Context-Sensitive Ethics in School Psychology

Ethical codes and licensing rules provide foundational guidance for practicing school psychologists, but these sources fall short in their capacity to facilitate effective decision-making. When faced with ethical dilemmas, school psychologists can turn to decision-making models, but step-wise decision trees frequently lack the situation sensitivity needed for our most daunting ethical challenges. This article proposes a context-sensitive approach to ethics in school psychology that balances the need for ethical standards with an overt acknowledgement of the critical role of situational variables, values, and contextual factors. A context-sensitive ethics framework is presented and illustrated with case examples, followed by recommendations for practitioners.