Learning About Confidentiality

Jaffee vs. Redmond was a landmark case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue of a clinical social worker's right, in federal court, to refuse to disclose information provided by a client in therapy. In 1996, the Court found in favor of the clinical social worker, and extended a broad privilege of confidentiality to certain classes of therapist (licensed social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists) and their clients.

Students and instructors at schools of social work may want to use the following materials from Jaffee v. Redmond to focus on learning about confidentiality issues:

Jaffee v. Redmond 1996 News Release (PDF)
Syllabus (PDF)
Brief (PDF)
Opinion (PDF)
Dissent (PDF)
Peter Brody, JD article (PDF)

The documents on this site may be used as instructional aids in social work practice and policy classes.