ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN THE PSYCHOLOGIST’S PRACTICE THAT ACTIVATES IN THE AREA OF CHILDREN WITH IMPAIRMENTS

Abstract

The reconstruction of the profession of psychologist in Romania faced an alert rhythm by a continuous normative and administrative structuring. At present we are in front of some necessary functional optimizations and procedural refining meant to satisfy the exigencies of an efficient psychological practice. An important component of the professionalization of the domain, together with the competency, is the ethical dimension of the professional practice. In this dimension, still insufficiently elaborated and investigated, is placed the present research. The gathering of factual material by empirical researches creates the premises both for normative improvements and for reconfigurations of the ethical management system of the profession. In our study we identified a number of 52 behaviors that may generate hesitation in the professional decision and we questioned the practicing psychologists from the area of children with impairments about the frequency of those situations that they met during their activity, and then I requested them the assessment of those behaviors from the correctness point of view. There were used both in obvious situations and in ambiguous situations, regarding the confidentiality, competencies, integrity, conflict of interests, tariffs and payments modalities, multiple relations, discrimination, familiarity,  self-disclosure, intimate relations, etc. The statistical processing of the answers aimed comparisons between the frequency of the psychologists engagement in the respective behaviors and the assessment of their correctness, based on sex, age, seniority in profession, working place (private/state), courses of professional training attended etc.