Running head: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

An Ethical Dilemma
Marcus Monteiro
PSY 209
October 9, 2015
Tayeba M Shaikh Psy.D.

An Ethical Dilemma

Introduction
In the profession of psychology, counselors are often confronted with issues involving
matters that they find themselves faced with making ethical decisions. Their ultimate decision
must incorporate the guidelines of The American Psychological Association's (APA) Ethical
Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. In addition, conflicts with law regulations
or other governing legal authority, psychologists [must] make known their commitment to this
Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict in a responsible manner in keeping with basic
principles of human rights. (American Psychological Association, 2010)
The Case of Lisaan Ethical Dilemma
The case of Lisa is one of complexity because it places James, Lisas young and
inexperienced counselor, in a position where he has to make an ethical decision. Lisa had
initially presented to James her history of being depressed over the loss of a boyfriend along with
her struggles at college. However, before the end of the therapy session, Lisa had divulged to
James a history of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her mothers boyfriend. These
allegations took place many years prior. Lisa goes on to confess to the young counselor that at
the age of 7 she had knowingly slipped a prescription drug into her abusers drink that, at this
point, Lisa has lived with the guilt of believing that she caused the perpetrators death from his
consumption of the drink.
The counselors dilemma is one of confidentiality. He is now in a position of power to
disclose to the authorities an unethical matter that took place many years prior (inadvertent
murder); while at the same time, he is powerlessly bound by the APA Code of Ethics. "James
was the only person she trust and believe in to get her secret with client-counselor confidentially
privacy." (Camon, 2015) Does he report the incident to the proper authorities or does he keep

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this confession in confidence? Because of James status as a counselor, he must confer with his
colleagues in a matter of this magnitude. This will turn out to be favorable for James. He is not in
this alone and will receive the appropriate guidelines to help with his decision making.
According to the APA Ethics Code 4.01, Maintaining Confidentiality, Psychologists have a
primary obligation and take reasonable precautions to protect confidential information obtained
through or stored in any medium, recognizing that the extent and limits of confidentiality may be
regulated by law or established by institutional rules or professional or scientific relationship.
(American Psychological Association, 2010) According to ACA Code of Ethics (2005)
counselors are required to break confidentiality only to protect clients or identified others from
serious and foreseeable harm or when legal requirements demand that confidential information
must be revealed (Standard B.2.a). AMHCAs (2000) ethics code states, the protection of life,
as in the case of suicidal or homicidal clients, exceeds the requirements of confidentiality
(Principle 3.C). (Constable, Kreider, Smith, & Taylor, 2011) I find that by the APA Ethics Code
4.01, James' hands were ethically bound to protect the confidentiality of Lisa's confession.
Personal Perspective
My immediate reaction to this case was that of compassion for this young lady. She
has been haunted a great number of years by the thought that she has murdered someone. It
appears that her troubles have brought her to this point of seeking therapy. It is not known to
me whether or not her main reason for seeking therapy was because of the boyfriend or for
her need to unload her haunting secret. I, however, choose to believe that unloading her secret
was an objective for providing her some mental relief.
My conviction of Lisas action was that of sadness, an unfortunate circumstance, but
against my ethical values, I, however, do not blame or condemn her in either my conscious or

An Ethical Dilemma

subconscious for her actions. Unfortunately, society has a hand in propagating sex crimes
against the helpless. Advertisements, that may stimulate the thoughts of a perverted individual
is everywhere. Its like putting up neon signs to enhance the perverted imagination of those
who are already at-risk for committing such crimes. Advertisements such as Carls Jr. sexual
undertones implied during eating of a hamburger; sex-toy shops on many corners of America;
sexually explicit acts are no longer limited to late night televisionthey are currently
propagated on primetime television right after the five oclock news.
There are many men as well as women that succumb to their perverted sexual
thoughts. No one knows whether or not these individuals can ever be cured without the use of
some drug intervention or surgically removing a part of their brains that controls this
addictive behavior. I'm not suggesting that lobotomy's take placethat would be barbaric in
my mind. I am however saying that something other than free-will of the perpetrator to
change has to take place before this type of scenario ceases to exist.
From the discussion forum, there were several concepts that my classmates presented
that I ultimately took into consideration and agreement. I agree with Grettel Jimenez that
Lisa's mother most likely would also be in need of therapy. One important and major piece of
information missing here is the current relationship between mother and daughter. I also agree
with Lori Fullmers statement, Veracity is another code that was in our reading that could
possibly be her intentions. The woman was clearing her mind and possibly looking for feed
back on her next step and what should she do to get past these horrible events from her past. I
do believe she was seeking honesty from her counsel as her memory and things of her past
were obviously not going away, but rather causing her grief. (Fullmer, 2015) Most
classmates commented on how difficult this case study wasthis I will certainly agree.

