Ethical Guidelines for Providing Court-Ordered Outpatient Psychotherapy to Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

Court-ordered outpatient psychotherapy (COT) for juvenile offenders is a complex practice area. Given the legal classification of juveniles as minors, children and adolescents are considered a vulnerable population; it is the responsibility of mental health professionals to advocate for their best interest. However, there have been few explorations of the ethical issues involved for those who wish to practice with this population. We explore the unique ethical considerations involved when offering COT to juvenile offenders and offer guidelines to assist practitioners in exploring and addressing these ethical issues.

Keywords:

• ethics
• ethical decision making
• therapy
• court-ordered
• juveniles