The paper will employ ethical concerns that surround the psychology profession in an aim to evaluate Stephen Collins’ case. Looking at Collins case, his therapy sessions were leaked, most probably by his therapist, and trickled their way into the media outlets. Psychological evaluations are supposed to be kept private and confidential by both parties involved. The American Psychological Association has an ethical principle that is required to guide psychologists in their code of conduct. The moral law gives the psychologist power to keep evaluation records in a bid to facilitate continuous services and share them with other professionals to enhance service delivery to the same patient (American Psychological Association, 2016).
In the US, each state has its policies that dictate the nature to which evaluation records should be handled. California state law provides several instances to which patient confidentiality may be revoked. The law exempts the following situations from privacy: when there is suspicion of child abuse or adult physical abuse, suspicion of violence to others, and lastly, suspicion of potential self-injurious behavior. In such stated cases, the psychologists are required by the law to break confidentiality for protection to both the individual and other involved parties. Placing this into context with Collins’ case, the psychologist was abiding by the law when he/ she leaked the evaluation material, failure to which, he/ she may have been convicted for obstruction. Therefore, the release of the tape does not violate the APA code of ethics.
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Additionally, there is a reduced likelihood that both the therapist and the media outlet would be filed for a lawsuit by Collins. This is because, as initially stated earlier regarding the APA code of ethics, there are only three instances when the psychologist is expected to waiver confidentiality. Collins confessed to getting involved with minors on multiple occasions. This translates to the first instance which states that privacy may be waivered if the patient is suspected to abuse children or physically assault elderly adults. In this case, the therapist abided by the law, hence no lawsuit. Moreover, Collins himself confessed to the allegations thereby cementing the reasonable suspicion clause in the exceptions to confidentiality law. The media outlet, on the other hand, is entitled to keep the masses informed. Getting a hold of the tape and publishing an article about it is just part of the job. The section served to inform the masses and can even be used to mobilize the alleged victims to present their sides of the story. Again, no lawsuit against the media outlet.
The APA identifies forensic psychology as a professionally trained therapist offering their expert services to the judicial system in an aim of reaching an informed conviction. In this case, the forensic psychologist is tasked with several roles that include providing the mental status of a convicted individual by assessing the presence of any mental conditions (Neal, 2016). Additional functions include evaluating whether the defendant has the mental capacity to stand a trial, may offer therapeutic services to criminals convicted of violent or sexually motivated crimes, in suicide or murder cases, the Forensic psychologist is expected to evaluate the deceased mental health records to perform a psychological autopsy. Lastly, the forensic therapist is tasked with assessing the state of mind of a criminal. This is particularly useful since for a person to be confirmed as guilty, he/ she must be proven to have the intent of committing the stated crime. The forensic psychologist comes in to ascertain that the defendant was aware of their action and they had decided to undertake the reported crime.
Looking at Collins case, a forensic psychologist will be particularly useful if he/she is tasked with the role of assessing Collins’ state of mind. As stated on the CNBC website, Collins’ therapist reported that he demonstrated narcissistic personality disorder with sociopathic tendencies. This is a clear indicator that Collins has a mental condition. At the age of 67 years, the disease is expected to worsen, thereby warranting for an assessment of his state of mind before the trial. He may or may not be in ideal shape to stand a trial.
Furthermore, the role will aid in determining whether what Collins stated in his therapy session was right or he just blabbered. This is particularly important since Collins has had a mental condition that is characterized by an inflated ego, thereby; the client may be prone to stating things that make them feel superior and full of themselves (Caligor, Levy, and Yeomans, 2015). For instance, Collins might have confessed to something he did not do when he was experiencing the narcissism tendencies to make himself feel content.
The above-stated scenarios warrant the involvement of a forensic psychologist in Collins’ trial. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is a federal body in charge of laws, regulations, and guidelines about mental health and substance use. Based on Collins’ case that blew out of scale, SAMHSA should revise the regulation that deals with patient privacy. The law should be defined in a manner that controls the flow of information from the psychologist to other relevant authorities when cases that waiver confidentiality are present. For instance, SAMHSA should be clear of the people such cases are supposed to be reported to and dictate their required course of action. Additionally, each of the third party people is expected to maintain a certain level of discrete to prevent the patient records from falling into the wrong hands, such as the media outlet.
References
American Psychological Association. (2016). Revision of Ethical Standard 3.04 of the" Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" (2002, as amended 2010). The American Psychologist , 71 (9), 900.
Caligor, E., Levy, K. N., & Yeomans, F. E. (2015). Narcissistic personality disorder: diagnostic and clinical challenges. American Journal of Psychiatry , 172 (5), 415-422.
Neal, T. M. (2016). Identifying the forensic psychologist role. The Ethical Practice of Forensic Psychology: A Casebook , 1.
