Making ethical decisions is often difficult. This article discusses a five-step process that moves from identifying a problematic situation, to determining its professional relevance, and then to sorting out the differences between ideals, values, and ethics. The last steps relate to legal duties and ethical obligations. Even with this type of thorough consideration, problems may still exist because there are frequent conflicts between ethical obligations and between ethical obligations and legal duties. Using a hierarchy of ethics, some of these dilemmas can be resolved. A hierarchy of TA ethics and legal duties is proposed.
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