Respect for the Dignity of People: What Does This Principle Mean in Practice?

Abstract

Researchers have found that disrespectful behaviour can have a notable psychological impact on victims and observers thereof. It is not surprising, therefore, that law and all the major psychology codes of ethics acknowledge the principle of respect for the dignity of persons. The practical implications of this principle, however, are not clear. In this article we argue, with reference to the philosophical roots of the principle, that there are rules of manners in all societies that describe how people should demonstrate respect for persons. Generally, the profession cannot require psychologists to adhere to the rules of manners, not even those that demonstrate respect for persons, but it can, and does, prescribe to psychologists how they should act while they practice as psychologists. We proceed to examine the principles and standards of the Australian Psychology Society's Code of Ethics (2007) that require psychologists to demonstrate respect for persons while acting as psychologists.

Key words:

• behaviour
• dignity
• disrespectful
• ethics
• manners
• respect

Acknowledgments

Some of the material presented here formed part of a keynote address presented by the first author at the Australian Psychology Society Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, from 3 to 8 October 2011.

Initial drafting commenced when the second author was affiliated with the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The authors wish to thank Maria Allan, Victoria Hovane, Marie Joyce, and Robyn Tapper for their comments on previous drafts of this article.

Notes

1. As we can only judge people's attitude by their behaviour, it is possible that people may not feel respect towards others, but we will not know that as long as they behave in a respectful manner (Dillon, 1992).

2. The distinction between the external and internal aspects of rules explains in part why there is less pressure to comply, and less severe sanctions for failure to do so, in the case of certain rules of manners than others.

3. Buss (1999), without developing the point further, makes what we believe is a valid suggestion, namely that another moral reason for people to be polite is that it maintains social stability and order, e.g., by preventing people from experiencing anger and resentment, which could lead to aggression (Hume, 1779/2010), and by preventing people from experiencing alienation as a result of feeling “shunned, rejected, treated as an outsider” (Buss, 1999, p. 802).

4. Such behaviour is also justified because clients, at least implicitly, give consent to psychologists to provide accurate, objective, fair, and otherwise respectful feedback.

5. Section 141 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act (2009) makes it mandatory for psychologists to report colleagues who engage in behaviour set out in the Act.