Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 Ethical and Legal Aspects of Working with Groups Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

2. Roadmap • Ethics Defined • Dominant Values of Ethics • Code of Ethics • Major Ethical Issues in Group Work • Making Ethical Decisions • Promoting Ethical Principles in Groups • Legal Issues in Groups

3. Ethics • Suggested standards of conduct based on a set of professional values (Gladding, 2011) • To behave ethically is to act in a professionally acceptable manner based on professional values. • All ethical issues involve values as grounds for decision-making.

4. Dominant Values of Ethics • Autonomy • Beneficence • Nonmaleficence • Justice • Fidelity • Veracity

5. Autonomy • Promotion of self-determination • Power to choose one’s own direction in life • In groups, it is important that members feel they have a right to make their own decisions.

6. Beneficence • Promoting the good of others • In groups, it is assumed that leaders and members will work hard for the betterment of the group as a whole.

7. Nonmaleficence • Avoiding doing harm • Members of groups must be sure the changes they make in themselves and the help they offer others are not going to be damaging.

8. Justice • Fairness • Equal treatment of all people • Implies that everyone’s welfare is promoted and that visible differences in people, such as gender or race, do not interfere with the way they are treated

9. Fidelity • Loyalty • Duty • Keeping promises and honoring commitments • In group work, it involves stating up from what the group will focus on and then keeping the pledge

10. Veracity • Truthfulness • In group work, veracity is important in all phases of the group’s development.

11. Code of Ethics • Set of standards and principles that organizations create to provide guidelines for their members to follow in working with the public and with one another. • Constantly evolving • Best Practice Guidelines of the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW, 2007) • Important that group leaders be aware of codes, standards, and guidelines related to group work.

12. Major Ethical Issues in Group Work • Training of Group Leaders • Screening of Potential Group Members (e.g., informed consent statement) • Rights of Group Members (e.g., confidentiality, involuntary group) • Personal Relationships Between Group Members and Leaders (e.g., dual/multiple relationships) • Personal Relationships Among Group Members

13. Major Ethical Issues in Group Work • Uses of Group Techniques • Leaders’ Values • Referrals • Records • Closings and Follow-Up

14. Making Ethical Decisions • Make ethical decisions according to both principle ethics and virtue ethics • Use specific steps as a guideline

15. Principle and Virtue Ethics • Principle Ethics • Based on obligations • Focus on finding socially and historically acceptable answers to questions (Corey et al., 2015, p. 10) • Virtue Ethics • Focus on the “character traits of the counselor and nonobligatory ideals to which professionals aspire” • Am I doing what is in the best interest of my client? (Corey et al., 2015, p. 10)

16. A-B-C-D-E Worksheet • Assessment • Benefit • Consequence • Consultation • Duty • Education

17. Promoting Ethical Principles in Groups • Training Group Leaders • Continuing Education and Peer Supervision • Continuing Education Units (CEUs) • Peer Supervision

18. Legal Issues in Groups • Law – A body of “agreed-upon rules of a society that set forth the basic principles for living together as a group. • “Laws can be general or specific regarding both what is required and what is allowed of individuals who form a governmental entity” (Remley & Herlihy, 2014, p. 4) • Successful group leaders are aware of “community standards, legal limitations to work, and state laws” (Ohlsen et al., 1988, p. 391)

19. Actions to Prevent Lawsuits • Screening to reject inappropriate potential group members • Spending extra time at the beginning of the first group session to discuss group rules and group members’ responsibilities • Following the ethical codes of professional organizations to which one belongs • Practicing only those theories and techniques in which one has actual expertise • Obtaining consent or contracts in writing from members (or, case of minors, their parents)

20. Actions to Prevent Lawsuits • Warning members about the importance of confidentiality and the exceptions in which member confidentiality will have to be broken • Staying abreast of recent research, theory, and practice techniques within one’s specialty • Empowering members to evaluate their own progress and be in charge of their own progress • Obtaining regular peer supervision of one’s work • Following billing regulations and record-keeping practices to the letter of the law (Corey et al., 2015; Paradise & Kirby, 1990; Van Hoose& Kottler, 1985; Wheeler & Bertram, 2015)

21. Malpractice Suits in Group Work • Unintentional civil liability • Lack of intent to cause harm. • Most malpractice suits in group work center around it

22. Malpractice Suits in Group Work • Intentional civil liability cases include situations in which there are issues regarding the following: • Battery (unconsented touching of a person) • Defamation (injury to one’s character or reputation either through verbal [slander] or written [libel] means • Invasion of privacy (violation of the right to be left alone) • Infliction of mental distress (outrageous behavior on the part of the therapist

23. Professional Liability Insurance • Insurance designed specifically to protect a group worker from financial loss in case of a civil suit • Professionals who work with groups should carry it.