Strategies and Model of Managing a Sexually Assaulted Individual

Ethical Issues in Counselor Education and Supervision During Documentation

One of the current issues in counselor education and supervision relates to the rising cases of sexual assault on college and campuses. This issue has attracted the 'Take Back the Night' events, and the 'No means No' educative campaigns. Today, many students fall victim of college sexual assault. Sexual violence and aggravate sexual assaults have affected the performance of many innocent students in schools. Cases related to such incidences often go unmentioned because the majority of the victims fear victimization or embarrassment (Finley & Lenz, 2005). This has made the issue appear like a norm or a culture because almost all the colleges and campuses around the globe experience sexual violence and sexual assaults frequently.

Often, at least every person who went to a college or campus will tell a story about sexual assault involving a friend or an acquaintance while in school. As a result, it has become a matter of concern with many counselors trying to establish the causes and effects of this problem. A story is told of a Columbia University student who had graduated in May. She spent almost all of her senior year in school carrying her mattress everywhere she went on campus. She did this to bring to the limelight the dorm room bed where she claims she was raped when she was a sophomore. Furthermore, the victim had nothing against perpetrator: he was allowed to be on the campus and continue with his studies without any action being taken. This case represents many of the youths who suffer or encounter instances of sexual harassment and sexual assault while in schools. It is disheartening that many of the cases unreported or no action is taken even when reported to the relevant authorities.

Debates and discussions have been conducted on how to halt this problem of campus and college sexual assault. Many of the involved researchers do not even know how often sexual assault takes place on many campuses and colleges in globally or even the U.S. alone. It has been shown that one in every five college students has faced the scare and act of sexual assault. According to the 2014 Department of Justice report made from one thousand interviewed students, 0.6% of the female students have faced the wrath of sexual assault. Further research done and posted in the Washington Post-Kaiser indicates that one in every five of the female students, randomly selected; have been sexually assaulted while in the college. The types of sexual assault under focus touched on all manner of sexual and unisexual misuses that students were forcefully made to engage in by other members of the opposite and same sex (Seligman, 1996).

Such differing research results have had a variation in the nature of analysis and conclusions made about sexual assault in colleges and campuses. With no consideration of the numbers, few will consider and say that every single assault is as good as many sexual assaults. Many counsellors believe that there is a need to focus on its awareness besides universal cultural and behavioural change among the people as a way of reducing the number of sexual assault in colleges and campuses. This difficult task needs time and resources to materialize. Many researchers working in this field believe that student involvement in creating awareness, education sessions, and theatre activities on sexual violence in campuses and colleges is a functional and essential strategy (Corey et, al., 2007). Such strategies have the sole possibility of bringing lasting change and hence the solutions to sexual assault of students in campuses and colleges.

For many decades, the measures adopted are central to the individual women and men, and their respective avenues and ways of ensuring that to evade every possibility of being assaulted. Limited attention has been given to the measures that can be used to prevent incidences of sexual assault in the society today. The onus has been placed on individuals to take requisite measures that will help them to prevent being involved in sexual assault. Limited attention on the perpetrators and possible perpetrators together with possible ways of stopping them from engaging in sexual assault is evident. Women are the most affected individuals when it comes to sexual assault in colleges and campuses. Although there are fewer reports on men counterparts who fall, a victim of sexual assault, women are and remain as the prime targets (Finley & Lenz, 2005).

Men are the individuals who are taken as the possible perpetrators of this crime. As such, a study has been done to investigate the attitudes and behaviors of men while in the colleges and campuses. Nonetheless, the study depicted that most of the men are not even conversant with the issues affecting men, one of them being sexual assault. According to studies, many men gave shocking news that many of the women who fall, victim, if sexual assault always 'let themselves' into the act by 'asking for it.' Many of the men changed their attitudes after periods of short-term education and sensitization on this issue. Nonetheless, most of these men did not have a change their behavior. Men are the central force that can perpetuate or stop the occurrences of sexual assault in campuses and colleges. Women also play critical parts in building avenues that create awareness and sensitization over the dangers of involving in criminal activities like sexual assault (Seligman, 1996).

