Assignment text: Summarize your state case law and statutes related to the Tarasoff decision. If you are an international student or if Tarasoff does not apply in your state, summarize your region’s case law and statutes as they relate to “duty to warn” and/or “duty to protect.”

For this assignment, you are required to research ethical challenges related to issues of confidentiality in relation to the Tarasoff decision (see your Week 4 Resources in Blackboard).

This guide will help you develop the skills needed to find case laws or statutes related to duty to warn or duty to protect.

By the end of this guide, you will  be able to:

• use Nexis Uni to search for statutes to a specific jurisdiction
• use Nexis Uni to search for case law to a specific jurisdiction
• locate case laws using Google Scholar
• explore your state board website for laws and statutes

More Information

Statutes are written laws that have been passed by legislative bodies. Use the following steps to locate information on state statutes and regulations.

1.  On the Library homepage, click on Databases A-Z. 
   
   
    
2. Click on N and scroll down to Nexis Uni. Log in with your myWalden email and password. 
3. In the search box enter: 
   
   "duty to warn" OR "duty to protect" OR "duty to report"
   
   Note: The quotes tell the database that you want exactly those terms you have entered.
    
4. Click on the drop-down menu to the right of the search box and in the Category tab, select Statutes and Legislation.
   
   
    
5. Click on the drop-down menu to the right of the search box and in the Jurisdiction tab, select your state.
   
   
    
6. Click Search.
7. You can attempt to narrow your results even further by using one of the terms below and entering the term into the search box next to Search within results:
    
   • Psychotherapist
   • Psychiatrist
   • Tarasoff
   • Mental health
   
   
    
8.  When you view an article, the terms that you searched for will be highlighted as in the example below.
   
   

Google Scholar will also allow you to search case laws. Please note that Google Scholar is limited to case law and may not provide a direct history of a case. The following steps will walk you through the process.

1. Go to Google Scholar.
2. Under the search box click  Case law and then click Select courts.
   
   
    
3. From the list that appears, click the check mark boxes next to your state and the corresponding courts. Then click Done.
   
   
    
4. You will now be directed to the search box. Type in the suggested keywords below related to your topic. Click Search and explore your results.
   
   Suggested keywords:
   
    "duty to warn" OR "duty to protect" OR "duty to report"
   
   
    
5. Using the Limiters on the left side of the page, you can narrow your results further by date, jurisdiction, etc.
    

More Information

Another way to explore state laws and statutes is through state board websites. On the National Board for Certified Counselors website, you will see a map like the one pictured below.  Click on the map to select your state. 

After selecting your state you will see a page like the one below.  To access your state's board information, click on the Website link.

NOTE*** Each state has its own website so they will all look different.  In order to find legislation or statutes for your state, you will need to explore the website.

Some words to look for to find legislation and statutes for your state are:

• Rules
• Regulations
• Laws
• Statutes

Again, once you find and select the link for your state's laws, you will need to do some exploring to find information about duty to warn, duty to protect, or duty to report.  Each state and each website will list this information in its own way and with its own language.

Below are some words to look for:

• Confidentiality
• Duty to Report
• Duty to Warn
• Duty To Protect
• Mandatory Reporting

Your assignment indicates that you may, "summarize your region’s case law and statutes as they relate to 'duty to warn' and/or 'duty to protect.' For your search, you will want to try a basic search in Google.

1. Go to Google. 
2. Type your search terms in the search box. Click Search.
   
   For example, if you are in Istanbul, you could search for 'duty to warn' OR “duty to protect"  OR  "duty to report" AND Istanbul.
   
   
    
3. . Look for a site that contains your country's internet code. For example,  .co.ke for Kenya, or .org.
   
   Tip: Unfortunately there is no one search that will work for each country as each country is unique.  If your country uses a language different from duty to warn and/or duty to protect or duty to report, use that language in your search instead

Please speak with your instructor if you are unable to locate laws in your location