Ethical Complaints and Violations in Rehabilitation Counseling

Abstract

This is a descriptive study of Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification data related to ethical complaints and violations from 1993 to 2006. The authors reviewed complaints filed against certified rehabilitation counselors involving rules from the pre-2001 Code of Ethics and standards in the current code and analyzed the ensuing actions or sanctions. Of the 113 complaints received during this period, 71 were accepted by the commission's Ethics Committee for further review. Of these, violations were found in 36 cases—that is, only 31.9% of cases in which complaints were filed ultimately resulted in actions or sanctions being imposed. Beyond researching the complaints and violations, this study also considers the demographics of the counselors against whom complaints were filed and of the counselors who were found to be in violation of the code.

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