An Examination of Gender and Ethics in Family Counseling—Part 2: a Case Study Approach Using a Social Constructivism Model of Ethical Decision Making

Abstract

Part one of this series of two articles deals with a case study in which the family counselor addressed gender issues of communication and power differential within the couple’s interactions. The couple’s values and the counselor’s values were congruent and therefore more easily addressed. This article, part 2, addresses a more complex case in which the clients’ gender issues and values differ with the counselor’s values and theoretical orientation. An awareness and knowledge of gender issues become more important for ethical counseling to occur when there is a clash of values between the clients and the counselor. Ethical decision making becomes essential, and in this case, a social constructivism model of ethical decision making is applied.

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