Ethical Decision Making Paper
Ethical Decision Making George T. Jackson, University of Phoenix Psych 545 Survey of Professional Psychology Dr. Christi Moore, Facilitator
Ethical Decision Making Paper In this paper I will examine the relationship of a school psychologist and the relationship of his client and how boundaries were crossed when the school psychologist entered a sexual relationship with his minor client. To complete this assignment, the ethical dilemma will be discussed, the 14 steps in the ethical decision making process will be applied, further I will briefly discuss the importance of ethical decision making in professional psychology. Ethical Dilemma A psychologist working in the Baltimore City Public School System with middle school students in the Promoting Respect Integrity Discipline Education (PRIDE) Program starts to develop sexual feelings toward one of the young male student’s. At first the psychologist could resist his temptations for wanting to engage in sexual activities with the young man, but the more time he spent with the student the stronger his desires became. The psychologist finds ways to meet with the student alone and he builds a trusting relationship with him and his mother. He accomplishes this by offering to be a mentor/big brother to the student because the mother is a single parent. The mother was appreciative that the psychologist was spending time with her son, by helping him with his homework, taking him to the movies, and helping to purchase school supplies. The psychologist convinced the mother to allow him to give the boy a cell phone claiming that the boy and his mother could stay in contact because the mother worked overtime, and the child would be home alone. The mother agreed to this, not thinking there was anything to the relationship. The
Ethical Decision Making Paper In this paper I will examine the relationship of a school psychologist and the relationship of his client and how boundaries were crossed when the school psychologist entered a sexual relationship with his minor client. To complete this assignment, the ethical dilemma will be discussed, the 14 steps in the ethical decision making process will be applied, further I will briefly discuss the importance of ethical decision making in professional psychology. Ethical Dilemma A psychologist working in the Baltimore City Public School System with middle school students in the Promoting Respect Integrity Discipline Education (PRIDE) Program starts to develop sexual feelings toward one of the young male student’s. At first the psychologist could resist his temptations for wanting to engage in sexual activities with the young man, but the more time he spent with the student the stronger his desires became. The psychologist finds ways to meet with the student alone and he builds a trusting relationship with him and his mother. He accomplishes this by offering to be a mentor/big brother to the student because the mother is a single parent. The mother was appreciative that the psychologist was spending time with her son, by helping him with his homework, taking him to the movies, and helping to purchase school supplies. The psychologist convinced the mother to allow him to give the boy a cell phone claiming that the boy and his mother could stay in contact because the mother worked overtime, and the child would be home alone. The mother agreed to this, not thinking there was anything to the relationship. The
References: Pope, K. S., and Vasquez, M.J. T., (2007). Ethics in psychotherapy and counseling: A practical guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.