Perspectives: The struggle to maintain neutrality in the treatment of a patient with pedophilia

Ethics and Behavior 15 (2):181 – 190 (2005)
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Abstract

This article explores the ethical concept of neutrality through use of a psychiatric clinical vignette. In this case a psychiatry resident is faced with the treatment of a patient who was found by the FBI to be in possession of child pornography. Although not accused of any other crimes, the patient was a fugitive from the law and requesting treatment for pedophilia. Faced with the pressures of limited resources and anxiety about the patient's dangerousness to others, the resident and his supervisor tried to strike a balance between the ethical principles of neutrality and beneficence. Through this vignette, the importance of neutrality, as well as how it can be compromised by other pressures such as expediency and anxiety, is explored.

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References found in this work

Liberalism and the Limits of Justice.Michael J. Sandel - 1982 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Liberalism and the limits of justice.Michael Sandel - 2002 - Journal of Philosophy 81 (6):336-343.
Liberalism and the Limits of Justice.Michael J. Sandel - 1984 - Journal of Philosophy 81 (6):336-343.
Physician Value Neutrality: A Critique.Francis J. Beckwith & John F. Peppin - 2000 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 28 (1):67-77.

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