Universal Declaration Introduction Page


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Work Group: Development of a Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists

Introduction

Background
In 2002, the General Assembly of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) approved a motion to create an Ad Hoc Joint Committee chaired by Professor Janel Gauthier. The goal of the Ad Hoc Committee was to develop a universal declaration of ethical principles for psychologists. Initially, the project involved only the IUPsyS and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP). Later, a special invitation to join IUPsyS and IAAP was extended to the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP).

The focus of this international initiative is on articulating principles and values that provide a common moral framework for psychologists throughout the world, and that can be used as a moral justification and guide for the development of differing standards as appropriate for differing cultural contexts.

The Ad Hoc Joint Committee includes representatives from all five continents. The Members are (in alphabetical order): Rubén Ardila (Colombia), Lutz Eckensberger (Germany), Janel Gauthier, Chair (Canada), Nasrin Jazani (Iran), Catherine Love (New Zealand), Elizabeth Nair (Singapore), Kwadzi Nyanungo (Zimbabwe), Paul B. Pederson (United States), Tuomo Tikkanen (Finland), and Kan Zhang (China).

Current Status
The IUPsyS Executive Committee has received regular reports on progress in the Universal Principles project. The complete current draft of the Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists includes an introductory preamble from the IUPsyS President indicating the Executive Committee's concerns that the final document remain at the level of general principles.

Please send comments to the Chair of the Committee Prof. Janel Gauthier. As the development of the Universal Declaration is a work in progress, comments and suggestions from the psychology community will feed in to revisions and other drafts may follow the one currently available.

Ad Hoc Committee's draft Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists with preamble from IUPsyS (pdf) - 2006

Progress reports: 2004 2005 2006 report

Background Documents

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