Ego Development, Ethical Decision-Making, and Legal and Ethical Knowledge in School Counselors

Abstract

School counselors require high levels of ego development, sound ethical decision-making processes,

School Counselors’ General Self-Efficacy, Ethical and Legal Self-Efficacy, and Ethical and Legal Knowledge

“…In addition, the results identified a negative correlation between the participants' knowledge of ethical and legal issues and their age but the effect size is small (r = -.19, p < .001). The negative correlation between the participants' ELICA-R scores and their age was inconsistent with previous research with school counselors (Lambie et al, 2011) and may be attributed to their time away from the formal training in ethics and legal content per the graduate preparation program. However, it is difficult to discern this relationship with the current data because age was examined and not experience as a school counselor.…”

“…The findings from this investigation identified, on average, school counselors had a moderate level of ethical and legal knowledge, which was higher than in prior studies (e.g., Ieva, 2010;Lambie et al, 2011). Our results indicate that the respondents who completed this survey had a moderate level of knowledge but considering the degree of non-response, those participations that elected to forgo participation may not have as much knowledge regarding ethical and legal knowledge.…”

“…Participants score (e.g., percent correct) on the ELICA-R were used in this study. On average, participants scored 75.34% correct (SD = 11.57) on the ELICA-R, which was a higher mean score than prior research with school counselors (e.g., Lambie et al, 2011). The ELICA-R did not have a statistically significant relationship with participants' gender, ethnicity, assigned grade level, or student caseload, which was inconsistent with prior research (Lambie et al, 2011).…”

“…On average, participants scored 75.34% correct (SD = 11.57) on the ELICA-R, which was a higher mean score than prior research with school counselors (e.g., Lambie et al, 2011). The ELICA-R did not have a statistically significant relationship with participants' gender, ethnicity, assigned grade level, or student caseload, which was inconsistent with prior research (Lambie et al, 2011). A negative relationship was identified between participants' ELICA-R score and age (r = -.19, p < .001; 3.76% of the variance explained) but the effect size of this finding is small (Sink & Stroh, 2006).…”

“…Further, counseling students' gains in ethical and legal knowledge are retained four months following the course (Lambie et al, 2013). Regarding practicing school counselors, Lambie, Ieva, Mullen, and Hayes (2011) identified that higher ego development (Hy & Loevinger, 1996) in school counselors (N = 186) was associated with higher ethical and legal knowledge. Additionally, Ieva (2010) identified that school counselors' (N = 301) locus of control (Nowicki & Duke, 1974;Spector, 1988) and level of ego development (Hy & Loevinger, 1996) contributed to their ethical and legal knowledge.…”