AIDS and murder: Decisions regarding maintenance of confidentiality versus the duty to protect.

This study examined whether mental health professionals would differentiate, in terms of confidentiality and a duty to protect, persons with AIDS (PWAs) who refused to inform their partners from persons with homicidal intent. Six hundred professionals were randomly assigned one of four hypothetical therapy vignettes. In each vignette, the client had either AIDS or homicidal intent. The relationship of the client to the third party was either heterosexual or homosexual. PWAs were rated as being significantly more dangerous than persons with homicidal intent. Persons with homicidal intent were significantly more likely to receive increased intervention and their partners were significantly more likely to be warned. PWAs were rated significantly more negatively on most adjective rating scales.