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Sexual Contact During and After Professional Relationships: Practices and Attitudes of Female Counselors
Author(s) -
Thoreson Richard W.,
Shaughnessy Peter,
Frazier Patricia A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1995.tb01827.x
Subject(s) - sexual contact , psychology , sexual behavior , professional association , clinical psychology , social psychology , medical education , medicine , family medicine , public relations , gonorrhea , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , political science
A national sample of female counselors ( N = 377) was surveyed regarding sexual contact in professional relationships. Few respondents reported engaging in sexual contact either during or following professional relationships with clients, supervisees, or students. Individuals with doctoral degrees were more likely to have engaged in sexual contact with their own counselors, supervisors, or teachers. Counselors viewed sexual contact in current professional relationships as less ethical than contact in subsequent relationships, although relationships with former clients were seen as less ethical than relationships with former supervisees or students. Compared with male counselors from a previous study, female counselors were less likely to report sexual contact in their professional roles. Implications for research and training are discussed.