Ethical Principles of Guidance and Counselling

Alokan Funmilola Bosede

Abstract: The concept of ethical standards in counselling is mentioned to indicate

that there are indeed certain ways of doing things counselling ways which are in line
with what is expected of a professional person on the job. What a counsellor says
and does in counselling should be fully in line in the provision of the law. A
practicing counselor is required to see that all his behaviour within the context of
counselling functions are in line with the ethical standards of the profession.

INTRODUCTION

Ethics mean moral principles that control or influence a persons behaviour a

philosophical discipline that is concerned with human conduct and moral decision
making. According to Akinade (2005) ethics are normative in nature and focus on
principles and standard that governs relationships between individuals, such as
counsellors and clients.

Aluede et al. (2004) observed that although guidance and counselling service is a
relatively new educational delivery service in Nigerias educational system, one may
be tempted to think differently because any child born in 1959, the year guidance
and counselling is known to have begun in Nigeria would no longer be regarded as
an adolescent or a youth. He/she would be full of all maturity and experience to be
expected to play very vital role in the society.

Omotoso (2008) noted that at present, Counselling Association of Nigeria is yet to

come up with categorical, well articulated and widely publicized statements that
detail a broad range of practical standards for ethical professional practices that
reflect core values of this profession. Such ethical codes for counsellors as ethical
value and pragmatic standards which highlight the importance of operating in ways
that respect the dignity and worth of the persons served by counsellors (Pack-Brown
et al., 2008).

There are a number of ethical and legal considerations to be made by any person
functioning in the capacity of a counsellor. Lack of awareness or misunderstanding
of an ethical standard is not itself a defence to a charge of unethical conduct. Due
to the relatively recent origin of counselling in Nigeria, not much practical

experience has been gained regarding the relationship that exist between the law
and the counselling function in the situation. This study derives much facts from the
ethics of American (APA, 2003; BACP, 2002).

Ethical consideration: Counsellors are committed to increasing scientific and

professional knowledge of behaviour and peoples understanding of themselves and
others and to the use of such knowledge to prove the condition of individuals,
organizations and society. Counsellors respect and protect civil and human rights
and the central importance of freedom of enquiry and expression in research,
teaching and publication.

They strive to help the public in developing informed judgments and choices
concerning human behaviuour. In doing so, they perform many roles, such as
researcher, educator, diagnostician, therapist, supervisor, consultant, administrator,
social interventionist and expert witness. Ethics code provides a common set of
principles and standards upon which counsellors build their professional and
scientific work.

This ethic code is intended to provide specific standards to cover most situations
encountered by counsellors. It has as its goals the welfare and protection of the
individuals and groups with whom counsellors work and the education of members,
students and the public regarding ethical standards of the discipline.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

General principles: General principles are inspirational in nature. Their intent is to

guide and inspire counselors toward the very highest ethical ideals of the
profession.

Beneficence and nonmaleficence: Counsellors strive to benefit those with whom

they work and take care to do no harm. In their professional actions, psychologists
seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact
professionally and other affected persons. When conflicts occur among counsellors
obligations or concerns, they attempt to resolve these conflicts in a responsible
fashion that avoids or minimizes harm. Because counsellors professional judgment
and actions may affect the lives of others, they are alert to and guard against
personal, financial, social organizational or political factors that might lead to
misuse of their influence.

Fidelity and responsibility: Counsellors establish relationships of trust with those

with whom they work. They are aware of their professional and scientific
responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. They
uphold professional standards of conducts, clarify their professional roles and
obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behaviour and seek to
manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm.

Counsellors consult with, refer to or cooperate with other professionals and

institutions to the extent needed to serve the best interests of those with whom
they work. They are concerned about the ethical compliance of their colleagues
scientific and professional conduct. Counsellors strive to contribute a portion of their
professional time for little or no compensation or personal advantage.

Integrity: Counsellors seek to promote accuracy, honesty and truthfulness in the

science, teaching and practice of counselling. In these activities, counsellors do not
steal, cheat or engage in fraud, subterfuge or intentional misrepresentations of fact.

Counsellors strive to keep their promises and to avoid unwise or unclear

commitments. In situations in which deception may be ethically justifiable to
maximize benefits and minimize harm, psychologists have a serious obligation to
consider the need for the possible consequences of and their responsibility to
correct any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that arise from the use of
such techniques.

Justice: Conusellors recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to benefits
from the contributions of counseling and to equal quality in the processes,
procedures and services being conducted by psychologists. Counsellors exercise
reasonable judgment and take precautions to ensure that their potential biases, the
boundaries of their competence and the limitations of their expertise do not lead to
or condone unjust practices.

Respect for peoples rights and dignity: Counsellors respect the dignity and worth of
all people and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and selfdetermination. Counsellors are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to
protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities
impair autonomous decision-making.

Counsellors are aware of and respect cultural, individual and role differences
including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language and socio economic

status and consider these factors when working with members of such groups.
Counsellors try to eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on those factors
and they do not knowingly participate in or condone activities of others based upon
such prejudices.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Personal moral qualities: The practitioners personal moral qualities are of the
utmost importance to clients. Many of the personal qualities considered important in
the provision of services have an ethical or moral component and are therefore
considered as virtues or good personal qualities.

It is inappropriate to prescribe that all practitioners posses these qualities, since it is

concerned and developed out of personal commitment rather than the requirement
of an external authority. Personal qualities to which counsellors and
psychotherapists are strongly encouraged to aspire include:

Empathy: The ability to communicate understanding of another persons experience

from that persons perspective.

