In the early years of the American Psychological Association, the problems of ethics were relatively simple. We were essentially an organization of college teachers. The only ethical problems which seemed to present themselves were those of plagiarism and of academic freedom. (Rich, 1952, p. 440)

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Each profession shares many, varied attributes. They include selective recruitment, lengthy periods of education and training, the development of a shared language (including technical jargon), and controlled entrance into practice. A common characteristic of professions, and of occupations that would like to be perceived as professions, is the development and dissemination of a code of ethics that both emphasizes devotion to fundamental values, such as service to the public and concern for the welfare of those the profession serves, and informs the public of the positive qualities of those who pledge to adhere to the code.Learning about ethics and the particular code of conduct promulgated by one's professional organization is, thus, one of the major and essential components of a student's socialization into the profession. Ethics teach "the way a group of associates define their special responsibility to one another and to the rest of the social order in which they work (Erikson, 1967, p. 367). The code of ethics itself, which embodies the formal expression of these responsibilities, should, therefore, instruct those who study it how to relate to their colleagues and how to fulfill their professional roles and responsibilities toward those they serve-clients, patients, employers, research participants, students, institutions, and the public at large.Ideally, a code of ethics should serve as a guide to resolving moral problems that confront the members of the profession that promulgate it, with its primary emphasis on protecting the public that the profession serves. It should be a grand statement of overarchng principles that earn the respect of that public by reflecting the profession's moral integrity. Rarely can a profession fully attain this ideal. Realistically, what a code of ethcs does is consensually validate the most recent views of a majority of professionals empowered by their colleagues to make decisions about ethical issues. Thus, a code of ethics is, inevitably, anachronistic, conservative, ethnocentric, and the product of political compromise. But recognition of that reality should not inhibit the creation of a document that fully realizes and expresses fundamental moral principles.This chapter contributes to the sociahation of psychologists by introducing readers to the profession's code of ethm-its voice of conscience. I begin by providing a brief history of the development of a code of ethics by the American Psychological Association (APA). Few know that APA established the Committee on Scientific and Professional Ethics 14 years before adopting its first ethics code in 1952. In fact, the development of an APA code was hotly debated in the 1940s and 1950s. One antagonist, eminent psychologist Calvin Hall (19521, argued that an ethics code plays into the hands of. . . .

Each profession shares many, varied attributes. They include selective recruitment, lengthy periods of education and training, the development of a shared language (including technical jargon), and controlled entrance into practice. A common characteristic of professions, and of occupations that would like to be perceived as professions, is the development and dissemination of a code of ethics that both emphasizes devotion to fundamental values, such as service to the public and concern for the welfare of those the profession serves, and informs the public of the positive qualities of those who pledge to adhere to the code.Learning about ethics and the particular code of conduct promulgated by one's professional .organization is, thus, one of the major and essential components of a student's socialization into the profession. Ethics teach "the way a group of associates define their special responsibility to one another and to the rest of the social order in which they work' (Erikson, 1967, p. 367). The code of ethics itself, which embodies the formal expression of these responsibilities, should, therefore, instruct those who study it how to relate to their colleagues and how to fulfill their professional roles and responsibilities toward those they serve-clients, patients, employers, research participants, students, institutions, and the public at large.

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