Social Psychiatry: Ethical Perspectives

Every human being is born into a moral community. Ethics begins from the inner reflection of persons who orient their lives according to reason, belief, or utility. Social institutions have been established for regulating the practice of the professions. Psychiatry is a meta-text composed of different texts not easily compatible with each other. Written regulations, norms, and principles must be balanced against the major interests of all persons and institutions involved. If problems cannot be resolved, they can be dissolved in the common good of a democratic and egalitarian society. The ethical dimensions of social psychiatric practice will incorporate public health, international health and global health perspectives. Prima facie principles helpful in this field include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Cultural and structural factors may influence the relative weight of each principle in concrete cases. Methods of ethical reasoning applied to psychiatric practice from a social perspective should be comprehensive and should incorporate social, clinical, research, educational, and training aspects.