Case VignettesIn approximately 2000 words analyse each ethical dilemma using the following...

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Case VignettesIn approximately 2000 words analyse each ethical dilemma using the following sub-headings to ensure that all steps are taken to reach a satisfactory decision:1 The ethical standard or principle, legislation involved and provide reference/s 2 Ethical trap possibilities eg objectivity, values and circumstantiality etc. Preliminary response 4. Possible consequences of adopting this response 5. Ethical resolution6. Which aspect/s of this dilemma do you anticipate would be the most challenging for you to deal with? Why?Case Vignette 1 AmyAmy is 16 years old, and is sent to the school counsellor following concerns from her year level co-ordinator. Amy is finding it difficult to concentrate in class, is continuously late to school, and often arrives to school dishevelled and unkempt. The co-ordinator is concerned about what may be happening at home with Amy, and that she may be getting involved in a notoriously bad circle of friends in the area, known for drug-taking and other delinquent activities. Although reluctant during the first few sessions to disclose anything much, Amy begins to trust the counsellor and opens up about her frequent drug use. She says she used to only smoke marijuana, but that now this has increased to weekly party hits of cocaine and speed. She tells the counsellor that the effects of these drugs is beginning to diminish, and that she feels she has to try something harder, like heroin, to gain the same effect. That week. the counsellor receives a phone call from Amy's parents wanting to know what is going on with their daughter. What should she do?Case Vignette 2 JoelJoel works as a counsellor at a local agency. He is also president of the local right to life organisation. During lunch and tea breaks. Joel tries to convince staff of the importance of saving lives and the need to oppose abortion. He is very open about his views and is a known anti .abortion by the locals. Joel is also very op • osed to co raception. — During a recent conversation, Joel expressed his belief that abortion is murder and contraception is sinful and unacceptable. Many of the clients that come to this agency are

David · Accepted Answer

Ethics in Counselling                                                                                                           1
CASE-1 AMY 
Ethical standard involved 
The situation in the case involves a minor girl who is only sixteen years old showing 
symptoms of teenage disorientation, lack of self-awareness, self-exploration and the state of 
confusion of choosing between right and wrong. This case deals with the minor getting into 
substance abuse and getting entrapped in the legal problems pertaining to the complexities 
created when a person starts using the illegal drugs. The girl manifests the disturbances she 
experiences on the psychological front due to the drug-taking induced by bad circle of 
friends, externally, by unkept appearance and lack of concentration in studies. It is also learnt 
that she is unable to perform at school and has trouble reaching school at time which is due to 
the fact that she is unable to collect herself and behave in a normal fashion. Noticing the 
drastic changes in the appearance and the behaviour, parents are compelled to seek 
professional help by a counsellor who can understand and guide her through this problem. 
The parents are unaware of the causes of the symptoms but are very disturbed and can see an 
underlying cause for these external signs in their daughter.  
The responsibility of the counsellor in case of an adult is very different from what they are in 
case of a teenager. The teenagers are supposed to be the responsibility of their parents and 
whatever happens to them is the social and moral accountability for them. More than any 
other authority, it is the parents who can exert the control and right on their kids if it is within 
the law of the country. The parents have right to know about the problems, faults and 
disorders related to their children and no other individual can take away this right form them 
of it falls within the purview of the law.  
Ethics in Counselling                                                                                                           2
In the case, the counsellor comes to know about the underlying cause for the problems that 
the child is facing and parents are concerned about her behaviour and performance at school 
because of that.  
Ethical trap 
The duty of the counsellor is to understand the deep rooted cause for the problems and 
analyse the situation from the objective point of view. On the other hand, she is supposed to 
link the law and ethical frameworks with her problems. The confidentiality agreement 
between the counsellor and the client restricts the counsellor from disclosing the information 
the client shares during the sessions with the client. However, the ethical dilemma here is that 
first of all the client is a minor and hence parents are supposed to know everything related to 
her whether it is legal and illegal. Second ethical issue in this scenario is that the child is 
involved in something which is unlawful and wrong in absolute sense. The counsellor cannot 
actually depend upon the moral and ethical values followed by the client in this case because 
they are cannot be evaluated in the context of the individual and her values but are wrong in 
the absolute sense. Also, as a counsellor she is foremost responsible to help and solve the 
psychological disturbances the client is facing and hence should weigh in all the options she 
has and decide upon the basis of greater good for the greater cause. Hence, she needs to take 
a stand whether to share the details with the parents or not.  
Preliminary response 
According to the case facts, the child comes to the counsellor after she has been observed by 
the parents for long time and when they realise that she needs to get professional help. The 
need of the counsellor in this case has been identified by the parents and thus it is clear that 
they are concerned about her well-being and personal life. The teenager is unable to take right 
Ethics in Counselling                                                                                                           3
decisions on her own and cannot take care of herself as seen by her lack of judgement for 
choosing the right company of friends.  
Counsellor should take all these facts into consideration and inform the client that she 
respects the confidentiality between the client and the professional but in this case there is a 
need to look beyond that. She should inform the client that what she is doing is unlawful as 
well as detrimental to her mental, physical and social well-being. The counsellor should tell 
her that she needs to take this problem beyond the confines of the closed room discussions 
between her and the client. She should also her seek permission to disclose her problems with 
her parents because this involves more than her personal values and privacy. After this, the 
counsellor needs to prepare a plan to approach the client and her parents together to know 
their stand on the issue. The issue is not limited to the normal teenage problems which need 
to be kept secret between the client and the professional. It is mandatory that the counsellor 
understands the complexity and act accordingly. The client should be made to understand that 
what she is going through is not limited to the natural process of growing up but has fallen 
into a trap which needs to be addressed by the parental and legal intervention. After the initial 
response of taking parents into confidence, the counsellor might refer the client to other 
professionals who deal with the substance abuse problem and facilitate rehabilitation for 
teenagers.  
Possible consequences of this response 
After the counsellor makes sure that the parents need to be informed about the cause of the 
problems and the legal issue pertaining to the teenager’s behaviour, there will be backlash 
from the client. The child may see this as a trap to make her fall into the ethical and legal 
procedures which she never foresaw. She might retaliate in a many ways which might prove 
to be all the more harmful to her social and physical well-being. The client will definitely 
Ethics in Counselling                                                                                                           4
oppose the counsellor’s decision to tell about the drug-abuse to her parents and thus will 
result into the very radical reaction from the client.  
As far as the parents are concerned, they might be shocked to learn that the problem with the 
child is not limited to the teenage problems but involves larger issues like drug abuse that too 
involving illegal drugs like marijuana and cocaine. It might also involve very harsh treatment 
of their daughter in the initial few days after the disclosure of the fact that the child is 
involved in something beyond the control of the counsellor. They will be terribly disturbed 
and the initial reaction might involve disbelief and anger over the school authorities,

Case Vignettes In approximately 2000 words analyse each ethical dilemma using the following sub-headings to ensure that all steps are taken to reach a satisfactory decision: 1 The ethical standard or...

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