Chapter 2

Question 1

Ethics

Answer 1

a philosophical discipline that is concerned with human conduct and moral decision making” They are normative in nature and focus on principles and standards that govern relationships between individuals.

Question 2

Professional ethics

Answer 2

beliefs about behavior and conduct that guide professional practices, such as those between counselors and clients

Question 3

Morality

Answer 3

involves judgment or evaluation of an action. It is associated with such words as good, bad, right, wrong, ought, and should

Question 4

beneficence

Answer 4

doing good and preventing harm

Question 5

nonmaleficence

Answer 5

not inflicting harm

Question 6

autonomy

Answer 6

respecting freedom of choice and self-determination

Question 7

justice

Answer 7

fairness

Question 8

fidelity

Answer 8

faithfulness or honoring commitments and promises

Question 9

veracity

Answer 9

truthfulness

Question 10

Punishment orientation

Answer 10

At this stage, the counselor believes external social standards are the basis for judging behavior. If clients or counselors violate a societal rule, they should be punished.
(The ethical behavior of counselors in terms of a five-stage developmental continuum of reasoning)

Question 11

institutional orientation

Answer 11

Counselors who operate at this stage believe in and abide by the rules of the institutions for which they work. They do not question the rules and base their decisions on them.
(The ethical behavior of counselors in terms of a five-stage developmental continuum of reasoning)

Question 12

Societal orientation

Answer 12

Counselors at these stages base decisions on societal standards. If a question arises about whether the needs of society or an individual should come first, the needs of society are always given priority.
(The ethical behavior of counselors in terms of a five-stage developmental continuum of reasoning)

Question 13

Individual orientation

Answer 13

The individual’s needs receive top priority at this stage. Counselors are aware of societal needs and are concerned about the law, but they focus on what is best for the individual.
(The ethical behavior of counselors in terms of a five-stage developmental continuum of reasoning)

Question 14

Principle (conscience) orientation

Answer 14

In this stage, concern for the individual is primary. Ethical decisions are based on internalized ethical standards, not external considerations
(The ethical behavior of counselors in terms of a five-stage developmental continuum of reasoning)

Question 15

principle ethics

Answer 15

type of ethics that are based on a set of obligations that focus on finding socially and historically appropriate answers to the question: “What shall I do?” In other words, “Is this action ethical?

Question 16

virtue ethics

Answer 16

type of ethics that focus on the “character traits of the counselor and nonobligatory ideals to which professionals aspire”

Question 17

The “slippery slope effect”

Answer 17

Condoning or ignoring a situation they risk eroding their own sense of moral selfhood and find it easier to condone future ethical breaches,

Question 18

1993 Napa County, California case

Answer 18

Gary Ramona sued his daughter’s therapists, “charging that by implanting false memories of sexual abuse in her mind they had destroyed his life” Ramona was awarded $475,000 after the jury “found the therapists had negligently reinforced false memories”

Question 19

duty to care

Answer 19

health providers’ legal obligation not to act negligently.

Question 20

Jaffee v. Redmond

Answer 20

communications between licensed psychotherapists and their patients are privileged and do not have to be disclosed in cases held in federal court. The importance of the case for counseling is that a legal precedent was set regarding confidentiality between a master’s-level clinician (in this case a social worker) and her client. The case also brought positive attention to mental health services, including counseling.

Question 21

amicus curiae brief argued before the United States Supreme Court in 1997

Answer 21

This brief dealt with mental health issues associated with “physician-assisted suicide”. In this court action, the ACA joined with several other mental health groups to protect the rights of counselors and other helping specialties to play a part in hastened death, in particular by protecting the suffering person, the person’s significant others, and society as a whole from the potential problems associated with aid-in-dying. There is now a section in the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics dealing with end-of-life issues

Question 22

Weldon v. Virginia State Board of Psychologists Examiners-1974

Answer 22

the case that resulted in counseling was a profession distinct from psychology.

Question 23

Iowa Law Review Note-1974

Answer 23

Law note that state counselors were legally recognized as professionals who provided personal as well as vocational and educational counseling.

Question 24

Confidentiality

Answer 24

the ethical duty to fulfill a contract or promise to clients that the information revealed during therapy will be protected from unauthorized disclosure

Question 25

Privacy

Answer 25

an evolving legal concept that recognizes individuals’ rights to choose the time, circumstances, and extent to which they wish to share or withhold personal information

Question 26

Privileged communication

Answer 26

a narrower concept that regulates privacy protection and confidentiality by protecting clients from having their confidential communications disclosed in court without their permission. It is defined as “a client’s legal right, guaranteed by statute, that confidences originating in a therapeutic relationship will be safeguarded” Most states recognize and protect this type of communication in counselor-client relationships

Question 27

liability

Answer 27

involves issues concerned with whether counselors have caused harm to clients

Question 28

Malpractice

Answer 28

harm to a client resulting from professional negligence

Question 29

negligence

Answer 29

defined as the departure from acceptable professional standards

Question 30

Civil liability

Answer 30

one can be sued for acting wrongly toward another or for failing to act when there is a recognized duty to do so

Question 31

Criminal liability

Answer 31

involves a counselor working with a client in a way the law does not allow. Examples are the commitment of a crime by a counselor (such as failing to report child abuse), engaging in sexual relations with a client, or insurance fraud

Question 32

Administrative liability

Answer 32

means that the therapist’s license to practice is threatened by an investigation from the licensing board, which has the power to revoke or suspend a license

Question 33

tort

Answer 33

a wrong that legal action is designed to set right

Question 34

Implied rights

Answer 34

a right linked to substantive due process. When a rule is made that arbitrarily limits an individual (i.e., deprives the person of his or her constitutional rights), he or she has been denied substantive due process.

Question 35

Explicit rights

Answer 35

a right whose focus on procedural due process (the steps necessary to initiate or complete an action when an explicit rule is broken). An individual’s procedural due process is violated when an explicit rule is broken and the person is not informed about how to remedy the matter. A client has a right to know what recourse he or she has when either of these two types of rights is violated

Question 36

expert witness

Answer 36

an objective and unbiased person with specialized knowledge, skills, or information, who can assist a judge or jury in reaching an appropriate legal decision