Sincerity: A personal commitment to consistency between what is professed and

what is done.

Integrity: Commitment to being moral in dealings with others, personal straight

forwardness, honesty and coherence.

Resilience: The capacity to work with the clients concerns without being personally
diminished.

Respect: Showing appropriate esteem to others and their understanding of

themselves.

Humility: The ability to asses accurately and acknowledge ones own strengths and
weakness.

Competence: The effective deployment of the skills and knowledge needed to do

what is required.

Fairness: The consistent application of appropriate criteria to inform decisions and

actions.

Wisdom: Possession of sound judgment that inform practice.

Courage: The capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and uncertainty.

Legal consideration: Counsellors need to know that there are occasions when their
misconduct or omission in the exercise of counselling may very well be actionable
by their aggrieved clients and that occasions do exist too, when certain things they
may do in counselling can be adjudged as unethical and which in cases of serious
dimensions of misconduct may warrant their being proscribed from practicing
counselling in Nigeria (Nwoye, 1998).

The law about confidential relationship and privileged communications in

counseling: Shertzer and Stone (1980) said counselee usually reveal intimate,
personal and painful experiences with the assumption that others will not have
access to their disclosure without their express consent. This means that a
confidential relationship exists making the professional person involved to become
obliged to protect the best interests of the client by maintaining it.

The obligation here does not have only an ethical connotation but even a legal
implication. What the law appears to require in this case is that the professional is
not to disclose information shown to him under the setting of one-to-one counselling
and also to maintain the professional confidence reposed on him in such
relationship. The counsellor is not to disclose such a confidential information (even
where accurate) to individual not entitled to it. Also everything about the
relationship in written records must be accurately done and strongly safeguarded.

However, the confidentiality of information revealed in counselling is indeed not

absolute per SE. This is because the disclosure of facts relevant to a litigated issue
usually takes precedence over confidentiality in counselling. Privileged
communication is assumed to be almost absolute, the communication is usually
known to lose its protection where it is discovered that it is for furtherance of crime
or fraud.

That means counsellors may be required to testify to knowledge they derive from
their professional relationships with their clients.

The law about confidentiality of counseling information in group therapy: One may
want to ask whether the sanctity of information revealed in the context of one-toone counselling relationship also applies to information revealed in the context of
group guidance and counselling. In group counselling or therapy, the protection of
privileged communication cannot be said to exist since under such a relationship,
the presence of a third parry is involved.

If the information to be concealed is already a shared information that is by persons

that make up the group then the court is qualified to address a subpoena to get it
testified especially where in doing so, the greater interest of justice is likely
furthered. Counsellors keep information revealed in group therapy for ethical
reasons rather than legal considerations.

The law about libel and slander in counseling: A counsellor should know that there
are certain things he may do or say in counselling which would usually be
actionable by the aggrieved clients. Among these are the misconduct of libel and
slander which is a form of defamation. This involves exposure of the victim to
hatred, ridicule and contempt; arid also damaging of reputation.

Shertzer and Stone (1980) pointed out that misconduct of defamation involves the
invasion of peoples interest in their reputation and good name causing others to
shun them or to have unpleasant or derogatory feelings about them. According to
Seitz (1964) four categories of conditions may warrant the recovery of money as
damages for slander. They are:S

Imputation of serious crime in the victim

Imputation of certain loathsome disease in the victim

Imputation of unchastity in a woman

Imputation affecting the victim in conducting business, trade or profession

Counsellors should remember that truth is the only defence for actions against libel
arid slander also truthful and sincere consultations about clients with professional
colleagues would usually not be taken as instances of slander.

Right of privacy law and problem of psychological testing in counselling: The right of
privacy is the right to be left alone to be free of inspection and scrutiny of others.
Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into ones private affairs and/or exposure of
ones paper to the view of others. When it causes one emotional distress, it is
actionable. While libel and slander involve false or malicious statement aimed at
damaging the victims reputation, invasion of privacy usually arises from truthful
but damaging publications.

Indeed one area of biggest threat of privacy which has been entertained against
counsellors is the issue of use of personality tests in counselling. Personality tests
probe deeply into feelings and attitudes which the individual normally conceals. A
test could assess whether an adolescence boy resents authority or whether a
mother loves her child or be asked to indicate the strength of sexual needs.

These are virtually all measures of personality that seek information in areas which
the subject has every reason to regard as private in normal social intercourse. He is
willing to admit the counsellor into these private areas only if he sees the relevance
of the questions to the attainment of his goals in working with the counsellor. When
the counsellor has a genuine need of the information obtained, he is not invading
privacy. What we should note here is that a counsellor should seek the consent of
his client before administering him a test even though such consent may always not
be formal.

Problem of counsellor malpractice and the law about negligent actions in

counselling: The term malpractice means any professional misconduct or any
unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in the performance of professional duties. A
counsellor can offend the law in the area of criminal liability in four main ways
(Shertzer and Stone, 1980).

Becoming accessory to a crime after the fact

Encouraging an illegal abortion

Being a conspirator in a civil disobedience

Contributing to the delinquency of a minor

These legal considerations help practicing counsellors to really be able to determine

when they are working or not working under the provisions of the law; and indeed to
help them to predict when a negative consequence may follow their actions due to
their deliberate attempt to work against the limits set by law.

CONCLUSION

This study therefore reinforces the major thrust of an ethical code which is to
provide a position on standards of practice; drawing richly from the ethics of
American and British Association for counselling.