Conflicts Between Ethics and Law in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Codes of ethics are designed to guide and govern the behavior of the professional for whom they are written. In such fields as counseling, psychology, and social work, ethical standards are necessary to protect clients, guide professionals, safeguard the autonomy of professional workers, and enhance the status of the profession. Sometimes, however, the professional worker finds that the ethical standards of the profession seem to be in conflict with the law. These conflicts may arise in such areas as advertising, confidentiality, and clients' rights of access to their own files. The authors discuss the nature, ramifications, and implications of ethical-legal conflicts in the helping professions.     

A Semantic Network Analysis of the International Communication Association

This article examines the structure of the International Communication Association (ICA) through semantic network analysis. Semantic network analysis examines the relationships among a system's components based on the shared meanings of symbols. Galileo analysis and Quadratic Analysis Procedure revealed that the semantic network for ICA based on paper titles presented to its divisions and interest groups at its 1991 conference had a high degree of correspondence with the affiliation structure reported by Barnett and Danowski. Both networks differentiated the humanistic divisions from the scientific, the mediated from the interpersonal, and the theoretical from the applied. The results are taken to be an indication of the validity of the procedures employed for determining semantic networks. Finally, results are interpreted in regard to Human Communication Research's relationship to its parent organization, ICA.     

RELATIONSHIP OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR TO THE SOCIAL PENETRATION PROCESS1

Theoretical formulations concerning the relationship of nonverbal behavior to the social penetration processes, i.e., the development of interpersonal relations (Altman & Taylor, 1973) were examined via acted, videotaped conversations in which subjects role played good friends (GF) or casual acquaintances (CA) discussing intimate (I) or nonintimate (NI) topics. The methodological approach adopted for this study was unique in three ways. First, patterns of nonverbal behavior rather than single behaviors were the primary units of analysis. Second, data were collected during dynamic, ongoing conversations rather than from static poses or photographs. Finally, the use of a repeated measures design permitted evaluation of the importance of individual differences. Pattern analyses generally confirmed predictions: the GF by NI cell was characterized by nonverbal behavior patterns indicative of relaxation, while tense behavior patterns occurred in the CA by I cell.     

A Case Study and Balance Sheet Approach to Unemployment

The authors describe positive and negative aspects of employment and unemployment in a balance sheet framework. They also discuss the value of the balance sheet approach in understanding individual differences in reactions to unemployment.     

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice (which includes retributive and distributive justice) is most clearly satisfied by a system of Divine rewards and punishments: an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly just Being could determine in each case how much effort was made and effect the appropriate distribution of rewards and punishments. A correct understanding of social justice naturally leads us to suppose that there is an afterlife, a God, a free choice — though it is logically possible at least that social justice could be satisfied in some future (very advanced) human society. There will still be those who have their doubts about the correctness of any view according to which justice cannot be attained by fallible creatures who have an incomplete knowledge of one another's behaviour. But, surely, these doubts are not sufficient to discredit my view. There is no a priori reason for rejecting such a view. There is nothing about our use of the term ‘justice’ and its cognates which implies that such a view is mistaken. (Otherwise the statement “There is no justice in this world’ would be meaningless.) To the contrary, there are widely held religious views, Christian as well as non-Christian, which take this view quite seriously. If there is no a priori reason for rejecting this view, then there must be some independent reason for rejecting it. In other words, we need some independent reasons for believing that social justice can be attained by fallible creatures with limited knowledge. The mere fact that we might feel uncomfortable with my theory is not reason enough to reject it. Finally, those who do experience this discomfort might ask themselves whether such discomfort stems from their moral experience or whether they are simply intent on finding justice in imperfect human institutions.