A recent study indicates that acute stress affects moral decision making (Youssef et al., in press). The current study examines whether results can be replicated using a different kind of stressor and a different kind of stress measurement. We induced stress in 25 participants with a cover-story of an anticipated speech. Another group of 25 participants was tested in a control condition. Stress levels and stress responses were assessed with questionnaires and heart rate. All participants performed a moral decision-making task describing moral dilemmas. These dilemmas were either personal or impersonal and each offered a utilitarian and a non-utilitarian option. Acutely stressed participants, compared to control participants, made fewer utilitarian judgments and needed longer for making a decision. Individual physiological stress response was related to fewer utilitarian judgments. Results are in line with those previously found although different instruments were used.

Beyond the basic information provided in foundation texts and test manuals, there is a notable scarcity of professional literature addressing complex issues and dilemmas in assessment. At times, psychologists need to make decisions based on their professional experience or personal preferences, and it is possible that some of these decisions are made without adequate justification or reflection. Intern psychologists may be confused by the differing advice they are given by university staff, supervisors and experienced practitioners. Our aim in this project was to identify specific issues in psychoeducational assessment that need clarity, guidance and reflection, not only during postgraduate training, but also across the professional lifespan. Focus groups with educational and developmental psychology interns revealed confusion about aspects of test administration and interpretation, as well as a number of challenging professional issues. The findings have implications for trainers and supervisors, as well as for experienced practitioners.

The case is presented of an 8-year-old boy who was referred for psycho-educational assessment because of difficulties with writing. The article provides an example of the way in which a case unfolds as further assessment data become available, and describes a number of challenging aspects of the assessment process. In this case, dilemmas arose when test results were inconsistent at different time points, and when the results were inconsistent with clinical observations. The case report illustrates the ways in which practitioners can collaborate to make sense of such discrepancies, with each contributing a slightly different perspective or set of skills that, in combination, assist to better understand a child's difficulties.

This article analyses current and future issues about the distinctive contribution of professional educational psychologists in a changing English service context. This is about the context of greater inter-professional and multi-agency working, but also the moves towards more quasi-market systems of service delivery. I examine the identity and service focus dilemmas that educational psychologists have to address. This raises questions about the distinction between basic and applied psychology, the nature of applying psychology and whether applying psychology requires professional educational psychologists. One of the main arguments is that how we think about applying psychology is crucial for the future in a changing context. The task is for professional psychologists to be innovative in service terms to ensure a continuing and valued position in the service network. The significance of this analysis of educational psychology in an English context for other countries is also discussed.

Faith-based organisations (FBOs) have delivered services to vulnerable people for many years. They are frequently characterised by values also to be found within social work, notably a commitment to social justice. In the context of recent attempts by governments, notably in the USA, United Kingdom and Australia, to ‘roll-back’ the state, to ‘marketise’ and ‘privatise’ welfare services, FBOs are increasingly called-upon to tender for and volunteer to provide public services, including ‘social work’. In the United Kingdom, as elsewhere, religious beliefs are central to how many people conduct themselves, especially in response to personal crises and challenges. The authors’ previous research indicates that religious beliefs and traditions may have a profound impact (for good or ill or for both) on the actions of both individual service users and practitioners, but that social workers and agencies (whether faith-based or not) are often ill equipped to respond appropriately. They acknowledge both the positive contributions to public welfare of many faith-based organisations and the potential dangers inherent in relying on such agencies for services to vulnerable people. The authors argue that evaluations need to consider the effectiveness, appropriateness, ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of individual faith-based services in their particular contexts, and that their contribution needs to be analysed in relation to the varied nature and variable impact of such services. Social work has often struggled in its aim of challenging and addressing the structural causes of inequality as its efforts have been channelled towards meeting the needs of the individual. Current policy proposals provide potential opportunities to review and assess the contribution of neo-liberal approaches to welfare and to promote alliances amongst those members of different FBOs and other welfare providers to agree more collective, community-based approaches with an agreed agenda of creating a fairer society.

Proportionality review and, in particular, ad hoc judicial balancing of competing rights and interests are probably the most celebrated tools propagated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and are currently dominant features of the European discourse on rights. This methodology and its discourse, in fact, have gained such widespread popularity that, although the outcome of Convention-based and other fundamental rights claims is often far from certain, the way they will be treated by judges can be predicted with some confidence.

Ethical questions and dilemmas associated with disasters and their management are numerous and are compounded when international assistance is involved. This Chapter is intended to raise awareness and promote important and ever-relevant discussions; it is not a treatise on ethics. It discusses the issues associated with human rights and obligations and identifies important aspects of international law associated with such issues, hazard exportation, the right to know, needs assessments, as well as aid and assistance. Issues raised by the actions and policies of relief organizations, those associated with actions of the media, and those associated with the competence of the responding individuals and organizations also are examined. Triage and other forms of rationing of medical care create additional dilemmas that are discussed. Lastly, the problems associated with disaster research and application of the Helsinki Declaration are explored.