Ethical, Legal Responsibilities of Counselors in Preventing Abuse and Suggestions for Preventive Guidance

Each year, the Ministry of National Education in Turkey sets out two general guidance services goals to be included in guidance plans by counselors working in educational institutions throughout the country. One of these two general goals determined by the Ministry for the 2018- 2019 academic year was protection from neglect and abuse. This indicates that neglect and abuse is a problem that exists throughout the country, and also reminds the counselors working in schools and guidance research centers on their responsibilities on an extremely important issue. Considering this important responsibility in mind, the objectives of this article are as follows: (1) to define the neglect and abuse, and discuss the symptoms of abuse on children, (2) to frame the ethical and legal responsibilities of counselors about child neglect and abuse, (3) to explain the judicial report process (5) to introduce generally accepted abuse prevention programs by providing information on evidence based-counseling programs to counselors working in schools and guidance research centers; and (6) to provide advice on preventive guidance and crisis interventions.