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Gender differences in moral judgment: Implications for clinical practice

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Abstract

While the potential for gender bias in psychotherapy is commonly recognized, most of the literature addressing this problem has concentrated on the assessment process. Therapists are left with few guidelines regarding the avoidance of bias in ongoing therapeutic relationships. This article reviews alternative explanations of gender difference in moral judgment with particular attention to their clinical relevance. The writer suggests that therapists' conceptions of these differences, as well as their own moral judgment, may be a potent source of gender bias. Understanding these differences is conceivably a powerful means of averting their contaminating effects on clinical theory and practice.

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Reimer, M.S. Gender differences in moral judgment: Implications for clinical practice. Clin Soc Work J 12, 198–208 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00759917

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