Ethics and Law for School Psychologists

Susan Jacob, Dawn M. Decker, Elizabeth Timmerman Lugg

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781119157168
• Edition: 7
• Topic: Psicología
• Subtopic: Formación en psicología

Ethics and Law for School Psychologists is the single best source of authoritative information on the ethical and legal issues school psychologists face every day. Designed specifically to meet the unique needs of psychologists in school settings, this book includes the most up-to-date standards and requirements while providing an introduction to ethical codes, ethical decision making, and the legal underpinnings that protect the rights of students and their parents. This new seventh edition has been extensively updated with the latest research and changes to the law, with an increased focus on ethical-legal considerations associated with the use of digital technologies. Coverage includes new case law on privacy rights, electronic record keeping, the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, digital assessment platforms, the latest interpretations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and more.

Ethics texts for counseling and psychology are plentiful, and often excellent—but this book is the only reference that speaks directly to the concerns and issues specific to psychologists in school settings. Case vignettes, end-of-chapter questions, and discussion topics facilitate deeper insight and learning, while updated instructor's resources bring this key reference right into the classroom.

Keeping up with the latest research and legal issues is a familiar part of a psychologist's duties, but a practice centered on children in an educational setting makes it both critical and more complex. Ethics and Law for School Psychologists provides a central resource for staying up to date and delivering ethically and legally sound services within a school setting.

Chapter 1
ETHICS IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION

Who are school psychologists? As Fagan (2014) observed, the term school psychologist has been defined in many different ways. For the purposes of this book, we adopted the definition developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP): School psychologists are professionals who

provide effective services to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. School psychologists provide direct educational and mental health services for children and youth, as well as work with parents, educators, and other professionals to create supportive learning and social environments for all children. (NASP, 2010b)

Because the decisions made by school psychologists have an impact on human lives, and thereby on society, the practice of school psychology rests on the public's trust. To build and maintain society's trust in school psychology, it is essential that every school psychologist is sensitive to the ethical and legal components of his or her work, knowledgeable regarding broad ethical principles and rules of professional conduct, and committed to a proactive stance in ethical thinking and conduct.

QUALITY CONTROL IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

Four sources of “quality control” protect the rights and welfare of students and other recipients of school psychological services. Professional codes of ethics for the delivery of psychological services are discussed in this chapter. Chapter 2 provides an introduction to law that protects the rights of students and their parents in the school setting. Educational law provides a second source of quality control. Chapter 2 also addresses the credentialing of school psychologists, a third mechanism of quality assurance. Credentialing helps to ensure that psychologists meet specified qualifications before they are granted a legal sanction to practice (Fagan & Wise, 2007). Training-program accreditation is an additional mechanism of quality control. Program accreditation helps to ensure the adequate preparation of school psychologists during their graduate coursework and field experiences.

This chapter focuses on the what and why of professional ethics, ethics training and competencies, and the codes of ethics of the NASP and the American Psychological Association (APA). Four broad ethical principles are introduced along with an ethical-legal decision-making model. We also describe ethics committees and sanctions for unethical conduct.

WHAT AND WHY OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

The term ethics generally refers to a system of principles of conduct that guide the behavior of an individual. Ethics derives from the Greek word ethos, meaning character or custom, and the phrase ta ethika, which Plato and Aristotle used to describe their studies of Greek values and ideals (Solomon, 1984). Accordingly,

ethics is first of all a concern for individual character, including what we call “being a good person,” but it is also a concern for the overall character of an entire society, which is still appropriately called its “ethos.” Ethics is participation in, and an understanding of, an ethos, the effort to understand the social rules which govern and limit our behavior. (p. 5)

A system of ethics develops in the context of a particular society or culture and is connected closely to social customs. Ethics is composed of a range of acceptable (or unacceptable) social and personal behaviors, from rules of etiquette to more basic rules of society.

The terms ethics and morality are often used interchangeably. However, according to philosophers, the term morality refers to a subset of ethical rules of special importance. Solomon (1984) suggested that moral principles are “the most basic and inviolable rules of a society.” Moral rules are thought to differ from other aspects of ethics in that they are more important, fundamental, universal, rational, and objective (pp. 6–7). W. D. Ross (1930), a twentieth-century Scottish philosopher, identified a number of moral duties of the ethical person: nonmaleficence, fidelity, beneficence, justice, and autonomy. These moral principles have provided a foundation for the ethical codes of psychologists and other professionals (Bersoff & Koeppl, 1993).

Our focus here is on applied or practical professional ethics, the application of broad ethical principles and specific rules to the problems that arise in professional practice (Beauchamp & Childress, 2013). Applied ethics in school psychology is, thus, a combination of ethical principles and rules, ranging from more basic rules to rules of professional etiquette, that guide the conduct of the practitioner in his or her professional interactions with others. Furthermore, although school psychologists are employed in a variety of settings, in this text we emphasize the special challenges of school-based practice.

Professionalism and Ethics

Professionalization has been described as:

the process by which an occupation, usually on the basis of a claim to special competence and a concern for the quality of its work and benefits to society, obtains the exclusive right to perform a particular kind of work, to control training criteria and access to the profession, and to determine and evaluate the way the work is to be performed. (Chalk, Frankel, & Chafer, 1980, p. 3)

Professional associations or societies function to promote the profession by publicizing the services offered, safeguarding the rights of professionals, attaining benefits for its members, facilitating the exchange of and development of knowledge, and promoting standards to enhance the quality of professional work by its members (Chalk et al., 1980). Codes of ethics appear to develop out of the self-interests of the profession and a genuine commitment to protect the interests of persons served. Most professional associations have recognized the need to balance self-interests against concern for the welfare of the consumer. Ethical codes are one mechanism to help ensure that members of a profession will deal justly with the public (Bersoff & Koeppl, 1993).

