Date of Award

Spring 8-1-1994

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

First Advisor

Michele C. Boyer

Second Advisor

Elizabeth A. Schilson

Third Advisor

John C. Jessell

Abstract

The focus of this study was the ethical decision-making justifications of internship site supervisors regarding hypothetical supervisory dilemmas and explored the relationship between these justifications and selected demographic variables of supervisors. More specifically, supervisors' utilization of decision-making justifications of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and fidelity when asked to defend their resolutions of supervisory ethical dilemmas were examined. In addition, there was an examination of the relationship between the justifications utilized and selected demographic variables including type of educational training, gender, level of professionalization, years of experience, and type of internship site in which the supervisor was employed. Four hundred questionnaire packets were distributed to supervisors from 100 APA-approved internship sites in counseling and clinical psychology. Supervisors were asked to complete packet instruments which included the Professional Dilemmas Inventory (POI), an instrument developed for this study, and a biographical survey, which was based upon the variables of interest in the study. The sample consisted of 96 supervisors, 69 (72%) self-identified clinical psychologists, 24 (25%) counseling psychologists, one (1%) counselor educator, and two (2%) from other types \ of training programs. Chi Square analyses revealed that beneficence was the justification utilized most often, to a significant degree, by supervisors as a rationale to support resolutions of the dilemmas presented in the POI. Cochran Q analyses indicated that decision-making justifications were not utilized equivalently across the scenarios of the POI, suggesting that supervisors differentially applied the justifications depending upon the particular dilemma. Chi Square analyses also indicated that the demographic variables examined in this study were not influential on the justifications utilized by supervisors.

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