PSY 496 Final paper

PSY 496

May16th, 2016

The Ashford University Bachelor of Art in psychology program has several outcomes that it expects all students who complete the course to attain. The first outcome is that Ashford psychology students should attain deep psychological knowledge and should be able to apply this knowledge in all situations. The second program outcome is that students should be able to analyze information with scientific thinking. The third outcome expects students to be defenders of diversity, social justice, and ethics. Students should also learn and exercise good communication skills and professional skills. The education acquired from the program makes one an all rounded individual and prepares one for career success.

Ashford Bachelor of Arts in Psychology students should be able to use their acquired skills to analyze problems and generate the proper solutions for them. One problem that I have encountered involves an organization and unethical behavior. I know of a company that specializes in fabricating industrial chemicals used for making consumer products. While the business is very profitable, the process of making these chemicals releases plenty of hazardous waste. The company has certification from the Environmental Protection Agency to handle hazardous waste. However, it chooses to dispose of the waste by pouring into a river that runs behind the company offices to save costs. The company's action put many townspeople in jeopardy.

The problem is that the company is not abiding by proper ethical standards and potentially jeopardizing the health of many people due to the toxic water (Walsh, 2015). From the point of view of other people, the problem also involves not complying with EPA regulation. One option that the company should take is stop polluting the water and follow the appropriate measures. Another option is that the company should report itself to the EPA. The costs of following all the options are the finances required to compensate the townspeople downstream from the river and complying with EPA regulation. If the risks are not resolved effectively, the health of the townspeople living downstream of the river will continue to deteriorate and eventually the source of the poisoning will be identified as the factory; this will lead to lawsuits and hefty compensations to fix the problems. The evidence of the company’s wrongful actions includes river toxicity measurements that reveal a high level of toxicity where the factory discharges its waste into the river.

The competencies acquired in the Ashford University Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program enable me to tackle the problem appropriately. One of the essential competencies is the ability to analyze information and data with scientific thinking; this competency will enable me to analyze the toxicity measurement data from the river. Using the scientific deductions, I can then approach the relevant environmental authorities with credible scientific evidence of the organization’s errant behavior. Without this competency, I might not have been able to understand the information and come to the proper conclusions. Another competency that will enable me to solve the problems is the ability and the will to defend social justice and ethics. I may not be compelled to do anything about the situation because I do not live in the area of the poisoned river, but as an Ashford Bachelor of Arts in Psychology student, it is my duty to ensure that injustice does not prevail. The third competency is the ability to communicate properly; this competency will help me to communicate the problem to the townspeople and help rally them to action.

After analyzing the river data and realizing what the company was doing, I alerted the EPA and informed the townspeople of the company’s actions through a town-hall meeting; this helped set in motion a process of seeking retribution from the company and forcing it to stop. The lessons learned at Ashford instilled in me a sense of justice and ethics that enabled me to solve the problem.

References Fromm. (2013). Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics. Routledge. Walsh. (2015). Introduction to Ethics in psychology: Historical and philosophical grounding. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 35(2), 69.