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Ethical Decision Making in Family Therapy
Author(s) -
ZYGMOND MARY JO,
BOORHEM HARRIET
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1989.00269.x
Subject(s) - family therapy , dilemma , ethical decision , psychology , ethical dilemma , psychotherapist , clinical decision making , welfare , engineering ethics , social psychology , medicine , political science , family medicine , epistemology , law , engineering , philosophy
In family therapy, effective clinical decisions promote the welfare and interests of the family and its individual members. However, the needs of the family and its individual members are often in conflict. Resolving this conflict is an ethical as well as a therapeutic dilemma. Kitchener has developed a model of ethical decision making that we have found useful in teaching students and supervisees how to resolve conflicts between the family's needs and the needs of its members. The purpose of this article is to discuss this model and show how it can be applied to clinical decision making.