School professionals' knowledge and use of the duty to warn and duty to protect obligations

Abstract

School violence is an increasingly lethal and prevalent issue in the nation today. Acts of violence, even murder, can be remembered in a variety of states including Colorado, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and even Wisconsin. This killer is neither location bound nor biased in who is effected by the violence. The implications trickle down to all people, even a person who is far removed from one of these incidences is impacted just by watching the news our reading the newspaper. This is a literature review of current legal and ethical guidelines for school professionals to follow in relation to the duty to warn and an attempt to find current school professionals attitude, knowledge, and practice regarding these guidelines. No federal regulations were found related to school professionals' duty to warn, however, state regulations do exist. Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California is the case that set precedence for professionals to warn third parties of potential danger and tends to be the governing case in related legal suits. Recommendations are presented for future research, which include assessing attitudes and behaviors of school professionals' regarding the legal and ethical obligations of the duty to warn.