Brittany Talley, the coordinator of the Campus Violence Prevention Program working at Southeast Missouri State University, shows that women suffer from sexual assault because of the great misunderstanding among men on what really constitutes sexual assault among women. Talley advocates that men have to know that women involvement in sexual activities with men does not depend on the nature of the dressing style. Women have an innate decision to make regarding their sex partners. This does not become an obvious act to men who are ready to take advantage of this and hence make it an obvious thing to get women in sexual interactions (Aasheim, 2012). There is much misunderstanding among both men and women on this crisis of sexual assault on women and on men.

Some factors specific to what men do even passively contribute sexual assault on women. Alcoholism and use of other drugs have been stated as one of the key factors that have turned many men to engage in the sexual assault of women and even their male partners. Drug use and abuse interfere with the normal behavior and attitude of men and hence makes them engage in criminal activities like sexual assault on women. Often, many women have stated that the individuals who have assaulted sexually are their close friends with some of them even being their close friends in a relationship (Goss & Anthony, 2003). Drug abuse among men is largely to blame for this. Drug use and abuse also put women in uncompromising situations that make them fall victims of sexual assault. Therefore, it becomes a clear fact that sexual assault in colleges and campuses is a tall order to control and eliminate after some time. Direct avenues showing how the perpetrators can be punished are lacking (Mitchell & American Counselling Association, 2007).

To have a stoppage to this unethical issue, many counselors have tried a myriad ways for alleviating the occurrence of sexual assault on women and men in colleges and campuses. Counselors use some educational processes that try to reduce occurrences of sexual assault. Nonetheless, with the intertwined understandings that surround this unethical issue, counselor education and supervision has been a tough task in trying to alleviate this menace (Seligman, 1996). Supervision of the occurrences is a tall order that requires close interaction and follow up measures. In most cases, sexual assault has been a matter of national concern and hence attracted several legislative measures formulated and implemented towards controlling the occurrence of sexual assault on women and men in colleges and campuses. Nonetheless, the processes of implementation have not been a smooth undertaking since it has been faced with myriad challenges (Finley & Lenz, 2005).

Counselor education on sexual assault requires the participation of many stakeholders and individual students to have a solution that will last for some time. While seeking to limit the instances of this problem from happening, it is critical to consider the needs of students while in schools. Besides, aspects like the challenges they are facing and the possible behaviours promoting the occurrence of sexual assault and other behaviours must also be considered. Sexual assault in colleges and campuses will remain a nightmare if counselor education is not done in order. Moreover, close monitoring and supervision has to be done to alleviate and safe victims who fall victims of this unethical act.

Legal and ethical issues in counselor education in regards to documentation

Documentation in counseling refers to taking records of the counseling processes and procedures mostly through tape- recording or writing. Counseling is the procedure that fosters the understanding of the client, administer diagnostic responses, and monitor the outcome that is realized after the implementation of the set strategies. It is critical to have every undertaking recorded for future reference. After recording as a documentation strategy, storage of these materials needs to be done in a procedural manner as the actions in them take place. Documentation plays a critical role in bringing peace of mind among counselors and every individual involved in the counseling process. Before counseling takes place, the necessary steps to be taken have to be documented and hence followed as strategies of implementation. In counseling, as done in healthcare, failure to a document means that the activity was never done, or nothing took place (Mitchell & American Counselling Association, 2007).

Every undertaking in the process of counseling has to be done in a procedural manner, a procedure that is pre-established and put in records in either the form of writing or any other visible and tangible manner. Failure to document is a dangerous risk. Failure to document results in failure to observe the right ethics and legal procedures that are necessary for counseling and counselor education. For instance, when a counselor fails to document, he or she faces a likely prosecution upon being sued. When one is charged, the notes that must have been taken will be taken in as forms of evidence. Failure to have good records of the sessions taken with the clients together with everything that took place can be very detrimental to the counselor in a lawsuit (Kitchener, 1984).

Such basics should be considered when documenting a counselor or during a supervision process. The document should have a purpose of the counseling that has been clearly defined. The documentation should be flexible to fit the nature of style and the character posed by each client upon the desired relationship. The documentation should respect the client by viewing them as unique, distinct in values, complex in nature, attitudes, and beliefs (Mitchell & American Counselling Association, 2007). The documentation should also communicate its respective message in an open manner. It should convey a two-way communication with the respected client. It should make use of the spoken language besides gestures, non-verbal activities, and body language. Moreover, the documentation process should have counselors doing more listening than just speaking. Furthermore, the documentation should offer to support the client in his actions as it tries to handle the available problems in place (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2003).