The Case Tarasoff V. Regents

1565 Words4 Pages

Since the Tarasoff case, duty to warn and duty to protect has become an important role for psychologists and social workers. A psychologist has an ethical obligation provide clients with confidentiality. They are also required to know and understand when to break confidentiality if during their services, a patient claims harm to himself/ herself, or others. The case Tarasoff v. Regents was about Tatiana Tarasoff whom was killed by Prosenjit Poddar who has displayed a verbal desire to kill her to a psychologist from University of California. Podder was receiving therapy from Dr. Lawrence Moore around and he has mentioned his desire to kill her to Dr. Moore. Eventually, Poddar killed Tatiana Tarasoff. This incident led to the case that focused on duty to warn and protect which has changed the field in psychology and its legal and ethical obligations when there is a chance of harm or danger to another human being. The Tarasoff case has a major impact on psychology and the ethical guidelines that every psychologist must follow. Ethical and legal standards protect the …show more content…

As future school psychologists, it is important to understand the legal and ethical liabilities when dealing with clients. In this case, understanding and applying confidentiality, duty to warn and duty to protect shows the importance of the career field and what is required. Understanding how important confidentiality is in order to maintain a relationship with a client if very important. It is also very important to understand when it is necessary to breach confidentiality without being held legally and ethically responsible. When it comes to safety of others, a psychologist is legally and ethically liable to report the threat and warn anyone that is possibly in danger. This case shows how important it is to warn those in danger and the consequences when duty to warn and protect is neglected as it was in the Tatiana Tarasoff

Open Document