CPP Ethics & Professional Standards in Prevention 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A prevention coalition partner pressures the CPP professional to exaggerate outcome data in a grant report to secure future funding. The ethical response is to:
- Comply since the program does produce good outcomes
- Refuse and report accurate data, explaining the risks of misrepresentation (Correct answer)
- Slightly adjust numbers within a 'reasonable' margin
- Withdraw from the coalition immediately
Correct answer: Refuse and report accurate data, explaining the risks of misrepresentation
Integrity requires reporting accurate data; falsifying grant reports constitutes fraud and violates professional and legal standards.
Question 2: Informed consent in prevention programming means that participants:
- Are told about the program only after they enroll
- Receive information about the program's purpose, risks, and their right to withdraw before participation (Correct answer)
- Sign a form created solely to protect the agency from liability
- Are assumed to consent by attending a community event
Correct answer: Receive information about the program's purpose, risks, and their right to withdraw before participation
True informed consent requires voluntary agreement based on adequate information provided prior to participation.
Question 3: When prevention services are provided to minors, which of the following is MOST important regarding confidentiality?
- Parents always have unrestricted access to all minor's disclosures
- Professionals must know applicable state laws on minor consent and confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality never applies to anyone under age 18
- Minors cannot consent to any prevention services independently
Correct answer: Professionals must know applicable state laws on minor consent and confidentiality
State laws vary significantly regarding minors' rights to confidential services; CPPs must know and apply applicable statutes.
Question 4: A mandatory reporter who is a prevention specialist discovers during a school program that a student may be experiencing abuse. The professional must:
- Wait for more evidence before acting to avoid a false report
- Report to the appropriate child protective authority as required by law (Correct answer)
- Inform the student's parents first
- Consult with the school's legal counsel before reporting
Correct answer: Report to the appropriate child protective authority as required by law
Mandatory reporters are legally required to report reasonable suspicion of abuse immediately, without needing absolute proof.
Question 5: Which ethical practice ensures that prevention programs respect participants' right to make their own decisions?
- Paternalism
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Beneficence
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the ethical principle that upholds individuals' rights to make informed, voluntary choices about their own lives.
Question 6: A prevention professional is unsure whether sharing client data with a research team violates confidentiality. The BEST course of action is to:
- Share it since the data will help science
- Consult with a supervisor and legal/ethics resources before sharing (Correct answer)
- Decline all research collaboration permanently
- Share only if the research team promises anonymity
Correct answer: Consult with a supervisor and legal/ethics resources before sharing
When uncertain about data sharing, professionals must consult supervisors and relevant legal/ethical frameworks before proceeding.
Question 7: NAADAC's ethical guidelines and ICPS ethical standards MOST agree on which of the following obligations?
- Billing practices must maximize agency revenue
- Professionals must maintain client confidentiality and avoid dual relationships (Correct answer)
- Personal values should guide all professional decisions
- Interventions need not be evidence-based if the professional believes in them
Correct answer: Professionals must maintain client confidentiality and avoid dual relationships
Across major prevention and counseling codes, confidentiality and avoiding dual relationships are consistently identified as core obligations.
CPP Ethics & Professional Standards in Prevention 3
A prevention coalition partner pressures the CPP professional to exaggerate outcome data in a grant report to secure future funding.
The ethical response is to: