Building on the work of others, especially Kitchener (1984), Meara and colleagues (1996) describe six basic moral principles that form the foundation of functioning at the highest ethical level as a professional: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.
Nonmaleficence means avoiding doing harm, which includes refraining from actions that risk hurting clients.
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Autonomy refers to the promotion of self-determination, or the freedom of clients to be self-governing within their social and cultural framework.
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Justice: being fair, equally giving to each and all
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