The Limits of Confidentiality and of the Right to Privacy

Abstract

Social work acts at within the public and private fields. From an ethical point of view, the first one is governed by the society's right to information and the social worker's obligation for transparency. The second one is the beneficiary's right to private life and the social worker's obligation of confidentiality. The two sets of competing rights and obligations define the dual nature of social work to act both in the public sphere, as well as the private one. Starting from the case of Tarasoff, the American instances stated that the obligation of the therapist to protect the possible victims is a priority to that of confidentiality. The current chapter follows the meaning of this obligation in the practice of social work, as well as the clarification of the importance and limits of applicability of the principle of confidentiality in social work.