ABSTRACT

The American Psychological Association Council (APA) of Representatives adopted the newest version of the Ethics Code on August 21, 2002 (APA, 2002), and it went into effect June 1, 2003. As with its predecessor (APA, 1992), the 2002 Ethics Code begins with an Introduction that describes its intent, organization, procedural considerations, and scope of application. The Introduction is followed by a Preamble which offers aspirational suggestions for psychological conduct. The Ethics Code then provides General Principles, which are aspirational in nature, and Ethical Standards, which are enforceable and are used to adjudicate complaints of ethical misconduct. The new code is approximately twenty percent shorter than its predecessor.