An Analysis of Counseling Case Study

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Ethical Counseling

The key legal and ethical issues

Using of 7 stage ethical decision-making model

Demonstration of developmental and cultural sensitivity while addressing legal and ethical issues

Personal values and beliefs that may influence Councilor's reactions to this case

The key legal and ethical issues

There are a number of key legal and ethical issues in the case that is being discussed. We first try and understand what we mean by an ethical issue. The systemizing, defending and recommending the ideas about what is right and what is wrong is called ethics. Since ethics deal with the norms of human conduct and behavior, ethics is also considered to be a branch of philosophy that is concerned with normative science (Boylan, 2000). A concept of an individual about the right or wrong behavior or actions and the consequent identification of the resultant actions as moral or immoral is described as ethics (Boylan, 2000).

In the case at hand, the definition of ethics fits well where there is a dilemma of following what is right to do and doing otherwise. Bobby can be accused of having been unethical as well as doing something illegal on a number of occasions. It is perfectly legal and even ethical for Bobby to not to have disclosed his HIV-positive status to anybody except to his counselor is acceptable. He is not bound by law to disclose his HIV-positive status to anyone or can do so according to his choice. It is also ethically correct as it is his right to choose whom to disclose or not disclose at all as long as it does not cause any harm to anyone.

However, given the societal norms that alcoholism and taking drugs is unethical, Bobby has been found to have violated this ethical norm twice in his life - once on an earlier occasion when he was in his twenties and at the present moment. He had not taken drugs or even alcohol for the last 15 years, and since he had been affected by the problem over the year, it was unethical on his part to have again started the habit. More so, since he had kept himself out of the habit for a long time now.

Additionally, he had resorted to consuming alcohol and smoking marijuana for more than a month and had not disclosed the matter to the counselor. This is unethical as the counselor presumably has complete faith in Bobby and the course of his counseling dependent on the information that he gives to the counselor. Another unethical and potentially leg issue is his drinking while he was at work in recent days. While drinking at work is both unethical and illegal, the unethical aspect is aggravated as he is supposed to take care of adolescent children but has been drinking while he is doing so.

The last but not least ethical issue in the case at hand is Bobby not disclosing his HIV-positive status to his girlfriend with who he expects to have sex soon. HIV is not only terminal but can easily be transmitted from Bobby to his girlfriend through unprotected sex. The girl has every ethical right not to be infected through Bobby and has a choice to engage in sex after she comes to know of his HIV status. Bobby's decision to tell her about his HIV-positive status "when the time is right" is highly unethical as he is suppressing information about a very dangerous disease that he has and which can be easily transmitted over to his girlfriend (Leong, 2008).

In terms of legality, Bobby can be accused of breaking the law at least twice in his life. The first one was when he was younger and used to take drugs in his twenties. Consumption and dealing in any form of banned substances such as drugs and marijuana is strictly illegal in all countries of the world -- apart from being very ethical wrong. Bobby has again most recently started consuming marijuana which is also a banned for consumption and anyone dealing with it or caught with it is sure to get convicted to a jail sentence ("Controlled Substances Act," 2016).

Using of 7 stage ethical decision-making model

For this section, we examine the above mentioned ethical issues according to the Seven-step guide to ethical decision-making as proposed by Michael Davis in 1999 in his book titled "Ethics and the University." The model has the following stages:

State the problem -- the ethical issue is presented in this first stage.

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In the case of bobby his taking drugs, his suppressions of the fact from the counselor, his drinking at work and his not telling his girlfriend about his HIV-positive status are stated here. These issues are unethical and troublesome (Davis, 1999).

Check facts -- Davis suggests the many problems change radically while others disappear when upon close examination of the situation. In bobby's case, however, the problems and the sense of discomfort persists even after close examination of the potential situations for Bobby having done so on three occasions.

Identify relevant factors -- the factors in the four instances all are related o another individual and in all the instances Bobby can be alleged to have been unethical. On at least two occasions -- smoking marijuana and drinking at work, can be illegal also. He has definitely broken the professional code of ethical conduct while drinking at work and he seemed not under any circumstances to have started consuming alcohol or smoking marijuana. However, he has been anxious ever since he met his girlfriend and has recently been tormented by his childhood memories of abuse.

However, it is not clear whether he started drinking and smoking marijuana after these happened of these happened after he started drinking and smoking. Except for the state of Colorado, all other states in the U.S. have strong legislations against the use of marijuana as a narcotic substance though most of the states allow it to be used for medical purposes under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. But since Bobby had been using marijuana as a means to get intoxicated and relieve stress and since it had not been under any medical supervision, he stands significant chance of being held guilty under the act and liable to be fined or imprisoned or both ("Controlled Substances Act," 2016).

Develop list of options -- Bobby's anxiety about his new girlfriend could have easily been shared with his counselor who could have given him advice on how to deal with it. He could have easily avoided drinking at work and instead taken recourse in advice from the counselor. Bobby should have made his girlfriend known about his HIV-positive status as soon as he realized that there could be a sexual relationship between them. He should have directly talked to the girl. Bobby could have even visited a general physician to get some stress relieving pills for his anxiety and memories of his tormented past (Leong, 2008).

Test options. The following tests are used:

harm test -- the options that were chosen by Bobby instead of the possible alternatives does cause harm to himself and has the potential to cause harm to his girlfriend. His drinking at work can cause harm to the children he is supposed to care for. The use of alcohol has known medical implications and its regular and extended use can cause a number of medical ailments like liver and heart problems for Bobby. His smoking of marijuana has the potential to harm his nervous systems. Additionally, Bobby also runs the risk of harming others as he would be in an intoxicated state after consuming alcohol and smoking marijuana and potentially much less aware of what happens around him. Bobby also stands a high chance of transmitting HIV germs to his girlfriend if he does not have safe sex which has a chance of happening.

publicity test -- it is most certain Bobby would not have liked his choice of alternative to being publicized and that is the reason he chose not to disclose them to his counselor earlier and only did so when he was caught with alcohol breath. He also would not have liked his HIV status publicized to the outside world (Davis, 1999).

defensibility test -- I bobby certainly could not defend his choice of options of resuming drinking and smoking to any peer or congressional committee. Bobby would definitely find it hard to justify him taking to drinking and smoking marijuana to relieve his stress and anxiety caused after he met his girlfriend. He can definitely put up any credible and acceptable defense for him drinking at work. Moreover, he would be reprimanded more since he is entrusted to look after children and getting drunk at work can definitely put the safety and security of the children at risk. He could, however, put up a defense about him not informing his girlfriend about his HIV status on the pretext that it could have put the girl.....

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