Summary: This paper presents a critique of the ethic of confidentiality in
the personal service professions. Drawing on research in social work, medicine,
psychiatry and related fields, on philosophical professional ethics and on current
thinking in law, it argues that the idea of ‘confidentiality’
conflates a number of ends that are frequently in tension or incompatible. These
comprise personal privacy, the safety of vulnerable individuals and the wider third
party or public interest.
Findings: Professionals and the interested public should not be misled by
the traditional idea of confidentiality as constituting in itself a cardinal
principle of professional ethics. Nevertheless, difficult conflicts of interests
will still arise. It is suggested that liberal rights theory, the source of standard
professional ethical codes, is inadequate to resolve these conflicts. Professional
ethics needs to be complemented by a more communitarian view of private and public interests.
Applications: Good practice should focus on achieving the best balance of
personal privacy, the safety of vulnerable individuals and the protection of the
wider public in the context of a view of society devoted to the realization of the
communal good as much as to the defence of individual interests.
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