2024.05 70-2 Indigenous Study of Psychologists as Witnesses: Ethical Considerations of Testifying in Court on Sexual Assault Issues
This study aimed to explore the ethical considerations of psychologists who counsel sexual assault victims and are
summoned by the court to testify. Judicial proceedings for sexual assault victims often challenge conviction of
perpetrators because of insufficient evidence. Therefore, the court regards the professional knowledge and
testimonial information of psychologists as important reinforcing evidence. Thus, they involve ethical issues of
whether to disclose and the degree of disclosure. Currently, there is no training in forensic psychology or legal
risks in the Taiwanese school curricula. Because psychologists are unfamiliar with judicial rules and ethics, they
may be at risk of making mistakes that could affect their future professional status. The ethical aspects addressed in
this study included three major ethical judgment issues: professional knowledge, informed consent, and
confidentiality. The research method adopted a grounded theory orientation. Nine interviewees with experience in
court testifying were recruited through conceptualization and snowball sampling. Data were collected using
individual interviews and qualitatively analyzed using open, axial, selective, and process coding.
The research results show that when psychologists are summoned by the court to testify, they are faced with
whether to appear in court. The decision to appear in court and the preparation involve three major ethical
judgment issues: professional knowledge, informed consent, and confidentiality. Court-summoned psychologists
have to understand the implications of their role and consider the ethics of being summoned to appear. This
decision is based on civic responsibility rather than personal will. It requires interprofessional competencies and
the ability to respond to courts and professional assessments, including knowledge of the laws regarding sexual
assault. They should consider the rights of minors' guardians and inform individual victims as much as possible to
enable them to fully understand and provide informed consent. Victims' privileged communications should be
properly used and victim information disclosed in court should be filtered. Psychologists must be loyal to the
victims' original intentions, consider their best interests, and exclude irrelevant personal privacy information.
Psychologists are also reminded to seek professional assistance when facing the court, including consulting
lawyers or receiving supervision and educational training, and being equipped with court knowledge related to
sexual assault. Psychologists testifying in court face a process of external legal obedience and an internal
conscience struggle. They defend their professionalism and develop appropriate actions. Simultaneously,
psychologists measure the objective role of maintaining neutrality and being aware of clients' motivation for
counseling.
In conclusion, psychologists have to consider external objective legal norms and their internal subjective
conscience when testifying in court and maintain a neutral and objective professional role. Finally, considering the
research findings, this study proposes a “Dual-ethical Consideration Model for Psychologists Appearing in Court”
and suggestions for future research and practice. Psychologists should accumulate different court experiences
based on the number of court appearances. We recommend discussing whether the judicial role of psychologists
has various stages of development based on the accumulation of court experience. Additionally, psychologists with
different testifying roles will also have different ethical awareness and judgment processes, which can also be
studied in depth. In practice, we recommended strengthening education and training on testifying in court,
understanding that testifying in court is a citizen's obligation, and carefully using victims' privileged
communication. Simultaneously, practical work manuals and workshops for court appearances should be
developed to assist psychologists in conducting interviews through practical guidance and exercises. They should
be prepared for the stress and circumstances of going to court.
Keywords
Ethical considerations, psychologist, sexual assault, testifying in court
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