Ethical decision making is a term that refers to the process of evaluating and making alternatives in a consistent with ethical principles. When making ethical decisions, it is necessary for the decision maker to eliminate the unethical options, and to select the best ethical alternative. There are six basic principles to ethical decision making: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity and veracity. Making ethical decisions can sometimes be hard, especially when it comes to situations where it involves culturally diverse populations. Autonomy is the first principle. Autonomy is defined as the promotion of self-determination, or the freedom that clients possess in order to become self-governing within their cultural framework.
