NCJ Number
121344
Date Published
1990
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Confidentiality issues that mental health professionals face in working with incest perpetrators are examined using a scenario involving the case of a grade school teacher who tells the therapist about his childhood sexual abuse, his youthful abuse of his younger sister, and his impulses to molest his 4-year-old daughter.
Abstract
The case raises several legal and ethical issues regarding the duty to report, the duty to protect the potential child victim, and the duty to treat the client. To deal with these issues, clinicians need to become knowledgeable about the legal parameters of limited confidentiality, which vary from State to State and over time. In addition, they should explain these parameters to their clients, enforce them consistently, distinguish between legal confidentiality and clinical confidentiality, and become clear regarding reporting of childhood molestation of an adult. Clinicians should also keep in mind the distinction between self-referred perpetrators and court-referred perpetrators, make clinical judgements about dangerousness, advocate that therapists not be held responsible for harm to unidentifiable victims, and consult with well-informed colleagues on particular cases without revealing the client's identity. 14 references.