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Internet and Ethics for School Psychologists: A Discussion of the Issues
+ Internet and Ethics for School Psychologists: A Discussion of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
+ Internet and Ethics for School Psychologists: A Discussion of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
+ Internet and Ethics for School Psychologists: A Discussion of the Issues + Learning Objectives - Participants will apply the APA General Principles and Ethical Standards to the use of the Internet. Participants will apply the
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+ For school psychologists, the Internet has
created new ease with which to communicate with colleagues and friends, network with
- thers, and share information (Pham, 2014).
But given the public nature of the Internet, this heightens concerns and impose ethical considerations that psychologists did not have to deal with before.
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As school psychologists our professional practice is
guided by both the NASP Principles for Professional Ethics and the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
According to APA, Principles are aspirational goals to
guide psychologists toward the highest ideals of psychology and are not themselves enforceable rules.
The Ethical Standards, on the other hand, set forth
enforceable rules of conduct. They are not exhaustive and the fact that a given conduct is not specifically addressed by an Ethical Standard does not mean that it is necessarily either ethical or unethical.
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+ In the APA Ethics Code , the sections that are
particularly relevant to social media are : Privacy and confidentiality, multiple relationships, and therapy.
The NASP Principles also do not address use of social
media directly but those are implied in the principles of Privacy and Confidentiality; Fairness and Justice; Multiple Relationships and Conflict of Interest.
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+ Regular use of Internet by school psychologists
can create new ethical dilemmas that the profession of School Psychology has not yet carefully explored. These situations can include, but are not limited to:
defamations of clients, students or trainers; reporting of illegal or harmful behaviors; “digital” dual relationships; and self-disclosure of personal information.
(Pham, 2014)
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+ Private X Public
“ [The APA] Ethics Code applies only to psychologists’
activities that are part of their scientific, educational, or professional role as psychologists…. These activities shall be distinguished from the purely private conduct of psychologists, which is not within the purview of the Ethics code.
The language quoted above suggests a clear
demarcation between private and professional behavior. HOWEVER,
In seconds, information which almost certainly would
remain private, with a “click and a send”, can, in seconds, become a public event. In a space of only a few years the private realm has become smaller and the domain of the public has expanded (Behnke, 2008)
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+ This reality shift has required us to reflect on
its implications for our professional lives: so much that had been confined to our private lives is now potentially disclosed and available to colleagues, and others with whom we work, mainly through social networking.
School psychologists are afforded autonomy
regarding their online behavior, however, they need to be cautious with regard to how their private behavior may intersect with their professional work (Lannin & Scott, 2013)
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+ Definition: Social networking has been defined as “web-
based services that allow individuals to construct a public
- r semi-public profile within a system, articulate a list of
- ther users with whom they share a connection, and view
and traverse their list of connections and those made by
- thers within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p.211)
Social networking is frequently described as a collective
and systemic form of Internet correspondence compared with email or instant messaging (Myers, et al, 2012).
Social media is a broader term that refers to websites that
enable the creation, exchange, and broadcasting of online user-generated content, such as photos, texts, videos,
- etc. These websites include Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn,
- etc. There are also content sharing sites such as YouTube,
Flickr and Instagram.
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+ In 2011, the most commonly used social networking
websites in the United States were Facebook, T witter and LinkedIn (Dahlstrom et al, 2011).
In 2014, Facebook reported having more than 1 billion
registered users worldwide - it essentially doubled since 2012.
In 2010, among psychology graduate students, 81% of
students surveyed had an online network profile (Lehavot, et al, 2010)
Professional organizations such as APA and NASP use
social media to facilitate communication with their members, disseminate information relating to the professions, and post news regarding upcoming conferences or events.
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+ How many of you have posted
information in social media (Facebook, T witter, LikedIn, etc.) in the past month?
Do you think the private information
you posted may have implications for your professional life? How?
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APA ethical principle 2.06 – Personal Problems and
Conflicts, state:
“ Psychologists refrain from initiating an activity when
they know or should know that there is a substantial likelihood that their personal problems will prevent them from performing their work-related activities in a competent manner.” And,
“ When psychologists become aware of personal
problems that may interfere with their performing work-related duties adequately, they take appropriate measures, such as obtaining professional consultation
- r assistance, and determine whether they should
limit, suspend, or terminate their work-related duties.
(APA, 2010, p.5)
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+ According to Behnke (2008), this standard focuses on
how challenges in our personal lives , for example substance abuse, divorce, the death of a loved one or depression can impair our abilities to function
- competently. Even positive events such as a child’s
wedding can be events that are deeply felt and may intersect with similar events in the lives of our patients and clients.
