Code Of Ethics In Clinicia
Clinicians follow a code of ethics that governs their interactions with clients. For instance, social workers adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics that explains their role as being mandated reporters. These codes of ethics can intrude upon the privacy, and confidentially that usually exists between the clinician and client. For example, a clinician could suspect a child has been a survivor of sexual assault in a therapy session. The child could be displaying irritability, dissociation, self-harm, and sleeping disturbances as symptoms of sexual abuse.
As a mandated reporter, it is the job of the clinician to report any hunches or suspicion of trauma. By interfering with the confidential nature that takes place in therapy, the reporting of the …show more content…
Competent clinicians understand that cultures have more than one value that is pushed as the social norm. However, learning the values associated with a person’s culture can increase a clinicians understanding of the barriers a client would need to overcome to disclose an incident of sexual abuse.
Shame in many cultures can inhibit the disclosure of CSA (Fontes, 2005). Many aspects of child sexual abuse can contribute to feelings of guilt, including the perception of being a victim, the sexual abuse topic, and the involvement with authority figures (SDF). Children are often not educated about their bodies and sexuality. Children could feel some shame about being forced to engage in sexual activities with a person of the same sex or being sexually penetrated with objects (Fontes, 2007).
In a clinical setting, a family could be hesitant to discuss their child’s sexual abuse because of the loss of privacy and exposure that could ruin the family’s image. While the loss of privacy may be seen as a universal disincentive for calling authorities, other costs vary by social class, social power, immigration status, and culture. It is imperative for clinicians to be aware of how a child’s culture could impact the child and families willingness to disclose sexual abuse within the
As a mandated reporter, it is the job of the clinician to report any hunches or suspicion of trauma. By interfering with the confidential nature that takes place in therapy, the reporting of the …show more content…
Competent clinicians understand that cultures have more than one value that is pushed as the social norm. However, learning the values associated with a person’s culture can increase a clinicians understanding of the barriers a client would need to overcome to disclose an incident of sexual abuse.
Shame in many cultures can inhibit the disclosure of CSA (Fontes, 2005). Many aspects of child sexual abuse can contribute to feelings of guilt, including the perception of being a victim, the sexual abuse topic, and the involvement with authority figures (SDF). Children are often not educated about their bodies and sexuality. Children could feel some shame about being forced to engage in sexual activities with a person of the same sex or being sexually penetrated with objects (Fontes, 2007).
In a clinical setting, a family could be hesitant to discuss their child’s sexual abuse because of the loss of privacy and exposure that could ruin the family’s image. While the loss of privacy may be seen as a universal disincentive for calling authorities, other costs vary by social class, social power, immigration status, and culture. It is imperative for clinicians to be aware of how a child’s culture could impact the child and families willingness to disclose sexual abuse within the