For example, counselors may be required to appear as.
witnesses in litigation hearings or, what would be the greater concern, may be charged with malpractice, if the counselor is accused of unethical action. They argue that the latter is somewhat avoidable if counselors practice ethical decision making.
Researchers, educators, and practitioners seem to have understood this necessity and, thus, over the years have proposed a variety of models to aid counselors in ethical decision making. A traditional model is one disseminated by ACA (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1995), which can be categorized as a rational model based on an analysis of the ethical principles involved in a dilemma. Some models offered by ethics scholars include Jordan and Meara's (1995) Virtue Ethics Model, Cottone's (2001) Social Constructivism Model, Davis's (1997) Collaborative Model, and Tarvydas's (1998) Integrative Model. A brief review of whether or not these models contain a specific analysis of cultural aspects that may play a role in ethical dilemma resolution is provided.
Rational Model .
This type of model is based primarily on principle ethics (Kitchener, 1984). Once the principles in conflict have been identified, the professional chooses the best course of action. This choice is based on a rational evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing one course of action over another. In following this model, a professional must use rational justification to choose which of the conflicting ethical principles should prevail (Bersoff, 1996). The essentials of this model have been described by Forester-Miller and Davis (1995) in these seven steps: (a) identify the problem, (b) refer to the code of ethics and professional guidelines, (c) determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma, (d) generate potential courses of action, (e) consider the potential consequences of all options and then choose a course of action, (f) evaluate the course of action, and (g) implement the course of action.