Legal and Ethical Issues

Counseling Children

Child and Adolescent Clients

Counselors who work with children and adolescents under the age of 18 may experience conflicts between what they consider to be their ethical or moral obligations and what the law dictates that they must do.

Child and Adolescent Clients

These conflicts often concern confidentiality of client disclosures made during counseling sessions.

The legal perspective is that counselors are obligated to parents or guardians when counseling minor children.

Every child, regardless of age, has an ethical right to privacy and confidentiality in the counseling relationship.

Cont.

Ethically conscientious counselors work hard to respect the rights of minor clients to control access to information divulged during counseling, to the extent that this is possible.

It is important to remember that confidentiality is not absolute for clients of any age.

One legal consideration that limits the confidentiality and freedom of choice are both predicated on the ability of the client to give voluntary, informed choice.

Cont.

Clients who cannot comprehend what is being requested in a consent for disclosure or who are unable to make a rational decision are not able to give valid informed consent.

The law stipulates that clients under the age of 18 are not adults and, therefore, are not competent to make fully informed, voluntary decisions.

Cont.

Although counselors may argue that many minor clients are developmentally capable of making these decisions for themselves, it does not support this belief.

The privacy rights of minor clients legally belong to their parents or guardians.

Legal status of minors

The law, with respect to minors, stems from a time when children were seen as property of their parents and the government seldom interfered with the control and authority of parents over their children.

Today, even though minors have more governmental protection and are beginning to be recognized by courts are individuals with their own legal rights, the law still favors biological parent’s rights over their children.

Children and privacy

Younger children do not have an understanding of confidentiality or a need for privacy, which is a socially learned concept.

Young children are often not nearly as concerned about confidentiality as the counselor is.

Preadolescents and adolescents may have a heightened desire for privacy that is related to the confusion regarding self and others that is appropriate to their developmental stage of growth.

Some children may not be concerned about their privacy. It is appropriate to assume that children do not want their parents or guardians to know information they have told counselors.

Cont.

Children sometimes tell an adult about their concerns, hoping that the adult will act as an intermediary in telling their parents.

The reasoning capacity of children is limited and they may not be able to make decisions that are in their best interest because of their age.

See p. 225

Codes

Review Codes on Rights of parents to privacy information.

See p. 229

Consult

Consult with other counselors when difficult decisions must be made.

If a counselor always tells parents every time a child engages in any risky behavior, children will not be willing to disclose important information to that counselor.

If counselors determine that a child is at risk of harm, they must inform the child’s parents.

Example

Case of Mary (read)Questions to ask in response to scenario:Is there a school system policy?How serious is the danger involved in the

weekend use of marijuana?Is it better to honor the client’s wishes in

hopes that a trusting counseling relationship be established with the client?

Is informing the parent a wiser choice?

Parents

If the counselor decides that the parents must be informed, it is recommended that he let the client know that he cannot keep this particular secret and try to negotiate a procedure for informing the parents that will be acceptable to the client.

Other

Confidentiality in institutionsParental permissionInformed consentSuspected child abuseInternal reports when reporting child abuse?Professionals should give their names when

reportingDo not discuss the case with unknown

persons on the telephone

Dual or multiple relationships

Example of JeffreyThe counselor might be tempted to invite

boy into his home where the boy would be safe until morning

????This crossing of the professional boundary

could have serious consequences???