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Moral relativism and cultural relativism
Moral relativism and cultural relativism
Moral relativism and cultural relativism
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What are your personal values and how far will you go to mirror them? Some counselors and counselors-in-training become blinded by their personal values that they forget their professional responsibilities, and begin imposing their value(s) on their client causing maleficence. Through legal cases, journal articles, and state legislative, I will demonstrate how value imposition of religious beliefs on same-sex relationships can have damaging effects. Also, how counselors and counselors-in-training can better prepare to handle their personal value(s) in counseling. Rokeach, 1973 (as cited by Worthington, Jr., 1988) stated value is “an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.” Counselors’ values delineate who they are and what they stand for, but when their values violate the counseling session and cause harm to clients, they no longer become personal, but a professional problem. Within that professional problem, Counselors need to ascertain if they are discriminating their clients or are they concerned about their own personal value. American Ward’s value in her religious beliefs took precedent to her ability to seek remediation in order to find a way to not violate her values nor harm her client. Ward v Wilbanks (as cited by Kocet and Herlihy) also stated that “some counselors and counselors-in-training who have strongly held religious beliefs have interpreted the ethical standards as providing support for a decision to refer LGBT clients…[but the] Court’s opinion was that the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, 2005) provision that refers to inability to be of professional assistance ‘expressly permits values-based referrals.’” The courts interpreted that since Ward was competent in handling her client’s problem, referring her to someone else was
The Ward versus Polite case came to the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals in 2011. The appellate case results from the 2010 lawsuit which the plaintiff lost. Both cases involve a self-professed Christian student, Julea Ward, in her third year of the Eastern Michigan University School Counseling program in 2009. As part of the program, all students are required to work at the university’s counseling center for 100 hours. Mrs. Ward was presented with a case file in which a student wanted counseling. The student had received counseling from the center before for depression stemming from his same-sex romantic relationship; though, the reason for this particular counseling session was unknown. Upon reviewing the file, Ward met with her supervisor, Professor Calloway. Her desire was to either refer the student to a
Meeting Eboni’s needs is more important than meeting ours indicative in the NASW standards of practice. Kocet and Herlihy (2014 p.182) report that “counselors bring their professional, personal and cultural values into their professional relationships are not expected to be value free” These values and beliefs are integrated in their practices even though imposing these on clients is unethical. Maintaining the balance between personal and professional values is a challenging undertaking.
Issues of individual and cultural diversity: different therapists may be more sensitive to certain aspects of their client’s conditions of worth (different values between client and therapist). Coming from different cultures can affect created conditions of worth for both.
In 2005, the American Counseling Association (ACA) published a document titled the ACA Code of Ethics which was designed to aid counselors in the ethical decision making process and, in response, “expand the capacity of people to grow and develop” (p. 3). The ACA Code of Ethics provides regulatory guidelines for all counselors to follow in ethical decision-making and practice. Of a more specific nature, the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) has also published a document stating the ethical practices and procedures for the Christian counseling field. The two documents contain many similarities, but, due to differing goals and principals, also containing may differences. This paper compares these two documents and more specifically focuses on the similarities and differences in the areas of confidentiality, fees, and records.
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
Aspirational ethics reach toward higher standards than those of mandatory ethics, requiring the counselor to possess a stronger sense of duty. These principles guide counselors to do more than simply meet the “letter of the law” of the ethics code. The welfare of the client becomes the main focus of the counselor, who takes into consideration not only the interventions, but also the effects on the client. (Kottler & Shepard, 2011) Aspirational ethics include, but are not limited to the following principles.
.... Also following a guideline pointed by Saddler (1986 -retrive from Forester-Miller, H., & Davis, T., 1996) counselors should apply the three test in their practice. The test of justice which determines if you would treat others the same in this situation, the publicity test, if you would want your behavior to be known and reported to the public, and the test of universality to ask yourself if you would administer the same action to another counselor in the same situation. With that in mind the professional has to believe that after all of this is achieved the professional is capable to perform the career with an outstanding background and knowledge on how and when to act and perform the social and personal changes that relies on the profession and always having in mind what is more beneficial to the patient in resolving and responding to their ethical conflicts.
As a social work professional, you must take into account your own personal values before you can be an effective worker in this field. Social workers sometimes need to put their own values aside when working with clients who don’t share their same ideals. Clients are diverse and are not going to always have the same values that the worker has. Social workers need to be professional and adhere to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) guidelines when working with any client.
They should be sensitive towards the client’s emotions and not be judgemental. Approach should also be developmentally and culturally appropriate and interaction void of any prejudice and discrimination (see ACA E.5.b. Cultural Sensitivity (in Diagnosis of Mental Disorders) & E.6.c. Culturally Diverse Populations (in Instrument Selection)). For example, while counselling a child, counsellor must be able to understand the perception of the child which may involve elements of immaturity and fantasy and not seek to correct the child’s worldview to match that of an adult. Such behaviour will diminish the child’s self-esteem and stress the child, causing harm instead of
Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.
Morals and principles rule our behavior, these elements are termed ethics. When working as a counselor or psychologist these ethics determine our level of professionalism and commitment to our clients. A case study will be reviewed in the context of ethics. Ethical standards and codes will be evaluated and relevant standards will be utilized and justified for relevance as it pertains to the case study. Multicultural issues within the decision-making model will be considered. The steps used in the process of decision-making will be discussed, as well as an ethical reasoning model will be applied with evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of using the chosen model. A solution for the dilemma will be
This model identifies five moral principles which are: justice, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and fidelity. These fundamental guidelines are used to clarify issues that involve any given situation. Ethical guidelines may not address all situations, but will allow a counselor to explore ethical dilemmas and conflicting issues. Counselors are responsible to encourage clients to make their own appropriate decisions and to act on their own values. Two important things to consider when counseling client are: autonomous encouragement helps clients understand how their decisions and values that may or may not receive within the context of the society; they live in or may impinge on the rights of others (Kitchener,
Counselors need to be aware that they are able to work with particular issues and certain cultural groups. This is because conscious and unconscious meanings and assumptions, such as strongly held religious or political beliefs, will be communicated to the client. “It is desirable up to a point to know about a particulars clients background and therefore not to ask questions about it” due to the clients may be frustrated and impatient with this use of their time. (Bayne, Jinks, Collard, Horton, 2008). This is where cross-cultural training, supervision and personal development are
This paper will explore the concept of dual relationships between counselors and clients and the ethical implications of such relationships. In addition to presenting several examples of dual relationships, this paper will also explore how ethical decisions must be made to avoid potentially harmful or exploitive relationships in therapy as well understanding how different interactions between counselor and clients can be understood from an ethical standpoint, as well as how reviewing these ethical dilemmas may shape my future career as a counselor.
My mission is to live each day positively in God’s eyes, honestly and passionately so that every day I am one step closer to reaching my dreams and helping others believe in theirs. I will be committed to inspiring others to be more than they think that they can be and I will be a continual learner committed to excellence in all aspects of life.