Ethical issues

Throughout history, different endeavours and initiatives by institutional organizations throughout the world have struggled to define right and wrong behaviour for professionals. The history of this struggle and its current manifestations have been shaped by the changes in society and its various structures, values, and expectations. The American Psychological Association has been one of the first organizations to edit a formal ethics code to guide psychologists in their professional work and job (American Psychological Association [APA], 1953, 1959). A code of ethics in psychology was necessitated in response to an increase in demands in professional activity and public visibility of its members after World War I and World War II, given the impact of the two worldwide conflicts on the entire population. Since that time, there have been numerous revisions of this proposed code, influenced by different cultures and social contexts. De Coubertin (1919) mentioned that, in the past, the practice of sports was an occasional pastime of the rich and idle youth, and that he worked 30 years for that practice to become a habitual pleasure of the petit bourgeoisie. He continued that (at that point in time) it was necessary to make this pleasure a part of the life of the young workers. These ideas from the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, in 1919, were anticipatory of what the “future world” would become and how sports could play a part in the life of all people (Kartakoullis, Karlis, & Maria, 2009). With the increase of participation in sports, sport business demands have increased, together with the spectatorship associated with high-level participation. This …