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Case Study Analysis

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Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

Ethical Principle relevant to the scenario........................................................................................3

Relevant reporting issues.................................................................................................................3

Possible course of actions to resolve the dilemma..........................................................................4

References........................................................................................................................................5
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Introduction

The aim of this essay is to explore the case study related to ethical dilemma that has been faced

by a counsellor when he provided their services within the organization to client 35 years old

which has been presented his social concern. He was mainly faced problem make friends and

difficulty to relate others of his own age. One of the important problem faced by the client that

he suited romantically with someone around 16-17 years old. The counsellor is considered as his

problem as big age difference issue and he was in ethical dilemma that how he gives suggestion

to his client to involve with minor as it is unethical. The essay explores the ethical principles

which are relevant towards the scenario and analyzes the ethical issue which has been identified

by the counsellor within the case scenario i.e. ethical dilemma. At the end, the essay explores

possible actions for reducing ethical dilemma.

Ethical Principle relevant to the scenario

As per the given scenario, there are various types of ethical principles relevant such as

Beneficence. This type of ethical principle requires practioners to act towards the best interest of

clients which is mainly based on the assessment of professionals. It is the responsibility of client

to promote client well-being along with acting with effective care, competence and compassion

(Psychology, 2021). The principle states that the counselor will able to maintain the competence

by continue professional development. As per the PACFA values, within the case study, it is

required by the client to follow the principle of justice which means the counselor make a deal

with the client at fare manner and also ensure to follow the principle along with natural justice

for all the decision we make effectively (Abrams et al., 2020). At the same time, Non-

malefficence ethical principle is applied in the provided situation where the counselor is
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responsible to avoid harm to the client that involve avoiding sexual, emotional, financial and

other form of client exploitation and also avoid malpractice. With the help of these principle of

ethics, the counselor within the case study may able to give suggestion to their client and able to

encounter the ethical dilemma when he consider the circumstance involuntary and also promote

good for the client (Beneficence) (Jaouni et al., 2017). As per the case study, it has been

explored that the client was not in the situation to take current decision so that as a counselor, it

is my responsibility to act for the best interest.

Relevant reporting issues

The reporting issue is ethical dilemma. Rodríguez & Juričić (2018) stated that dilemma is mainly

defined as situation which may perplex because of the decision is required between equally

unacceptable and unfavorable. The counselor may able to encounter the ethical dilemma when

they consider the situation involuntary. As per the case study, it has been evaluated the client

want to involve in the society by making friends and romantically involved with minor person

whose age between 16-17 years that is unethical as the age of client is 35 years. The ethical

dilemma faced by the counsellor is that whether the counsellor will help the client to improve his

involvement within society to make friends or provide him advice to make romantically involved

with someone the age of 16-17 years. There are two options are available for counsellor and he

was confused which one is better for client. The mainly issue faced by the counselor is the issue

of responsibility which means that the counselors have both the duty of care and responsibility

towards client for not misleading and misconduct clients within counsellor level of qualification,

competence and experience (PACFA, 2017). This type of issue is considered as most serious

ethical breach because it increase the harm for client and also damage the credibility of counselor

in the eyes of general public.

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Possible course of actions to resolve the dilemma

To resolve the ethical dilemma issue, it is responsibility of counselor to have responsibility for

keeping their client safe and secure. To solve the problem, the counsellor also has responsibility

towards the associated parties like individual person other than client. This can be inclusive but

not limited to the relatives, employees, employers, guardians and careers of clients (ACA, 2019).

The counselors may take steps to provide facility to their client and take reasonable steps by

ensuring that client does not suffer, emotionally, physically and psychological harm at the time

of counselling sessions. At the same time, the counselors must not exploit their clients sexually,

financially and emotionally. Therefore, if the counsellor may provide suggestion to romantically

engage with someone who is 16-17 years than it is unethical.

Moreover, the counsellor must take all type of reasonable steps as per the current law which is

applied on their counselling practice. This is not only federal law but the other laws related to

state and Territory. The laws may include the legal rights which may provide protection to client

who want suggestion from client under law and statutes of state where the counsellor provides

their service of counselling (Ngozwana, 2018). To solve the ethical dilemma, the counsellor have

to provide suggestion to client that the steps which he want to take to solve his society concern

cannot removed by matched someone around 16-17 years old because this is not ethical. He

suggests him to make friends with similar age group who can understand their situation and also

the need to share the problem with the family member who will help him towards this. The

counsellor also builds a friendly relation with client and builds the relationship of trust.
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References

Abrams, D. C., Prager, K., Blinderman, C. D., Burkart, K. M., & Brodie, D. (2020). Ethical

dilemmas encountered with the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in adults. In The

Ethical Challenges of Emerging Medical Technologies (pp. 327-333). Routledge.

ACA, (2019). Code Of Ethics and Practice. Retrieved from:

https://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA%20Code%20of%20Ethics%20and%20Practice

%20Ver15.pdf

Jaouni, H. (2017). Application of ethical principles to VV-ECMO patients in Qatar. Qatar

Medical Journal, 2017(1-Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation of the South and West Asia

Chapter 2017 Conference Proceedings), 48.

Ngozwana, N. (2018). Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research Methodology: Researcher's

Reflections. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 4(1), 19-28.

PACFA, (2017). Code of ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.arcapregister.com.au/wp-

content/uploads/2018/08/PACFA-Code-of-Ethics-2017.pdf

Psychology, 2021. Ethical Dilemmas. Retrieved from:

http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/counseling-psychology/counseling-ethics/ethical-dilemmas/

Rodríguez, J. V., & Juričić, Ž. (2018). Perceptions and attitudes of community pharmacists

toward professional ethics and ethical dilemmas in the workplace. Research in Social and

Administrative Pharmacy, 14(5), 441-450.