WHAT ARE ETHICS?

• VALUES: ideals or concepts that give meaning to the individual's life; values are most commonly derived from societal norms;
  
  
• MORALS: the fundamental standards of right and wrong that an individual learns and internalizes usually in the early stages of childhood; it is generally based upon religious beliefs, although societal influence plays an important role; moral behavior is often manifested as behavior in accordance with a group's norms;
  
  
• LAWS: defined as rules of social conduct devised by people to protect society; based upon the concerns for fairness and justice; the fundamental goal of society's laws is the preservation of the species; and laws are enforceable through police action;
  
  
• ETHICS: declarations of what is right or wrong; and what ought to be; these are systems of valued behaviors and beliefs and serve the purpose of governing conduct to ensure the protection of an individual's rights; ethics exist on several levels from the individual to the society at large; there are no system to enforce ethical statements or stands;
  
  
• A CODE OF ETHICS: written list of a profession's values and standards of conduct; it provides a framework of decision-making for the profession and should be oriented toward the day-to-day decisions made by members of the profession;
  
  
• AN ETHICAL DILEMNA: requires an individual to make a choice between 2 equally unfavorable alternatives; by the very nature of an ethical dilemna, there is no one good solution, and the decision made often has to be defended against those who disagree with it;