Care and justice: an analysis of the ethical decisions of counsellors
| dc.contributor.author | Dempsey, Susan D. | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Peavy, R. Vance | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-06-20T00:23:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-06-20T00:23:54Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1994 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Psychological Foundations in Education | |
| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to examine and understand, through semi-structured interviews, the experience of counsellors facing difficult ethical decisions in their work. Four professional counsellors (two male, two female) were interviewed and their stories of ethical conflict were interpreted using "A Guide to Reading Narratives of Conflict and Choice for Self and Moral Voice" (Brown et. al, 1988), which is based on the theory developed by Gilligan ( 1977), that provides the two perspectives of justice and care as a framework for understanding moral reasoning. These two perspectives refer to modes of thinking that focus on rules, principles and abstract thinking (justice); and connection, interdependence and contextual thinking (care). Although much of the research to this time has attempted to discover whether men and women each primarily adopt justice and care perspectives respectively, this study has not shown that to be true. I discovered both perspectives to be indicated in the stories of ethical conflict, with individual variations on focus, importance, and interplay of the two. Some primary themes that were revealed by these interviews included struggling between justice (honouring the rights of individuals) and care (making sure specific people are safe), balancing care for others with care of self, and attempting to adhere to bottom line rules when the situation may require different actions. Most dilemmas were 'solved' at the time, with the conflict arising in reaction to feelings about actions or outcome, or on reflection at a later date. This research has revealed a framework within which ethics could be taught to counselling students, and offered to professional counsellors as a component of professional development, in order to enhance the general quality of counsellors' decisions within the field. Writings from feminist scholars in the field of counselling and moral philosophy have added greatly to the understanding of the roles of care and justice in ethical decision making, and of innovative ways in which to advance the awareness of ethics in the counselling field. Future studies are required to address the experience of individuals who come from other cultures. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/22414 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.title | Care and justice: an analysis of the ethical decisions of counsellors | |
| dc.type | Thesis |