Ethical Treatment of Clerical Phedophilia

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The ethical practice of mental health must include not only the wellbeing of the patient in question, but also the physical and mental safety of the community. Although the role of a mental health practitioner must ultimately concentrate on helping the distressed individual, if this individual somehow poses a threat to those around him or her, ethical precautions must be taken. The paraphillic diagnosis of pedophilia must be handled with utmost care, as the psychiatric health of the patient is in question, as well as the mental and physical safety of possible victims around the patient.

An exploitative case study involving a Catholic priest presents a well rounded example of all the factors that must be considered in making an ethical assessment of the patient. Father X, the Catholic priest, is seeking psychiatric help in order to aid him with his powerful attraction to young men and boys. The psychiatric counseling was initially set up by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of N., who encouraged that priests use it. Having voluntarily appealed for help, Father X has never admitted his sexual deviance to any of the archdiocesan officials. He does claim that he had previously engineered opportunities to have sex with altar serves in previous postings, and that he is now struggling with an attraction to early adolescents in his current parish. He does not seem to be a predator by nature. This case is particularly interesting to ethical practitioners as it involves a variety of layers of responsibility, including responsibility to the patient, the community, and the law.

Addressing the issue of pedophilia in an ethical manner towards the patient which can often times prove to problematic, as no conclusive remedy can be offered. Acco...

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...in Howells. Adult Sexual Interest in Children. London: Academic, 1981. Print.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994. Print.

"DSM-IV-TR." PsychiatryOnline - Home. American Psychiatric Association, 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. .

Fast, Elizabeth D. "Pedophilia and Sexual Offending against Children: Theory, Assessment and Intervention by Michael C. Seto, PhD, 2007, ISBN: 1-4338-0114-0." Children and Youth Services Review (2009). Print.

Mills, Sonia Marie Perry. Psychosocial Antecedents of Sex Offender Criminality and Violence. Louisville: University of Louisville Libraries, 2004. Print.

Radden, Jennifer, and John Z. Sadler. The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Psychiatric Practice. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

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