The Counselor's “Duty to Warn”

Abstract

In the wake of the Tarasoff case in California other state courts have interpreted the legality of a helping professional's duty to warn.

Legal and Ethical implications of HIV and Duty to Warn For Counselors: Does Tarasoff Apply?

“…One of the limits imposed on confidentiality is the "duty to warn," which is a result of the Tarasoff decision (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 1976). The court held that a therapist who knew, or according to professional standards should have known, that a client posed a threat to another individual, has a duty to warn the intended victim (Gehring, 1982). Because HIV infection and AIDS are potentially life-threatening diseases, a critical question becomes whether the counselor has a duty to warn individuals who are sexually intimate with a client diagnosed with HIV infection.…”

“…A key limitation of the scope of confidentiality is the duty to warn (Gehring, 1982;Gray & Harding, 1988 Electronic Journal: To print this article select pages 29-32. TOC Lamb, Clark, Drumheller, Frizzell, & Surrey, 1989;Mappes, Robb, & Engels, 1985;Pietrofesa, Pietrofesa, & Pietrofesa, 1990).…”

“…The clarity of this legal and ethical limitation is based on an understanding of the issues in the Tarasoff decision. Tarasoff mandated three conditions sufficient to impose a duty to warn: (a) a special relationship, (b) a reasonable prediction of conduct that constituted danger, and (c) a foreseeable victim (Gehring, 1982).…”

Duty‐to‐Warn Guidelines for Mental Health Counselors

“…Three conditions existed in the Tarasoff case that led the California Supreme Court to find that the therapist had a duty to warn (Gehring, 1982). First, the court noted that generally one person does not have a duty to control the conduct of another; however, an exception exists when one person has a special relationship either to the person whose conduct needs to be controlled or to the "foreseeable" victim of that conduct (Huber & Baruth, 1987, pp.…”

“…The court found that there was clearly a threat in this case. The American Psychiatric Association challenged this condition (Gehring, 1982), claiming that therapists frequently overpredict violence and, therefore, were more wrong than right. The court stated that a reasonableness test would be used, wherein counselors' knowledge, care, and skill would be compared with other counselors with similar qualifications.…”