Ethical Dilemmas Related to Counseling Clients Living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This study tested an eight-factor model of client actions/decisions in terms of the extent to which professionals counseling persons with HIV/AIDS believed that those actions/decisions presented ethical dilemmas, and the frequency with which they encountered such actions. A confirmatory factor analysis lent initial support for the hypothetical eight-factor ethical-dilemma model for the ratings regarding the extent to which the participants believed those items constituted ethical dilemmas. Similar results were obtained for the frequency ratings, but in this case a second, competing model was equally plausible. Several significant predictors of participant ratings were found and are discussed.

A Transcultural Integrative Model for Ethical Decision Making in Counseling

“…However, a point can be made about its potential applicability in a variety of settings. Garcia et al (1999) conducted a confirmatory factor analysis study that showed the complexity of ethical dilemmas faced by counselors working with HIV/AIDS populations. They found that counselor ratings of the dilemmas loaded onto eight categories, namely, disclosure, family/social, legal, health, death, vocational, sexual, and counselor/client relationship issues.…”