NCJ Number
168288
Date Published
1997
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article reviews and delineates the ethical responsibilities of therapists to clients who are involved in abusive relationships, and ethical responsibilities are distinguished from legal mandates.
Abstract
Therapists are ethically obligated to clients who are victims of spouse abuse to incorporate the cessation of violence into the treatment plan. This obligation arises from the ethical mandate to provide effective treatment based on the premise that therapy's primary goal is to help without doing harm. To discharge their ethical obligations, therapists must assess for violence even if violence is not the presenting problem. When violence is present, the cessation of violence needs to be the primary goal. Awareness of legal reforms in particular jurisdictions is essentially because therapists can provide alternative problem-solving strategies but cannot ensure safety. Both legal remedies and therapeutic interventions are needed to avoid potentially harmful results. The duty to warn and the duty to report physical injury are legal mandates. Therapists must be committed to stopping the cycle of violence with clients in order to minimize liability. The debate about the effectiveness of legal mandates imposed on therapists, however, will continue. Legal mandates in the form of continuing education and mandatory reporting laws may be necessary for therapists to recognize the seriousness of domestic violence and their contribution to stopping the violence. Specific recommendations are offered to help therapists make ethical decisions about spouse abuse cases. 58 references