| AdminHistory | The British Psychological Society Council of 1950 appointed a sub-committee to report on the 'professional problems of psychologists'. At the first meeting the committee considered a 'Code of Professional Ethics Governing the Disclosure by Qualified Psychologists of Psychological Information about Individuals' which had been drawn up by the Australian Branch of the Society. This code was published in the Quarterly Bulletin of the British Psychological Society Vol 1 Number 8 April 1950 pp 317-323 for comment by the wider membership.
However it was not until 1954 that a Charter Committee (the first Charter was eventually passed in 1965) prepared a first draft of an ethical code or ‘Statement on the Standards of Professional Conduct’ for members of the British Psychological Society. This was published as an appendix to the Annual report of 1954-1955 with the proviso that it was confidential to members. The Charter Committee recommended that these rules of professional conduct should be incorporated into the new by-law but after much discussion this proposal was not passed at the AGM.
Between 1957 and 1960 a Committee of Past President's considered standards of professional conduct - they recommended the creation of a Standing Committee on Ethics (1958-). This would be a committee to which questions of professional conduct could be referred and take responsibility for drawing up rules which could be appended to the proposed Bye-Laws as well as to advise on their subsequent ‘interpretation and modification'. It was hoped to be able to use the rules drawn up by this committee on a 'solvitur ambulando' case by case basis under a Standing Advisory Committee on Professional Misconduct (appointed in 1961), rather than having a specific policy document.
In the early 1970s the Committee on the Legal Registration of Psychologists asked Division to submit information on ethics codes for their areas. Some had already drawn these up DECP had looked at looked at this as far back as 1970 inspired by work of the Assocation of Educational Psychologists. The Division of Occupational Psychology had begun work on an 'Ethical Code" in 1973 and sent a draft to Council October 1973 who referred it to the new Professional Affairs Board for ratification. The Division of Clinical Psychologists also began issuing ‘professional practice’ guidelines from 1974 which included ethics, they continued to issue these until 1995. [The Division of Forensic Psychology published ethical guidelines in 1997 as a model of desirable professional practice by psychologists when they were engaged in activities concerned with the criminal and civil legal systems. These were based upon some guidance that the APA had previously issued.]
In 1980 the BPS Legal Registration of Psychologists in the UK circulated a report with the arguments for and against legal registration, draft description of the elements of an Act of Parliament, proposed Members' reference text and a draft Ethical Code.
A BPS wide Professional Code of Conduct 'Code of Conduct for Psychologists' was finally agreed in May 1983 and after a vote of membership and consideration by the Steering Committee on Registration the various ethical statements, codes of conduct guidelines which had been created by the Society and its subsystems [later known as Member Networks] over time, was published in 1985. The idea was that this would provide a framework for a proposed Committee on Professional Conduct.
(After the 1987 charter the BPS became the regulatory body for Chartered Psychologists, psychologists had to abide by a code of conduct - failure to meet this standards was judged by an Investigatory Body, later the Disciplinary Committee from 1989.)
In 1991 a revised document – 'Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines' amalgamated all of the earlier documents. Regular revisions and updates were issued to the code of Ethics and Conduct. In 2006 the code was rewritten and again in 2009 after the regulation of Chartered Psychologists moved to the HPC.
An Ethics Committee was reconstituted in 1998 under the Chairship of Sue Gardner.
Research Ethics
1978 'Ethical Principles for Research with Human Subjects' was published by the Scientific Affairs Board [Bulletin British Psychological Society (1978), 31, 48-49).
A Standing Committee of the Scientific Foundation Board on the Ethics in Research with Human Participants ran from 1978-c. 2002. It revised the 1978 'Ethical Principles' in 1990 [see The Psychologist June 1990]. The Code of Human Research Ethics was revised in 2014 under the auspices of the Research Board [previously the Scientific Foundation Board]. In 2020 the guidance was revised and also a separate ‘Ethics best practice guidance on conducting research with human participants during Covid-19’ was issued.
There was also a Standing Advisory Committee on the Welfare of Animals in Psychology (SACWAP) between 1997 and 2007 - it considered the certification of Clinical Animal Behaviourists. It produced a statement on policy on the Use of Animals in Psychology in 1998. Guidelines on the use of animals in research had originally been included in the Code of Conduct for psychologists from 1991. The Boyd Group Papers on The use of Non-Human Primates in Research and Testing 2002.
Revised Guidelines for psychologists working with animals issued in 2020.
Revised Code of Human Research Ethics published April 2021.
Revised Internet Mediated Research June 2021 (replaces, 2017, 2013, 2007)
Media Ethics
November 2002 workshop Ethics of Working with the Press led to a review of how the code of conduct would apply to media work and draft 2003 Media and Ethics Guidance.
The public relations team produced a guide for Psychologists working with the Media in 2007 and draft guidance for TV production Companies in 2006. An Ethics Committee meeting of November 2007 discussed the use of human participants in television programmes which led to a round table meeting on Ethics and TV programming on 21 May 2008. The meeting considered updates to the media guide, revision of media training (which had been running since the early 1980s) and the creation of a ‘Society Reference Group of peers who work within TV to provide advice and support.’ This first met 13 August 2009 under the chairmanship of John Oates under the name Media Ethics Advisory Group’.
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