USEFUL TERMINOLOGY

• Autonomy: the right of self-determination, independence, and freedom
  
  
• Justice: is the obligation to be fair to ALL people. (a related idea is distributive justice - individuals have the right to be treated equally regardless of race, sex, etc.)
  
  
• Fidelity: the individual's obligation to be faithful to commitments made to self and others
  
  
• Beneficence: doing or producing good
  
  
• Nonmaleficence: doing or committing no harm (either intentionally or unintentionally)
  
  
• Veracity: truthfulness; must be weighed with the consideration of harm (will it cause harm to tell the truth?)
  
  
• Standard of best interest: making decisions for someone who may not be able to make their own decisions (paternalism); doing what the professional thinks is best and disregarding the client's wishes
  
  
• Obligations:
  
  
  • Legal obligations are those obligations that have become formal statements of law and are enforceable under the law;
  • Moral obligations are those obligations that are based upon moral or ethical principles and are NOT enforceable under the law.
  
  
• Rights: generally defined as just claims or titles, or as something that is owed to an individual according to just claims, legal guarantees, or moral and ethical principles
  
  
  • Welfare rights: rights that are based upon a legal entitlement to some good or benefit and guaranteed by law (Bill of Rights)
  • Ethical rights: rights that are based upon a moral or ethical principle, and do not have the power of the law
  • Option rights: based upon a fundamental belief in the dignity and freedom of human beings