As psychologists “we pay great attention to what
information gets revealed, and to whom. We pay attention in this manner because as psychologists we recognize that both the “what” and “to whom” questions have clinical significance. Attending to those questions has ethical significance as well, because disclosing information that has a reasonable likelihood of becoming available to clients can facilitate, or significantly hinder, our ability to exercise BENEFICIENCE in a professional relationship (Behnke, 2007).
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+ Privacy and Confidentiality
The term privacy, from a legal standpoint, addresses
who has the authority to release or disclose confidential information within a professional relationship (practitioner and client).
The more common definition of privacy refers to
situations in which individuals expect that personal information or shared conversations between one another would remain between intended parties.
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+ Should personal information gathered
through the internet be considered private or confidential or can psychologists use this information to make professional judgments or decisions about clients (parents, students, teachers, etc)? Give examples.
Would there be a difference in case the
information provided in social media indicated illegal activity or intent to harm? In that case what should the psychologist do?
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+ “…. The tremendous availability online of personal
information threatens to alter what has been an almost sacred relationship between therapist and client. T raditionally, therapists obtained information about a patient through face-to-face dialogue. If outside information was needed, the therapist would obtain the patient’s consent to speak with family members or a previous mental-health practitioner.” (Scarton, 2010)
Should a therapist review the website of a patient or
conduct an online search without patient’s consent? There is no consensus on the issue
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+ The director of the psychiatric training at UMass (2010)
advocates caution when it come to mixing the Internet with
- therapy. He is concerned that it could dilute the therapeutic
process by bringing in information from outside the patient- therapist discussions. When patients have asked him to read their blogs , he has agreed, but would do so during a regular counseling session.
Suena Massey, assistant professor of psychiatry at George
Washington University Medical Center, considers Googling a patient a valuable professional tool. “One of the duties of a psychiatrist is to corroborate what the patients say.” T
- that
end , online searches can be helpful when traditional approaches are not available. Massey says that she will warn a patient about her possible use of Google searches if she thinks the patient might have a problem with it. “ You could almost make the argument that it’s negligent not to search
- nline when there is public information available” and might
help treat a patient.”
(Scarton, 2010)
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+ Digital Dual Relationships
An issue understudied is the personal and professional
boundaries of school psychologists and their clients, or between supervisors and supervisees. Psychologists who friend clients o Facebook are at risk for engaging in a digital dual relationship, which is described as a multiple relationships.
According to the APA code of Ethics and the NASP
Principles, multiple relationships occur in school psychology practice when a practitioner who is in a professional role with a client, at the same time, engages in another role with the same person, whether social, personal, or sexual.
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+ Regarding social networking on Facebook, for
example, it may be considered unethical for practitioners to friend clients or parents with whom they are directly working with, if there is a risk of engaging in a dual relationship.
How about school psychologists becoming
friends with school principals or teachers on Facebook? Is there a danger of an inappropriate dual relationships to occur? How could that be avoided?
How about being Facebook friends with a
supervisor or supervisee?
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+ According to both APA and NASP ethics code,
multiple relationships should be avoided if they could reasonably be expected to impair the psychologist’s professional effectiveness, lead to exploitation, or cause harm.
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Professional Behavior Parents, teachers, administrators, and clients
view school psychologists as individuals who are committed to professionalism and integrity.
Some information shared in social media can,
however, contain unprofessional content. Unprofessional content posted on social networking sites may include, but it is not limited to, sexually suggestive materials, defamation of clients or supervisors, discriminatory language, depiction on intoxication, etc.
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+ An adaptation of a case describes by Pham (2014) is:
“ A school psychologist has been seen an 8year-old boy
with an emotional and behavioral disturbance for weekly counseling. One evening, the psychologist placed a post on her Facebook page saying that the child (unnamed) she was working with that day was “crazy and that the parents need to get their act together.” The child’s mother found out about the post, as she was Facebook friends with her son’s teacher. Although the psychologist did not identify the child, the child’s mother deducted that she was talking about her child and ultimately did not want her child to see the psychologist for counseling anymore.”
What were the ethical issues here?
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+ An issue less clear include posting personal
political views or religious beliefs on social
- media. How could that impact school
psychologists professional relationships, relationship with clients, etc. Could that have a potential negative impact in their ability to perform well as a professional in the schools?
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References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles
- f psychologists and code of conduct. Washington, DC: Author.
Behnke, S. (2008). Ethics in the age of the Internet. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/07-08/ethics.aspx Behnke, S. (2007). Posting on the Internet: An opportunity for self(and other) reflection. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan07/ethics.aspx Flanagan, R., Miller, J., and Jacob, S. (2005). The 2002 revision of the American Psychological Association’s ethics code: Implications for school psychologists. Psychology in the Schools, 42(4), 433-445. Martin, S. (2010). The Internet ethical challenges. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/07-08/internet.aspx
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