Children, Ethics, and the Law

Koocher and Keith-Spiegel introduce the reader to a variety of ethical and legal dilemmas that may arise for mental-health professionals working with children, adolescents, and their families. They offer advice on how to analyze problematic situations and arrive at appropriate decisions. A unique feature of the book is the inclusion of more than 130 vignettes drawn from court decisions and actual clinical incidents. Covering such topics as counseling in schools, psychotherapy in private practice, research in university laboratories, and testifying in court, the authors address a broad spectrum of concerns for professionals who attend to the mental health needs of children. Gerald P. Koocher is chief psychologist at Boston's Children's Hospital and an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. He is editor of the journal Ethics and Behavior and coauthor, with John E. O'Malley, ofThe Damocles Syndrome: Psycho-social Consequences of Surviving Childhood Cancer.

Patricia C. Keith-Spiegel is Reed Voran Honors Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Ball State University. She collaborated with Koocher on an earlier work, Ethics in Psychology: Standards and Cases.