Unit II – The Ethical Issues in Groups Student’s Copy

UNIT II: THE ETHICAL ISSUES IN GROUPS

Throughout this chapter we refer to ethical, legal, clinical, and cultural issues.
1. Ethical issues pertain to the standards that govern the conduct of professional
members.
2. Legal issues define the minimum standards society will tolerate, which are
enforced by the rule of law at the local, state, or federal level.
3. Clinical issues involve using your professional judgment to act in accordance with
ethical and legal mandates.
4. Cultural issues are factors such as a person’s ethnic background, gender, sexual
orientation, religious affiliation, values, or other differences that affect the way we
understand and intervene with clients’ problems.

 Professionals and student-trainees must know the ethical standards of their

professional specialization.
 Being an ethical practitioner involves far more than a basic knowledge of the legal
standards of our profession; practicing ethically demands a high level of
consciousness on our part, both personally and professionally.
 As a group leader, you will need to learn how to apply the established ethics codes
of your profession to a range of practical problems.
 As a group leader, you will need to learn how to apply the established ethics codes
of your profession to a range of practical problems
 Being aware of your personal biases and your decision-making style in challenging
situations will help you guard against unethical practices in your group work.
 Ethical decision making is a continuous process. Part of the decision-making process
involves learning about the available resources you can draw on when you are
struggling with an ethical question.

CHAPTER I: RIGHTS OF GROUP PARTICIPANTS

1. INFORMED CONSENT
 Informed consent is a process of presenting basic information about group
treatment to individuals to enable them to make rational decisions about whether
to enter and how to participate in a group (Fallon, 2006).
 It is sound policy to provide a professional disclosure statement to group
members that includes information on a variety of topics pertaining to the nature
of the group.
 The ASGW (2008) “Best Practice Guidelines” suggest providing the following
information in writing to potential group members:
o Information on the nature, purposes, and goals of the group
o Confidentiality and exceptions to confidentiality
o Leader’s theoretical orientation
o Group services that can be provided
o The role and responsibility of group members and leaders

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2. INVOLUNTARY MEMBERSHIP
 Ideally, participation in a group is voluntary, but this is not always the case.
Especially when group participation is mandatory, much effort needs to be
directed toward clearly and fully informing members of the nature and goals of
the group, procedures that will be used, the rights of members to decline certain
activities, the limitations of confidentiality, and ways active participation in the
group may affect their lives outside the group
 If “involuntary” members choose not to participate in the group, they will need
to be prepared to deal with consequences such as being expelled from school or
worse.
 Example: they can listen however they cannot disclose nor react to the stories of
voluntary members, or they may be excluded altogether.
 This situation is somewhat akin to compulsory education—people can be forced
to attend but not to learn.

3. FREEDOM TO WITHDRAW FROM A GROUP

 Procedures for leaving a group need to be explained to all members during the
initial group session.
 It is a good practice to tell members that if they are even thinking of withdrawing
they should bring the matter up for exploration in a session. It is critical that
members be encouraged to discuss their departure, at least with the group
leader.
 If you are too quick to allow a member to quit, you may miss an excellent
opportunity for insight and personal growth on the part of that member.
 We are not in favor of forcing members to remain in a group regardless of the
circumstances.

4. CONFIDENTIALITY
 Although group leaders are themselves ethically and legally bound to maintain
confidentiality, a group member who violates another member’s confidences
faces no legal consequences (Lasky & Riva, 2006).
 A good practice is to remind participants from time to time of the danger of
inadvertently revealing confidences.
 Wheeler and Bertram (2012) point out that the risk of breach of confidentiality
is heightened in situations if members of a counseling group engage in social
media.
 Address the parameters of online behavior through informed consent and
establish ground rules
 As a group leader, you cannot guarantee confidentiality in a group setting
because you cannot control absolutely what the members do or do not keep
private. Members have a right to know that absolute confidentiality in groups
is difficult and at times even unrealistic (Lasky & Riva, 2006).

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 The concept of privileged communication means that these professionals

cannot break the confidence of clients unless:
 in their judgment, the clients are likely to do serious harm to
themselves, others, and/or physical property;
 abuse of children or the elderly is suspected;
 they are ordered by a court to provide information; and/or
 the clients give specific written permission.

CHAPTER II: ETHICS OF GROUP LEADER’S ACTION

PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES OF ETHICAL AND MORAL LEADERSHIP

1. Ethics is the study of moral obligations and of separating right from wrong.
Ethics are the accepted guidelines of behavior for groups or institutions. Morals
are an individual’s determination of what is right or wrong and are influenced by
their values. As there is no definitive agreement on what is moral or ethical,
leadership decisions relating to this sphere are not straightforward.
2. Ethics is the code of moral principles and values that govern the behavior of a
person or group with respect to what is right or wrong.
3. Ethics is at the center of leadership because the goal of a rational leader is to
merge the interests of all parties so that everyone benefits and the organization
prospers. Relevant behaviors are:
 Be honest and trustworthy and have integrity in dealing with others
 Pay attention to all stakeholders
 Build community
 Respect the individual
 Accomplish silent victories
4. An ethical dilemma occurs every time a manager must choose whether or not
to pursue a course of action that, although offering the potential of personal
and/or organizational benefit, is also unethical in the broader social context.
Some factors that contribute to ethical differences are:
 Level of greed, gluttony, & avarice rationalization
 Implied permission
 Level of moral development
 Entitlement
 Situation
 Person’s character
5. Ethical mind, or a point of view that helps the individual aspire to good work
that matters to their colleagues, companies and society in general.

GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ETHICS OF A DECISION

Here is an ethical screen to help leaders determine if a given act or specific decision is
ethical or unethical:
1. Is it right? Fair? Legal? Balanced?

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2. Who gets hurt? (Trolley problem by Philippa Foot)

3. Would you be comfortable if the details of your decision or actions were made public
in the media or through email?
4. What would you tell your child, sibling, or young relative to do?
5. How will it make me feel about myself? Do I feel proud? How would I feel if my
family knew about it?

A leader’s behavior can satisfy certain criteria if it is to be considered ethical:

1. Doing what results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people
2. Respecting the rights of all affected parties
3. Treating people equitably and fairly.
4. Consider existing ethical norms to determine what constitutes right and wrong
decisions and actions.

CHAPTER III: ISSUES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RISKS IN GROUPS

Let’s look briefly at some possible risks of therapeutic groups.
1. Misuse of power
2. Self-disclosure
3. Maintaining confidentiality
4. Scapegoating
5. Confrontation

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