Ethics and Legal Issues in Counseling: Duty to Warn and Tarasoff
The ethical and legal implications of counseling are important considerations for mental health professionals and their clients. The ethical responsibility to advise clients and protect their safety, and the legal right to protect the public from potential harm, often conflict with each other. This article will discuss two legal principles that guide counselors in such situations, the duty to warn and Tarasoff.
Definition
The duty to warn is an ethical obligation for mental health professionals to inform those who may be at risk of being harmed by their client. This duty is based on the ethical principle of nonmaleficence, which is the obligation to protect clients and those in their immediate vicinity from potential harm. Tarasoff is a legal decision that emerged from a 1976 California Supreme Court case, in which the court found that mental health professionals have a duty to warn third parties of potential danger posed by their clients.
History
The duty to warn emerged from the Tarasoff case. In 1969, Tatiana Tarasoff, a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, was murdered by her former boyfriend, Prosenjit Poddar. Tarasoff had previously visited the university’s counseling center and reported that Poddar was threatening to kill her. The counselors at the center, however, did not take any action to protect Tarasoff or warn her family of the potential danger.
In 1976, Tarasoff’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against the university and its counselors. The court found that the counselors had a duty to warn Tarasoff and her family of the potential danger posed by Poddar. The court also found that the counselors had a duty to take reasonable steps to protect Tarasoff from potential harm. The decision in the Tarasoff case has since been used to establish the duty to warn and the legal expectation that mental health professionals will take reasonable steps to protect their clients and those in their immediate vicinity from potential harm.
Conclusion
The duty to warn and Tarasoff are important ethical and legal considerations for mental health professionals. These principles guide counselors in their obligation to protect their clients and those in their vicinity from potential harm. Counselors must carefully consider the ethical implications of their decisions and take reasonable steps to protect their clients and the public from potential harm.
References
American Psychological Association. (2020). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index
Chapman, A.L., & Calhoun, K.S. (2012). The duty to warn: An overview of the Tarasoff decision and its implications for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 90(2), 166-174.
Fisher, C.B., Nelson, S.A., & Chandler, J.A. (2009). Tarasoff and the duty to protect: Legal and ethical considerations for mental health professionals. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(4), 315-323.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Mental health laws. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/answers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse/mental-health-laws/index.html