Published in:
16-04-2022 | Scientific Contribution
The principle of nondirectiveness in genetic counseling. Different meanings and various postulates of normative nature
Author:
Weronika Chańska
Published in:
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
|
Issue 3/2022
Login to get access
Abstract
The article aims at organizing multifaceted discourse on the concept of nondirectiveness in the practice of genetic counseling. The analysis of areas where nondirectiveness was invoked and discussed reveals the problematic confusion of different meanings of the term that often leads to false conclusions about the relations between the professional standards and the practice of genetic counseling. The article offers clear and comprehensive description of different approaches to nondirectiveness and various ideas associated with the term. Normative consequences of various meanings attributed to nondirectiveness are explored. The article concludes by presenting important but unsolved problems regarding both theory (the meaning of nondirectiveness and its operational definition) and practice of genetic counseling (the scope and content of the norm of nondirective counseling).