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Necessary and good: a literature review exploring ethical issues for online counselling with children and young people who have experienced maltreatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2020

Mary Jo McVeigh Open the ORCID record for Mary Jo McVeigh [Opens in a new window]  and
Susan Heward-Belle
Mary Jo McVeigh*
Affiliation:
CaraCare, Chief Executive Officer, Concord, NSW, Australia, 2137
Susan Heward-Belle
Affiliation:
Social Work and Policy Studies, The Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, 1 Davidson Avenue, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2006
*
Author for correspondence: Mary Jo McVeigh, Email: mjmcveigh.cara@gmail.com
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Abstract

The World Health Organization categorised the Corona virus as a public health emergency of international concern. As a result of this declaration, a raft of procedures to stem the spread of the virus to safeguard the health and safety of its citizens was enacted by the Australian Government. The promotion of social isolation and distancing were among these measures. The governmental social distancing measures put in place in Australia resulted in a curtailing of face-to-face work and moving to online service delivery for many agencies who provide counselling for children/young people who have experienced maltreatment. This article presents the findings of a review of the literature on the pertinent ethical issues in relation to online counselling. The results of the review highlighted common ethical issues discussed across the literature, with a major gap in the literature focusing on issues for children and young people and a continued privileging of the adult voice over children and young people’s needs.

Keywords

online counsellingchildrenyoung peoplemaltreatmentethics
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 45 , Special Issue 4: Special Issue: Poverty and Child Abuse , December 2020 , pp. 266 - 278
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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