Psychologists in medical settings may be confronted with Jehovah’s Witness parents refusing blood transfusions for their children as an ethical dilemma. The purpose of this discussion is to help psychologists provide informed, ethical consultations and support by investigating the values of the Jehovah’s Witness community and the origin of the blood transfusion taboo, how medical and legal professionals have approached this dilemma, exploring relevant ethical principles and standards for psychologists, and suggestions for how to move toward a better understanding of harm with Jehovah’s Witness families.
American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Available at: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx (accessed 5 July 2014).
2.
AndersonGR (1983) Medicine vs. religion: The case of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Health & Social Work8(1): 31–38.
3.
Associated Jehovah’s Witnesses for Reform on Blood (AJWRB) (2014) Available at: http://ajwrb.org (accessed 5 July 2014).
4.
BeauchampTL (2003) Methods and principles in biomedical ethics. Journal of Medical Ethics29(5): 269–274.
5.
BeauchampTLChildressJF (2012) Principles of Biomedical Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6.
BockGL (2012) Jehovah’s Witnesses and autonomy: Honouring the refusal of blood transfusions. Journal of Medical Ethics38(11): 652–656.
7.
BodnarukZMWongCJThomasMJ (2004) Meeting the clinical challenge of care for Jehovah’s witnesses. Transfusion Medicine Reviews18(2): 105–116.
8.
DaleHHuntN (2008) Perceived need for spiritual and religious treatment options in chronically ill individuals. Journal of Health Psychology13(5): 712–718.
9.
DwyerJG (1996) The children we abandon: Religious exemptions to child welfare and education law as denials of equal protection to children of religious objectors. North Carolina Law Review74(5): 1321–1478.
10.
ElderL (2000) Why some Jehovah’s Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy. Journal of Medical Ethics26: 375–380.
ElgerBSHardingTW (2002) Terminally ill patients and Jehovah’s Witnesses: Teaching acceptance of patients’ refusals of vital treatments. Medical Education36(5): 479–488.
14.
FoxV (1990) Caught between religion and medicine. AORN Journal52(1): 131–134, 136, 138–139, passim.
15.
HarperMG (2006) Ethical multiculturalism: An evolutionary concept analysis. Advances in Nursing Science29(2): 110–124.
16.
KnappSVandeCreekL (2007) When values of different cultures conflict: Ethical decision making in a multicultural context. Pro-fessional Psychology: Research & Practice38(6): 660–666.
17.
Linnard-PalmerLKoolsS (2004) Parents’ refusal of medical treatment based on religious and/or cultural beliefs: The law, ethical principles, and clinical implications. Pediatric Nursing19(5): 351–356.
18.
MellorSAndréJ (1980) Religious group value patterns and motive orientations. Journal of Psychology & Theology8(2): 129–139.
19.
MuramotoO (1999) Recent developments in medical care of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Western Journal of Medicine170(5): 297–301.
20.
MuramotoO (2001) Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovah’s Witnesses. British Medical Journal322(7277): 37.
21.
MuramotoO (2008) Jehovah’s Witness bioethics. In: SingerPAViensAM (eds) The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 416–423.
22.
OmanDThoresenCE (2002) “Does religion cause health?”: Differing interpretations and diverse meanings. Journal of Health Psychology7(4): 365–380.
23.
PetriniC (2014) Ethical and legal aspects of refusal of blood transfusions by Jehovah’s Witnesses, with particular reference to Italy. Blood Transfusion12(Suppl. 1): s395–s401.
ReasonP (1994) Human inquiry as discipline and practice. In: ReasonP (ed) Participation in Human Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 40–56.
26.
RosenstandN (1994) The Moral of the Story. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
27.
ScheitleCPAdamczykA (2010) High-cost religion, religious switching, and health. Journal of Health & Social Behavior51(3): 325–342.
28.
SinclairC (2012) Ethical principles, values, and codes for psychologists: An historical journey. In: LeachMMStevensMJLindsayGetal. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of International Psychological Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–18.
29.
SmithLRosenzweigLSchmidtM (2010) Best practices in the reporting of participatory action research: Embracing both the forest and the trees. Counseling Psychologist38(8): 1115–1138.
30.
VeraEMSpeightSL (2003) Multicultural competence, social justice, and counseling psychology: Expanding our roles. Counseling Psychologist31(3): 253–272.
31.
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (1981) The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. New York: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York.
32.
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (2013) About Jehovah’s Witnesses. Available at: http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/ (accessed 5 July 2014).
33.
WestJM (2014) Ethical issues in the care of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Current Opinion in Anesthesiology27(2): 170–176.
34.
WoodsTEIronsonGH (1999) Religion and spirituality in the face of illness: How cancer, cardiac, and HIV patients describe their spirituality/religiosity. Journal of Health Psychology4(3): 393–412.
35.
WoolleyS (2005) Children of Jehovah’s Witnesses and adolescent Jehovah’s Witnesses: What are their rights?Archives of Disease in Childhood90(7): 715–719.
