface
Part I: The Foundation: A Thinking Way to Approach Addiction Ethics
HAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL THINKING
CHAPTER TWO: BEYOND ORGINARY ETHICS: WHY AND HOW
Chapter 3: THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT OF ETHICAL THINKING
Chapter 4: A FEW MORAL ISSUES TO GENERATE THOUGHT AND FEELING
Part II: ETHICAL THEORIES AND APPLICATIONS
Chapter 5: AN ARRAY OF MORAL FOUNDATIONS
Chapter 6: A FEW OTHER ETHICAL THEORIES
Chapter 7: THEORY APPLICATION TIME
Chapter 8: HOW THE MIND DULLS GOOD ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
Chapter 9: THE ALL IMPORTANT NEED FOR CRITICAL THINKING
Chapter 10: ETHICAL FALLACIES
Chapter 11: ETHICAL THINKING: A SET OF PROCEDURES
Chapter 12: ADDICTION ETHICAL PRINCIPLES WITH A CRITICAL THINKING TWIST
Chapter 13: SOME PRACTICAL GUIDELINES
Chapter 14: CAVEATS IN ETHICAL THINKING
The Least You Need to Know