National Therapeutic
Recreation Society
(editors note- NTRS closed
in 2010)
Code of Ethics (Revised, 1990)
PREAMBLE
Leisure, recreation, and
play are inherent aspects of the human experience, and are essential to health
and well-being. All people, therefore, have an inalienable right to leisure and
the opportunities it affords for play and recreation. Some human beings have
disabilities, illnesses, or social conditions which may limit their
participation in the normative structure of society. These persons have the
same need for and right to leisure, recreation, and play.
Accordingly, the purpose of
therapeutic recreation is to facilitate leisure, recreation, and play for
persons with physical, mental, emotional or social limitations in order to
promote their health and well-being. This goal is accomplished through
professional services delivered in clinical and community settings. Services
are intended to develop skills and knowledge, to foster values and attitudes,
and to maximize independence by decreasing barriers and by increasing ability
and opportunity.
The National Therapeutic
Recreation Society exists to promote the development of therapeutic recreation
in order to ensure quality services and to protect and promote the rights of
persons receiving services. The National Therapeutic Recreation Society and its
members are morally obligated to contribute to the health and well-being of the
people they serve. In order to meet this important social responsibility, the
National Therapeutic Recreation Society and its members endorse and practice
the following ethical principles.
I. The Obligation of
Professional Virtue
Professionals possess and
practice the virtues of integrity, honesty, fairness, competence, diligence,
and self-awareness.
• Integrity:
Professionals act in ways that protect, preserve and promote the soundness and
completeness of their commitment to service. Professionals do not forsake nor
arbitrarily compromise their principles. They strive for unity, firmness, and
consistency of character. Professionals exhibit personal and professional
qualities conducive to the highest ideals of human service.
• Honesty:
Professionals are truthful. They do not misrepresent themselves, their
knowledge, their abilities, or their profession. Their communications are
sufficiently complete, accurate, and clear in order for individuals to
understand the intent and implications of services.
• Fairness:
Professionals are just. They do not place individuals at unwarranted advantage
or disadvantage. They distribute resources and services according to principles
of equity.
• Competence:
Professionals function to the best of their knowledge and skill. They only
render services and employ techniques of which they are qualified by training
and experience. They recognize their limitations, and seek to reduce them by
expanding their expertise. Professionals continuously enhance their knowledge
and skills through education and by remaining informed of professional and
social trends, issues and developments.
• Diligence:
Professionals are earnest and conscientious. Their time, energy, and
professional resources are efficiently used to meet the needs of the persons
they serve.
• Awareness:
Professionals are aware of how their personal needs, desires, values, and
interests may influence their professional actions. They are especially
cognizant of where their personal needs may interfere with the needs of the
persons they serve.
II. The Obligation of the
Professional to the Individual
• Well-Being:
Professionals' foremost concern is the well-being of the people they serve.
They do everything reasonable in their power and within the scope of
professional practice to benefit them. Above all, professionals cause no harm.
• Loyalty:
Professionals' first loyalty is to the well-being of the individual they serve.
In instances of multiple loyalties, professionals make the nature and the priority
of their loyalties explicit to everyone concerned, especially where they may be
in question or in conflict.
• Respect:
Professionals respect the people they serve. THey show regard for their
intrinsic worth and for their potential to grow and change. The following areas
of respect merit special attention:
1.
Freedom,
Autonomy, and Self-Determination:
Professionals respect the ability of people to make, execute, and take
responsibility for their own choices. Individuals are given adequate
opportunity for self-determination in the least restrictive environment
possible. Individuals have the right of informed consent. They may refuse
participation in any program except where their welfare is clearly and
immediately threatened and where they are unable to make rational decisions on
their own due to temporary or permanent incapacity. Professionals promote
independence and avoid fostering dependence. in particular, sexual relations
and other manipulative behaviors intended to control individuals for the personal
needs of the professional are expressly unethical.
2.
Privacy: Professionals respect the privacy of individuals.
Communications are kept confidential except with the explicit consent of the
individual or where the welfare of the individual or others is clearly
imperiled. Individuals are informed of the nature and the scope of
confidentiality.
• Professional Practices:
Professionals provide quality services based on the highest professional
standards. Professionals abide by standards set by the profession, deviating
only when justified by the needs of the individual. Care is used in
administering tests and other measurement instruments. They are used only for
their express purposes. Instruments should conform to accepted psychometric
standards. The nature of all practices, including tests and measurements, are
explained to individuals. Individuals are also debriefed on the results and the
implications of professional practices. All professional practices are
conducted with the safety and well-being of the individual in mind.
III. The Obligation of the
Professional to Other Individuals and to Society
• General Welfare:
Professionals make certain that their actions do not harm others. They also
seek to promote the general welfare of society by advocating the importance of
leisure, recreation, and play.
• Fairness:
Professionals are fair to other individuals and to the general public. They
seek to balance the needs of the individuals they serve with the needs of other
persons according to principles of equity.
IV. The Obligation of the
Profession to Colleagues
• Respect:
Professionals show respect for colleagues and their respective professions.
They take no action that undermines the integrity of their colleagues.
• Cooperation and Support:
Professionals cooperate with and support their colleagues for the benefit of
the persons they serve. Professionals demand the highest professional and moral
conduct of each other. They approach and offer help to colleagues who require
assistance with an ethical problem. Professionals take appropriate action
toward colleagues who behave unethically.
V. The Obligation of the
Professional to the Profession
• Knowledge:
Professionals work to increase and improve the profession's body of knowledge
by supporting and/or by conducting research. Research is practiced according to
accepted canons and ethics of scientific inquiry. Where subjects are involved,
their welfare is paramount. Prior permission is gained from subjects to
participate in research. THey are informed of the general nature of the
research and any specific risks that may be involved. Subjects are debriefed at
the conclusion of the research, and are provided with results of the study on
request.
• Respect:
Professionals treat the profession with critical respect. They strive to
protect, preserve, and promote the integrity of the profession and its
commitment to public service.
• Reform:
Professionals are committed to regular and continuous evaluation of the
profession. Changes are implemented that improve the profession's ability to
serve society.
VI. The Obligation of the
Profession to Society
• Service: The
profession exists to serve society. All of its activities and resource are
devoted to the principle of service.
• Equality: The
profession is committed to equality of opportunity. No person shall be refused
service because of race, gender, religion, social status, ethnic background,
sexual orientation, or inability to pay. The profession neither conducts nor
condones discriminatory practices. It actively seeks to correct inequities that
unjustly discriminate.
• Advocacy: The
profession advocates for the people it is entrusted to serve. It protects and
promotes their health and well-being and their inalienable right to leisure,
recreation, and play in clinical and community settings.
Approved by the NTRS
Board of Directors in 1990. The National Therapeutic Recreation Society is a
branch of the NRPA-
National Recreation and Park
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