ERIC Number: EJ891521
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Aug
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0306-9885
EISSN: N/A
Having Confidence in Therapeutic Work with Young People: Constraints and Challenges to Confidentiality
Jenkins, Peter
British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, v38 n3 p263-274 Aug 2010
Confidentiality presents particular challenges to practitioners working with young people, on account of the latter's vulnerability and emotional immaturity. Ethical codes place a key importance on confidentiality, from deontological and teleological perspectives. However, young clients may rely on a more pragmatic approach in deciding whether to disclose personal material to a counsellor. Surveys indicate that young people place high value on confidentiality in school and healthcare advice settings. Practitioners may perceive constraints and challenges to providing high levels of confidentiality to young people, in the form of assumed duties to report child abuse, under-age sexual activity, and the need to obtain prior parental consent for counselling. These apparent constraints are clarified in the light of recent statute and case law, which, in reality, provide robust support in law for counsellors providing high levels of confidentiality to young people.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Psychotherapy, Young Adults, Personal Autonomy, Ethics, Counselor Qualifications, Counselor Role, Legal Responsibility, Confidentiality, Child Abuse, Sexuality, School Counseling, Parent Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A