title: Ethics and the treatment of sexual offenders.
abstract: Clinicians in sex offender treatment programs always encounter the need to balance the best interests of sex offenders and the safety needs of the community. The protection of the community often takes primacy, resulting in violation of traditional mental health codes of ethics. These ethical dilemmas have generated debates in the academic community. To minimize ethical dilemmas, clinicians in sex offender treatment programs need to acknowledge the conflicts, adhere to safeguards, and thoughtfully address the challenges with profession-specific ethical values and codes. This article reviews ethical principles in relation to conceptualization of sex offenders and their assessment and treatment and research involving sex offenders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Mansfield
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mela
authors.affiliation: Divisions of Forensic Psychiatry and Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa and the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: ag.ahmed@theroyal.ca.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting / Q000941:ethics; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D011634:Public Health / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Confidentiality circle; Consent; Dual agency; Ethics; Sex offenders; Treatment