Use of Ethical Decision-Making Models Among School Counselors

Ethical dilemmas of school counsellors: A vignette study

“…Besides school leaders, the ethical dilemmas of school counsellors may also be related to parents and other stakeholders (Brown et al, 2017). Wrong judgments by school staff in referring students to counsellors are among the factors that impact the functionality of counselling services in Turkey (Tagay & Savi-Çakar, 2017).…”

“…In addition, ethical decision-making models for Turkish culture should be developed for promoting the ethical judgments of school counsellors. School counsellors tend to use components of decision-making models even if they do not follow the steps specifically (Brown et al, 2017). Noting that none of the participants mentioned such models in their action plans, a familiarity with models might provide further benefits for resolving dilemmas.…”

An examination of the ethical dilemmas of school counsellors: opinions and solution recommendations

“…It was also determined that employees at these institutions experienced ethical dilemmas regarding confidentiality, multiple relationships, competence, and value transfer. Brown et al (2017) found that the most common ethical dilemmas experienced by school counsellors were confidentiality, student safety, parental rights, and social media. In other studies, the most commonly experienced dilemmas were confidentiality (Mendes et al, 2016;Tarvydas & Barros-Bailey, 2010), confidentiality and competence (Hartley & Cartwright, 2016, İkiz, Sensoy et al, 2017 and confidentiality, volunteerism, and competence (Camadan, 2018;Yam, 2017).…”

“…It is also important to follow decision-making processes to overcome ethical dilemmas. Brown et al (2017) stated that due to the difficult, complex and uncertain nature of ethical issues, school counsellors may have difficulty in coping with this problem and that it is useful to follow ethical decision-making processes. It was also stated that decision-making processes could prevent ethical dilemmas from turning into ethical violations (Korkut, 2014).…”

School Counselors’ Experiences With Ethical Decision Making

“…These ethical dilemmas vary in type and exist across all grade levels (Bain, 2012; Hall et al, 2010; Moyer et al, 2012; Mullen et al, 2014). Brown et al (2017) shared that school counselors’ ethical dilemmas considered complex can involve considerations of breaking confidentiality (e.g., administrator requesting information regarding students’ counseling sessions), student safety (e.g., self-injurious behavior), parental rights (e.g., parents requesting information shared in a session), and social media (e.g., accepting students’ or family members’ requests on social media sites). The diversity in ethical dilemmas requires the consideration of numerous contextual factors regarding how to proceed, including but not limited to (a) the academic setting, (b) students’ minor status, (c) type of dilemma, (d) cultural context, (e) the professions’ ethical standards, (f) school and district policies, and (g) state and federal laws (Stone, 2017).…”