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The Matter of Diversity

It was stated that James was a 25-year-old Caucasian male having a background of an
individual of privilege and little experience of interacting with diverse groups. In this case, James
may very well be dealing with issues of diversity. His client, Lisa comes from a background of
Mexican heritage. This is not a background that James most likely would have interacted with
nor have an understanding of the conflicts and struggles of a person of the Mexican heritage or
culture. "We are each diverse in our own way. We come from a variety of backgrounds and
have varying experiences based on those backgrounds. These various experiences impact the
cultural lens through which we view our world and ourselves in this world. As diverse beings,
there are times in which we may belong to the dominant (or majority) group, and there are times
in which we belong to the non-dominant (or minority) group. Therefore, we each experience
moments and situations in which we have power and privilege, and others in which we may
experience discrimination and oppression. Further, no person is devoid of the impact of
stereotyping "(Marquette University, 2015) It is, therefore, important to develop, "an
appropriate culture where people in work places are sensitive to the significance of diversity,
taking personal responsibility for the development of this awareness. Within work places, there
is a major need to take steps to learn about other perspectives and other life experiences. If we do
not, there is a very real risk of discrimination, in which we can end up by alienating or
invalidating people. (Sharpling, 2015).
Influences from Personal Ethical and Social Values
My personal values include: That a life of self or others is valuable and should never be
taken, with the exception of protecting oneself, or that of another. In contrast to my social and
ethical values we have the theory of Ethical relativism. According to this theory, ethical

An Ethical Dilemma

relativism holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether an action
is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same
action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. For the ethical
relativist, there are no universal moral standards -- standards that can be universally applied to all
peoples at all times. (Velasquez, Andre, & Meyer, 1992) I agree that this theory is accurate.
However, my personal values do not allow me, without cause, take the life of another. I consider
this case as an exception to the rule based on the complexities presented. First and foremost, this
was a child who did not, with conscious, knowingly commit murder of her perpetrator. I do
believe that her actions were merely a means of protection by believing she would protect herself
from at least sexual molestation during that night. She was certainly not afforded the protection
from her mother or school officials. Historically, young victims generally do not report this
abuse to anyone due to fear from threats of the perpetrator or the feeling that they are at fault
because of something they did wrong. This young lady overcame both the fear and feeling of
self-blame simply to succumb to yet another abuse by the individuals who should have protected
her by taking actions against the perpetrator
Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding this case, I would abide by the APA Code
of Ethics and would not have reported Lisas confession to the authorities of law. As far as how I
would handle similar dilemmas, under the same guidelines of the APA ethics code, theres
nothing I would or could ethically change. What would change would be how I would personally
feel had the client been older at the time and knowingly concocted a drink he or she knew would
most likely cause the death of the abuser. Ethically I would be bound not to disclose this
information especially because the perpetrator is already deceased. I would not personally feel
that this was the right avenue for the client to take and have gotten away with it. An older

An Ethical Dilemma

individual has the cognitive ability to evaluate their thoughts and take other courses of action;
whereas a child does not have the capacity to think of the alternatives. This child first acted on
the only recourse she had available to her which failed in every respect. From there, she could
only seek relief from another imminent attack.
Conclusion
When faced with an ethical dilemma in clinical settings, therapists typically call upon
colleagues and supervisors as resources to discuss the case. Rarely, does anyone have the "right"
answer, but through discussion and reflection an ethical course of action can be developed.
(Ethical Study, 2015) Although taking the life of another is against my moral ethics, I find that I
would not have divulged nor condemned Lisa for the action she took at the age of seven. I
believe that maintaining confidentially of the case was appropriate under the circumstances.
In this case, diversity has its place of importance. As stated by (Marquette University,
2015) various experiences impact the cultural lens through which we view our world and
ourselves in this world. Personal influences as viewed through the lens of a persons ethical and
social values help shape the conclusions made about this case. These conclusions sometimes
present an ethical dilemma for decision making.

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8
References
Works Cited

American Psychological Association. (2010, June 1). Retrieved from Ethical Principles of
Psychologists and Code of Conduct including 2010 Amendments:
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
Camon, M. (2015, September 11). Ethics for Counselors: Sample Case.
Constable, E. G., Kreider, T. B., Smith, T. F., & Taylor, Z. (2011). The Confidentiality of a
Confession: A Counseling Interns Ethical Dilemma. Retrieved from Counseling.org:
http://www.counseling.org/competition/essays%5C2009mas.pdf
Ethical Study. (2015, October 5). Retrieved from
https://campusweb.myunion.edu/ICS/Academics/PSY/PSY__209/1516_F-PSY__20911___A/Week_4.jnz
Fullmer, L. (2015, September 12). Ethics for Counselors: Sample Case.
Marquette University. (2015, September 23). Retrieved from Diversity Related Issues:
http://www.marquette.edu/counseling/diversity.shtml
Sharpling, G. D. (2015, September 23). Warwick. Retrieved from Equality and diversity issues:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/learning_english/leap/uklife/equality/#hard
Velasquez, M., Andre, C. S., & Meyer, M. (1992). Santa Clara University. Retrieved from
Markkula Center for Aplied Ethics:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicalrelativism.html