Ethical dilemmas experienced by school psychologists in South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the research participants.

Institution
Public	10	Private		3		Both	3
Type of Institution
WCED district team	3	WCED circuit team	2	Special school	2	International school	2
Phase of Education Worked With
Work across phases (Grades 1–12)			14	Work with senior and FET phases (Grades 7–12)			2
Age Distribution
30–39	8	40–49	3	50–59	4	60 +	1
Years of Experience
0–2	7	3–5	2	6–10	1	10 + more	6
Frequency of Ethical Dilemmas
Yearly	7	Monthly	3	Weekly	3	Daily	3

Table 2. Summary of themes.

Theme	Category	Incidents
Privacy and Confidentiality		24
	Pressure from the schools to disclose information	6
	Disclosing confidential information	6
	Information disclosed by others	5
	Pressure from clients not to disclose	5
	Keeping records	2
Role definition		15
	Working with other role-players	7
	Multiple relationships	5
	Confusion about the role of the psychologist	3
Assessments and reports		5
	Pressure to make a diagnosis	3
	Pressure to omit a diagnosis	2
Workload		6
	Interns and newly qualified psychologists	4
	Psychologists working for the WCED	2
Consent		5
	School requests for service without appropriate consent	2
	Client refuses or stops therapy	3
Boundaries of competence		3

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of the research and ethical clearance requirements, supporting data is not available. Data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.