Читать книгу Ethics and Law for School Psychologists - Susan Jacob - Страница 54

Both the APA and the NASP require members to monitor the ethical conduct of their professional colleagues. Both associations also support attempts to resolve concerns informally before filing a complaint. The NASP’s code of ethics states: “When a school psychologist suspects that another school psychologist has engaged in unethical practices, they attempt to resolve the suspected problem through a collegial problem-solving process, if feasible” (Standard IV.3.2; also see APA Standard 1.04). If, however, an apparent ethical violation cannot be resolved informally, school psychologists take further action appropriate to the situation, such as discussing the situation with a supervisor in the employment setting or other institutional authorities, referral to a professional ethics committee, or referral to a state certification or licensing board (APA Standard 1.05; NASP Standard IV.3.2). If a decision is made to file an ethics complaint, the appropriate professional organization is contacted for assistance and its procedures for resolving concerns about ethical practices are followed (see APA, 2018; NASP, 2018).

Although most psychologists are aware of their obligation to report unethical practices if the situation cannot be resolved informally, many are reluctant to do so (Pope et al., 1987). In her study of students’ beliefs about their preparation to deal with ethical issues, Tryon (2001) found that fewer than half of the advanced students in school psychology doctoral programs (fifth year and beyond) believed they were prepared to deal with ethical violations by colleagues. Similarly, Dailor and Jacob (2011) found that about 25% of public school psychology practitioners had witnessed multiple instances of unethical conduct by a colleague within the past year but only 38% of the respondents perceived themselves to be “very well prepared” to address unethical conduct by colleagues. Survey participants who reported receiving multilevel training in ethics (coursework in ethics, discussion of ethical issues in multiple courses, and supervised discussion of ethical issues during field experiences) were more likely to report that they felt prepared to address unethical conduct by others than those who did not receive multilevel ethics training.