Ethical dilemmas of Turkish counsellors: a critical incidents study

Sivis-Cetinkaya R.

BRITISH JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING, vol.43, no.4, pp.476-491, 2015 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 43 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/03069885.2014.987726
  • Journal Name: BRITISH JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE & COUNSELLING
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.476-491
  • Keywords: counselling ethics, ethical dilemmas, Turkish counsellors, critical incidents technique, ethical codes, DECISION-MAKING, PSYCHOLOGISTS, STUDENTS, MODEL
  • Bursa Uludag University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Ethical dilemmas from a national purposive sample of Turkish counsellors (N = 172) were collected using critical incidents technique. Content analysis was performed with open coding guided by the classification of American Counseling Association code of ethics. Incidents regarding confidentiality and privacy (56.4%), with 37.1% involving incidents of reporting child sex abuse, had the highest percentage of prevalence. Dilemmas involving conflicts with school principals ranked second (16.3%), while incidents regarding dual relationships and boundaries (14%) ranked third. Implications for the development of a research-based and culturally sensitive code of counselling ethics in Turkey are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.