Ethical Dilemmas in Contemporary School Psychology Practice: A Descriptive Survey of Critical Incidents

Abstract Ethical decision making is a central component of contemporary school psychology practice, yet relatively little descriptive research has examined how practitioners evaluate ethically challenging situations across multiple dimensions of professional decision making. The present study provides a practice-focused descriptive examination of ethical critical incidents encountered in school psychology. Participants included 159 practicing school psychologists and graduate trainees in the United States who completed a survey consisting of 29 ethical critical incident scenarios. For each scenario, participants rated the likelihood of encountering the situation in practice, perceived ethical severity, probability of harm, legal implications, and difficulty of determining an appropriate ethical course of action. Results indicated that practitioners differentiated ethical situations across these dimensions rather than viewing them as uniformly problematic. Boundary-related situations were among the most frequently encountered but were generally perceived as involving relatively low ethical severity and limited potential for harm. In contrast, incidents involving professional competence, confidentiality, discrimination, and parental rights were perceived as substantially more serious, more harmful, and more likely to involve legal implications despite occurring less frequently. Situations involving competing professional responsibilities, compromised professional effectiveness, and access to student records were perceived as particularly difficult to resolve. These findings suggest that ethical complexity in school psychology extends beyond identifying ethical violations alone and reflects the interaction of ethical, legal, contextual, and professional considerations. By documenting practitioners’ perceptions across multiple dimensions of ethical decision making, the present study provides practice-relevant evidence that may inform ethics education, supervision, consultation, and continuing professional development for school psychologists.