Ethical Dilemma Case Study of Mark Ethical Dilemma: Case Study of Mark

Because Mark provides services to low-income clients that are often free of charge and then basically over-charges and is very tough with clients who have more money, he may be in violation of the ethical code of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Most notably, he should consult with other counselors in order to determine whether what he is doing is acceptable or whether he is going against professional ethics by charging affluent clients more money to make up for charging less affluent clients little to nothing. Section H.2.d of the ACA Code of Ethics says, in part, that "when uncertain as to whether a particular situation or course of action may be in violation…," counselors are to consult with other counselors,...

It is possible that mark is completely convinced that what he is doing is acceptable and correct, so he does not feel uncertain. However, most individuals would likely assume that it is not entirely ethical to charge some people more money to make up for charging others less.
On the other hand, Mark has to consider that he is doing a service that is very important for the people who do not have much money. Clearly, they need the counseling or they would not keep coming to him for help. Despite that, the real ethical dilemma, which is not specifically addressed by the ACA Code, is that Mark is charging others more to offset charging low-income people less. That, in and of itself, is at the crux of the problem, as opposed to the problem simply stemming from allowing the low-income people to "get away with" not paying. Because that is the case, what Mark (and other counselors like him) should consider is how to make up the money lost from the low-income counseling in such a way that higher-income clients are not affected. That is very important, and is something he could discuss with other counselors when he addressed his uncertainty with the way he was handling the income/money issue for all…