Ethically challenging situations reported by school psychologists: Implications for training

Abstract

Practitioner-members of the National Association of School Psychologists (N = 208) completed questionnaires regarding their ethics training, preparedness, the types of ethical transgressions and dilemmas encountered in the previous year, and the strategies used to solve problems. Respondents who received multilevel training in ethics (ethics coursework, ethics instruction in multiple classes, ethics addressed in practicum/internship) perceived themselves to be better prepared to tackle difficult challenges and were more likely to use a systematic problem-solving strategy when faced with an ethical dilemma than respondents who did not receive multilevel training. Assessmentrelated ethical transgressions and failure to follow up on interventions were the two most commonly witnessed types of ethics code violations; troublesome dilemmas included whether to suspect child abuse, whether to tell parents about their child's risky behavior, and how to handle administrative pressure to engage in unethical actions. Implications for ethics training are discussed. C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.School psychology practitioners are likely to encounter two types of ethically challenging situations: ethical dilemmas and transgressions. Dilemmas occur when "there are good but contradictory ethical reasons to take conflicting and incompatible courses of action" (Knauss, 2001, p. 231; also Beauchamp & Childress, 2001). Some ethical dilemmas are quickly and easily resolved; others are troubling and time-consuming (Sinclair, 1998). Ethical transgressions or violations are those acts that go against professional expectations for ethical conduct and violate enforceable ethics codes. Ethical transgressions can result in harm to students or other clients and create a problematic situation for colleagues who must decide whether and how to confront the misconduct.Several methods for gathering information about ethical dilemmas and transgressions encountered by psychologists have been developed. The critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954) is a set of procedures for collecting reports from real-life settings of particular types of problem situations, with the goal of describing the types of problems encountered in "real world" practice settings. An advantage of this approach is that it allows the respondent, rather than the researcher, to identify the types of situations that create ethical challenges for practitioners. A second advantage is that respondents are likely to describe situations that capture the complexities of contemporary practice. A disadvantage of this approach is that it characteristically results in a low return rate, and respondents may be most likely to describe situations that were particularly troublesome rather than the ethical problems they frequently encounter.Another approach to studying real-world ethical challenges is to use a structured questionnaire to ask practitioners whether they have experienced or witnessed various types of ethical dilemmas and transgressions. One advantage of a structured questionnair...

School Psychologists’ Ethical Strain and Rumination: Individual Profiles and Their Associations With Weekly Well-Being

“…Future studies could investigate these phenomena also in terms of qualitative content. Some research has already shown what kinds of ethical dilemmas are typically encountered in school psychologists’ work (see, e.g., Dailor & Jacob, ; Jacob‐Timm, ), but a more detailed understanding of what causes stress when facing these dilemmas, and of the actual dimensions of rumination and worry (e.g., whether thoughts are related to trying to solve the dilemma or more to affective rumination) could be the aims of future studies. Finally, the role of personal features regarding the strain experiences should be addressed in the future.…”

“…There are still very few studies about ethical decision making and its consequences among psychologists working in schools. Dailor and Jacob () are among the most recent researchers to have investigated the ethically challenging situations that school psychologists experience in a study that was based on retrospective self‐evaluations. Using multiple‐choice survey questions they found that almost three quarters of the respondents had encountered at least one of eight types of ethical dilemma within the previous year.…”

“…Using multiple‐choice survey questions they found that almost three quarters of the respondents had encountered at least one of eight types of ethical dilemma within the previous year. They discussed some important implications of their results for ethics training, such as the need for more experienced school psychologists to provide support, guidance, and mentoring to less experienced practitioners (Dailor & Jacob, ).…”

Child Maltreatment and the School Psychologist

“…Doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology often fail to meet child maltreatment training standards, even when these issues are addressed in their curricula (Champion, Shipman, Bonner, Hensley, & Howe, 2003). On a recent questionnaire completed by over 200 practicing school psychologists, the most commonly reported ethical dilemma faced in the past year was whether or not to contact CPS when child abuse was suspected, despite the fact that 90% of respondents had at least some formal ethics training (Dailor & Jacob, 2011).…”

A Study of the Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by School Psychologists in Portugal

“…To demonstrate their commitment to ethics, and to promote high standards of ethical conduct among its members, some professional associations have developed codes of ethics and conduct to support those working in school settings (e.g., International School Psychology Association, 2011;NASP, 2010). In parallel, several studies have explored ethical issues in professional psychology with implications for school psychology (Dailor & Jacob, 2011;Jacob-Timm, 1999;Pettifor & Sawchuk, 2006;Pope & Vetter, 1992). Most of these studies relied on United States samples and used the critical incident technique or structured inquiries.…”