Which phrase corresponds to the legal duty to warn established in the Tarasoff case?

• A. Informed Consent
• B. Abuse
• C. Tarasoff case-duty to warn
• D. MMPI

Answer: (C)

The Tarasoff duty to warn refers to the legal obligation established by Tarasoff v. Regents that a mental health professional must take steps to warn a potential victim or take other protective actions when a patient makes a credible threat of serious harm. This principle arises from the need to balance patient confidentiality with public safety; when there is a real, identifiable danger, confidentiality may be overridden to prevent harm. The phrase identified here directly names this duty as it originates from the Tarasoff ruling, making it the best choice. Informed consent, abuse, and MMPI are unrelated to this specific legal obligation: informed consent concerns permission for treatment, abuse is a type of harm not a legal duty to warn, and the MMPI is a psychological assessment tool.