Abstract

In a national random-sample survey of 1,423 practicing psychiatrists, the overwhelming majority of the respondents (98%) said that therapist-patient sexual contact is always inappropriate and usually harmful to the patient. However, 29.6% said that such contact after termination of therapy might sometimes be acceptable. Psychiatrists who acknowledged having had sexual contact with one or more patients (N = 84) differed markedly from their peers in their attitudes. The majority (74%) of these offenders believed that sexual contact could be appropriate after termination; many apparently rationalized their behavior in this manner. The authors discuss the need for systematic professional education on the subject.

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