THE CULTURAL-CONTEXT OF THE AMERICAN-COUNSELING-ASSOCIATION CODE OF ETHICS

The American Counseling Association code of ethics was constructed in a particular cultural context and reflects the assumptions of that con text. Beginning with a discussion of the purposes served by ethical co des, I review 3 patterns of implicit assumptions: (a) examples of impl icit cultural bias, (b) examples of cultural encapsulation, and (c) ex amples favoring the dominant culture. Positive recommendations for dev eloping more inclusionary ethical guidelines are discussed on the basi s of case examples and the consequences of good or bad ethical practic e. The need to make underlying philosophical and cultural assumptions explicit in the Preamble to the code of ethics is clarified.