Ethical Considerations in United States of America Music Therapy Higher Education

Abstract

At the undergraduate level, music therapy education includes the academic experiences of budding music therapists. By applying the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs framework to an educational context, for students to reach self-actualization (i.e., highest degree of self-fulfillment), they must satisfy certain basic needs that all humans require (i.e., physiological needs, safety-security needs, love and belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs). If individuals do not satisfy these needs throughout development, they may regress or become “stuck” at their current tier. Undergraduate students, many of whom are in the developmental stage of emerging adulthood, are at a point of development in which mentorship is still necessary. The purpose of this study was to apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to an educational setting and provide suggestions which could ameliorate the threats to safety and security currently inherent in music therapy education, and in higher education as a whole. By conducting an in-depth analysis of the threats to “safety-security needs” in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, music therapy instructors may wish to consider the following action steps: (a) prevention of the appropriation of intellectual property; (b) preventative measures against oppression, harassment, and sexual harassment; and (c) reassessment of the current music therapy internship structure.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Abbey Dvorak for her guidance, support, feedback, and patience with me throughout the authoring of this manuscript. Thank you also to Nathan Mensah, one of my most trusted mentors, for his feedback. Lastly, I send my deepest thanks to Ms. Jennifer Deberg, research librarian at the University of Iowa. This article would not have come to be without her invaluable assistance in combing through the relevant research literature.