Ethical Thinking and Practice for Parent and Family Life Educators

Parent and family life educators face difficult ethical issues on a daily basis. These issues may include observing parenting practices that may be harmful to children, responding to parent remarks about their partners, or sharing information about a family with a professional in another agency. Some of these situations may be resolved by reviewing general principles of good practice with a colleague, while others may reveal a true ethical dilemma. Parent and family life educators are working with complex family systems, diverse belief and value systems, and a variety of social institutions and agencies. Many face these issues in relative isolation and with limited guidance from an emerging field. This document was developed to offer a thoughtful and balanced approach to understanding ethical principles and a concrete process for using them to address difficult ethical issues and dilemmas. Ethics Committee Members: Ada Alden, Dawn Cassidy, Betty Cooke, Beth Gausman, Glen Palm, Marietta Rice, Joyce Schultenover, Anne Stokes, Sue Stoner, and Kathy Zanner