However, the development of a code of ethics also serves to foster the profession's self-interests. A code of ethics is an indicator of the profession's willingness to accept responsibility for defining appropriate conduct and a commitment to self-regulation of members by the profession (Chalk et al., 1980). The adoption of a code of ethics often has been viewed as the hallmark of a profession's maturity. Ethical codes thus may serve to enhance the prestige of a profession and reduce the perceived need for external regulation and control.

The field of psychology has a long-standing commitment to activities that support and encourage appropriate professional conduct. As will be seen in this chapter, both the NASP and the APA have developed and adopted codes of ethics. These codes are drafted by committees within professional organizations and reflect the beliefs of association members about what constitutes appropriate professional conduct. They serve to protect the public by sensitizing professionals to the ethical aspects of service delivery, educating practitioners about the parameters of appropriate conduct, and helping professionals to monitor their own behavior. Furthermore, because the codes of ethics of psychologists can now be accessed using the Internet, they also increasingly serve to educate the public and recipients of services about the parameters of expected professional conduct by school psychologists. Finally, professional codes of ethics also provide guidelines for adjudicating complaints (Behnke & Jones, 2012).

By encouraging appropriate professional conduct, the NASP and the APA help to ensure that each person served will receive the highest quality of professional service. As a result, the public's trust in psychologists and psychology is enhanced and maintained.

Ethical Codes Versus Ethical Conduct

Codes of ethics serve to protect the public. However, ethical conduct is not synonymous with simple conformity to a set of rules outlined in professional codes and standards (J. N. Hughes, 1986). As Kitchener (2000) and others (Bersoff, 1994; Welfel, 2012) have noted, codes of ethics are imperfect guides to behavior for several reasons. First, ethical codes in psychology are composed of broad, abstract principles along with a number of more specific statements about appropriate professional conduct. They are at times vague and ambiguous (Bersoff, 1994).

Second, competing ethical principles often apply in a particular situation (Bersoff & Koeppl, 1993; Haas & Malouf, 2005), and specific ethical guidelines may conflict with federal or state law (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2008). In some situations, a primary or overriding consideration can be identified in choosing a course of action. In other situations, however, no one principle involved clearly outweighs the other(s) (Haas & Malouf, 2005). For example, the decision to allow a minor child the freedom to choose or refuse to participate in psychological services often involves a consideration of law, ethical principles (respect for autonomy and self-determination versus the welfare of the child), and the likely practical consequences of affording choices (enhanced treatment outcomes versus refusal of treatment).

A third reason ethical codes are imperfect is because they tend to be reactive. They frequently fail to address new and emerging ethical issues (Bersoff & Koeppl, 1993; Welfel, 2012). Committees within professional associations often are formed to study the ways existing codes relate to emerging issues, and codes may be revised in response to new ethical concerns. Concern about the ethics of behavior modification techniques was a focus of the 1970s; in the 1980s, psychologists scrutinized the ethics of computerized psychodiagnostic assessment. In the 1990s, changes in codes of ethics reflected concerns about sexual harassment and fair treatment of individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. In recent years, codes have emphasized the need for practitioner competence in the delivery of services to individuals from diverse experiential, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Codes also have been scrutinized to ensure relevance to the use of digital technologies.

Ethical codes thus provide guidance for the professional in his or her decision making. Ethical conduct, however, involves careful choices based on knowledge of broad ethical principles and code statements, ethical reasoning, and personal values. In many situations, more than one course of action is acceptable. In some situations, no course of action is completely satisfactory. In all situations, the responsibility for ethical conduct rests with the individual practitioner (L. D. Armistead, Williams, & Jacob, 2011; Eberlein, 1987).

ETHICS TRAINING AND COMPETENCIES

Prior to the late 1970s, many applied psychology graduate programs (clinical psychology, school psychology) required little formal coursework in professional ethics (Welfel, 2012). Ethics was often taught in the context of supervised practica and internship experiences, a practice Handelsman (1986) labeled “ethics training by ‘osmosis’” (p. 371). A shortcoming of this approach is that student learning is limited by supervisor awareness and knowledge of ethical-legal issues and the types of situations encountered in the course of supervision (Handelsman, 1986). Consensus now exists that ethics, legal aspects of practice, and a problem-solving model need to be explicitly taught during graduate training (Dailor & Jacob, 2010; Haas, Malouf, & Mayerson, 1986; Tymchuk, 1985). Both the NASP and the APA graduate program training standards require coursework in professional ethics. Furthermore, in School Psychology: A Blueprint for Training and Practice (Ysseldyke et al., 2006), prepared by a task force composed of leaders in the field, knowledge of the ethical and legal aspects of professional practice was identified as a foundational competency for school psychologists, one that permeates all aspects of the provision of services.

In the 1980s, psychology trainers began to ask “What should be the goals of ethics education in psychology?” (Haas et al., 1986; Kitchener, 1986); and “What are the desired cognitive, affective, and behavioral ‘ethics competencies’ for school psychologists?” More recently, trainers have raised these questions: “How do school psychology students and practitioners gain competence, and ultimately expertise, in ethical decision making?” (Dailor & Jacob, 2010); “How do they gain a sense of themselves as ethical professionals?” (Handelsman, Gottlieb & Knapp, 2005, p. 59); and “How should ethics be taught?” A number of goals for ethics training have been suggested in the literature. An emerging picture of desired competencies includes these:

• Competent practitioners are sensitive to “the ...