Digital, online, and other electronic technology has transformed the nature of social work practice. Contemporary social workers can provide services to clients by using online counseling, telephone counseling, video counseling, cybertherapy (avatar therapy), self-guided Web-based interventions, electronic social networks, e-mail, and text…

The author addresses the risks and benefits of incorporating therapeutic e-mail communication into clinical social work practice. Consumer demand for online clinical services is growing faster than the professional response. E-mail, when used as an adjunct to traditional meetings with clients, offers distinct advantages and risks. Benefits include…

Often faced with ethical challenges that may appear extraordinary, military social workers comprise a distinctive subgroup of the social work profession. From the unique paradigms in which they practice their craft, obvious questions about how military social workers address the ethical challenges inherent to their wartime mission arise. Using a…

Examines nature of fiduciary relationships between social workers and clients, and describes ways they shape professional conduct. Reviews cases that have contributed to evolution of fiduciary principles in helping professions, and discusses significance of these cases for social work practice. Sees confidentiality, informed consent, and conflict…

Discusses the Supreme Court's 1996 decision in "Jaffee v. Redmond" and its importance for the social work profession. Maintains that the Court's establishment of a psychotherapy privilege acknowledges the importance of confidentiality in the psychotherapeutic relationship. (GCP)

Discusses critical ethical issues for social workers concerning Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS): (1) mandatory testing for AIDS; (2) the confidentiality of information related to AIDS; and (3) the delivery of services to persons with AIDS, their families, and their partners. (ABL)

Assessed conditions under which clinicians might consider breaking patient-therapist confidentiality, using vignettes of clinical situations. Social workers were more likely than their counterparts in psychiatry and psychology to report that they would breach confidences when confronting specified clinical situations, with older social workers…

Results of a survey that questioned police social workers regarding the protection of client confidentiality in police settings revealed several problems related to the unique character of the setting and to the identification of social workers with the goals and practices of police. Results raise questions about the protection of client…

The author contends that there are numerous ways computers might be utilized in social work, particularly in counseling. However, the problem of confidentiality and the need for restrictions against the unethical use of computers must be carefully examined. (Author)

Why would mental health clients sign release-of-information forms unless they thought a refusal to do so would jeopardize their access to service? The author believes that the practice of not advising clients of their rights to privacy has ethical implications that can compromise the value of the treatment. (Author)

Mental health facilities that feed data about their patients into computers should be careful to follow civil liberties standards and those of professional ethics, so that they do not unwittingly contribute to unathorized breaches of privacy. (Authors)

Discusses the increasing legal regulation of social workers' professional obligation to client confidentiality which means that social workers no longer can rely solely on an ethical commitment to maintaining client privacy. Contends social workers must learn to read and interpret applicable statutes and court decisions both for protection of…

Discusses social workers' obligations in cases where clients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pose threat to third party, emphasizing cases where client diagnosed with AIDS withholds that information from sexual partner. Reviews legal and ethical issues concerning limits of confidentiality and social worker's "duty to protect" third…

With the growing demands from insurance companies, employers, review boards, and the like for information from personal health care records, how much assurance can a helping professional give clients that what he tells them will be kept confidential? The author alerts practitioners to the conflicts that threaten confidentiality. (Author)

Discusses the implications of Jaffee v. Redmond--a case involving privileged communication between counselor and client--for social workers involved in federal and nonfederal cases, for those who practice with Native Americans, and for those who practice in federal prisons. Discusses the positive and the negative implications of the decision. (RJM)