The unfortunate Stockton schoolyard shooting of 1989 set the stage for school based crisis intervention. During this time, a man attacked the school and randomly shot across the school playground killing five children. With schools credited for providing safety for students, the occurrence of such events carries a level of terror that necessitates the need for crisis intervention. According to Heath and Sheen (2005), a crisis is an event or situation that occurs without warning and poses harm to an individual or group. Dealing with crises when they occur requires readily available resources. James and Gilliland (2013), equally point out that individuals define crisis differently, with the general idea being that in such cases individuals experience difficulty when coping with the traumatic situation. Within a school setup, crises expose students to threat, loss, and trauma. This causes a ripple effect by threatening the safety, security, and stability of children when in school. They disrupt the normal routine of schools, causing panic and confusion among students. In planning a crisis intervention, it is necessary to have various issues in mind such as the cultural, ethical, and legal issues that affect implementation of the crisis plan.
School counselors have a major role to play following that they have an understanding of the issues affecting students. The American School Counselor Association as explained by Stone and Dahir (2011), postulates that school counselors should implement standard based comprehensive counseling programs to address the issues students face. In preparing a crisis intervention plan, there are various strategies to consider. They include the primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention strategies. Primary intervention involves preventive efforts that decrease the likelihood of a crisis occurring, (Heath and Sheen, 2005). They involve efforts that reduce the extent and magnitude of trauma when the crisis occurs. For example, schools discouraging unfavorable behavior such as bullying act as primary interventions that protect students. Secondary intervention involves planning the acute phase of the crisis. Tertiary intervention on another hand, involves targeting lingering chronic emotional needs that could trigger a crisis. For example, the provision of counseling services to students helps curb the potential effects of crisis.
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Concerning cultural issues, culture plays an important role in crisis intervention. A school counselor plays an active role in this. It is then important for them to have the necessary skills in multicultural counseling and assessment, (Whitson, 2012). In some aspects, cultural aspects may interfere with the development of a sustainable crisis plan. Currently, school dynamics incorporate ethnic diversity with majority of students coming from different ethnic backgrounds. According to Kemple (2005), the makeup of American schools is changing, facilitating the need for cultural sensitivity in mental health services. Culture is a unique concept as it influences the perception of an event as traumatic, affecting individuals’ interpretation of a crisis. Cultural knowledge then is important in establishing a suitable capacity to respond to crisis. Different cultures have different ways of perceiving events as crises. In formulating a plan as explained by Kemple (2005), awareness of the cultural orientation of the various demographic present in schools helps in development of effective crisis intervention plans. Such plans are free from looming stereotypes and prejudices that potentially affect the reaction of students to situations. One of the issues highlighted by Kemple (2005) reveals the dependence of western culture in formulating intervention strategies. Other challenges that are area of concern include language barriers in schools where students do not use English as a first language. Regardless of the looming cultural changes, tackling cultural issues requires integrating a multicultural approach in developing crisis plan. One of the ways is having school psychologists versed with multicultural issues. Another way is to address the cultural issues through assessment of the plans developed by wearing a multicultural lens.
Ethical issues present various dilemmas for stakeholders when developing crisis plans. According to James and Gilliland (2013), ethical practice is necessary in crisis intervention and its intersection with the law. An ethical challenge experienced in the school context involves the nature of the crisis. When the nature of the crisis is suicide, the schools in collaboration with the counselors have a responsibility to divulge the information to the parents or guardians. This represents a tug between two ethical principles such as confidentiality and duty to warn. In as much as the situation may breach the confidentiality agreement the counselor has with the student, providing such information in itself is a form of crisis intervention. School in formulating intervention strategies have to understand the relationship between ethical principles and the legal implications associated with the nature of the intervention. One of the cases that provide clarity on the issue is Tarasoffs case. School officials as explained by James and Gilliland (2013), have the responsibility to take action when students’ behavior poses a challenge to other students. School officials have a central role to play as foreseers in upholding ethical standards such that when they notice unfavorable behavior in students such as acting out or writing suicide notes, they should reach out. With this in mind, schools should be proactive in creating crisis plan that fits their needs, having in mind the potential ethical obligations associated with the structure of the plan. School psychologists in this case have a role to provide insight on the ethical dynamics that could affect the plan.
Legal issues
Developing crisis intervention strategies, various legal issues are of concern. One of the key aspects involves developing clear policies and procedure in the face of legal issues. In lieu of school safety legislation, schools need o work at the district level and with other governing bodies to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements surrounding the development of interventions, (Silva, 2006). This is important as the political dimensions of the community and district interact with legal issues. With ethics presenting a standard of conduct, schools must be keen in ensuring that the interventions developed comply with the law. For example, in cases involving child abuse and neglect, for school counselors assisting such students, there is a responsibility to protect such students. In such a case, the law takes precedence even where the student wishes to have the issue confidential.
Conclusion
Crisis intervention in schools is necessary to build the level of safety needed in schools. This follows that schools serve as important agents of socialization. Students need to be in environments that encourage their development mentally, socially, and spiritually. One such way schools do so is by having favorable crisis intervention strategies. In developing intervention strategies, various aspects including the cultural, ethical and legal issues affect them. With cultural issues, it is necessary to have a multicultural approach when developing the approaches and for school counselors to be multiculturally competent. Concerning ethical issues, the school has to have in mind that the strategies in play do not interfere with the ethical conduct of professionals in the school, be it teachers, counselors. Legal issues coincide with ethical issues with the need for schools to collaborate with other schools and the community at a district level so that they have a baseline for ensuring that the interventions suggested do not infringe upon others.
References
Heath, M. and Sheen, D. (2005). School Based Crisis Intervention: Preparing all personnel to assist. New York: Guilford Press.
Kemple, Ana. (2005). School Psychologists Perceived Concerns regarding crisis intervention with diverse populations. Brigham University. Print.
James, R. and Gililand, B. (2013). Crisis Intervention Strategies. Belmont: Cengage Learning
Stone, Carolyn and Dahir, C. (2011). School Counselor Accountability: A measure of student success. The Merrill Counseling Series.
Silva, A. and Klotz. (2006). Culturally Competent Crisis. Print.
Whitson, Susan. (2013). Principles and Applications of Assessment in Counseling. 3rd Edition. Belmont: Cengage Learning.
