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Ethical dilemmas for social work
Ethical dilemmas for social work
Sample ethical dilemmas in social work practice
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Social workers will face ethical dilemmas when working with clients throughout their career. As a social work intern, it is important to understand the ethical standards of the profession in order to make the best possible decision in regards to any dilemma that might be encountered. Relevant to social workers today, especially in regards to working in a school setting with clients who are minors, there seems to be a conflict that exists between the standards of self-determination/confidentiality and professional conduct. Students tend to disclose a lot of information that brings these standards into conflict and the professional social worker has to use their judgment in deciding how to handle the situation.
Ethical Dilemma: This year my
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The first step is to look at the ethical issues that are involved. That is the decision of either breaking my clients confidentiality or not holding true to my professional conduct. Second, I will identify the individuals, groups, and originations that will be affected by the decision (Reamer, 1999). In this case the student, the students parents, my supervisor, the school, and me. Next, I will identify different course of action, risks, and benefits of each situation (Reamer, 1999). The first course of action could be to keep the information the client gave me confidential and help her to see why smoking marijuana is not the only way to help anxiety. I will still allow the client to self-determine, but maybe point out other coping mechanisms that are proven to help anxiety. The benefit of this is that I did not break confidently and kept the clients trust. Risks are that something bad could happen that would make me liable because I knew about the smoking and in turn put my supervisor and the school at risk. The other option would be to go to the client, let them know that this is an issue that needs to be discussed with my supervisor because of that fact that I am only an intern and that repercussions could follow if something bad were to transpire. The benefits of this are that my professional conduct will be upheld and the school will know what is
Working with people can be challenging, but so rewarding all at the same time. As humans, we are certainly not perfect and we are making mistakes daily. Making decisions is one thing that does not come easily to us, and depending on the day you can get multiple different answers to one situation. The NASW Code of Ethics is an extremely helpful tool when we are working with clients and something that does not ever waiver in ethical decision-making. If we are working in the Social work profession, then we must insure we are making the correct decision for everyone who is involved with the client.
Shaniya Robinson arrives at the County Human Services Authority for her monthly appointment with her social worker. Ms. Robinson is a 25 year old African American female who is receiving treatment for schizophrenia from the adult behavioral health services program. During a session the client reports that she is under a great deal of stress because she is having difficulty adjusting to being a new mother. Her five month old baby girl Shanice is teething and cries frequently. Ms. Robinson is also struggling financially because she is currently unemployed; her mental illness makes it difficult to sustain employment long term. And she does not receive support from the child’s father on a consistent basis. The combination of these interactional difficulties is weighing heavily on the client who reports an increase in positive and negative symptoms (i.e. auditory hallucinations and social withdrawal). Because the client does not have insurance she disclosed to her social worker that she self-medicates using marijuana in an effort to manage symptoms. More noteworthy, the client explains that she uses the same method to soothe the baby by blowing marijuana smoke in the infant's face. It is certain that Ms. Robinson divulged such information for several reasons, she wants help and she believes that any information she shares within the context of her sessions are confidential.
Handon, R. M. (2014, December). Client Relationships and Ethical Boundaries for Social Workers in Child Welfare. The New Social Worker, (winter), 1-6.
As a student new to social work, The Code of Ethics written by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is in the forefront of my mind whenever practicing my freshly learned skills. According to the Code, these rules were written as the “values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (Code of Ethics - NASW, n.d.). Within my most-recent session, certain aspects of this code were relevant, including informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, a commitment to the client, the dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competency of the worker, and social diversity.
When dealing with an ethical dilemma, social workers usually reference back to Reamers 7-step process to help with ethical decision-making. In the given case study, we meet Lori a bright fourteen-year-old who is smart, involved in school activities, and sports. She has had a non-normative impacted life since she was young, such as her mother dying of breast cancer and father dying as well. She has no immediate family and was lucky enough to be placed in a foster home with a family who loves her and wants the best for her.
This paper will evaluate and analyze an ethical dilemma that was presented in the textbook and the Case Study #1 that will be evaluated for this assignment. The questions that will be answered include what are the ethical dilemmas in the case and are these legitimate concerns for the social worker. In addition, when evaluating and analyzing the ethical dilemma in this case study it is necessary to look at why the social worker is worried about reporting newborns and why she feels that there are injustices and discrimination that come from these policies. Furthermore, as a social worker in this agency I would respond by figuring out what could be done in this situation and what courses of action could be done to change the injustices in the
I attribute this by our consent interaction with the NASW: Code of Ethics in our social work courses. By the use of journals, it is easy for students to connect ethical issues to practice and know what to do in certain situations. As I am getting ready to become a social worker, keeping this ethical principles fresh in my mind will be important to assure clients are treated with respect and adequate services are provide.
Ethical Issues in Social Work I will provide practical help for new social workers to help them understand and deal with ethical issues and dilemmas which they will face. There are many ethical issues which are important to social work, but I feel that these are all covered by the care value base. The care value base Was devised by the care sector consortium in 1992, this was so that the workers in health and social care had a common set of values and principles which they would all adhere to. It is important because for the first time the social care sector had a clear set of guidelines from which ethical judgements could be made. The care value base is divided into 5 elements - The care value base covers - Equality and Diversity - Rights and responsibilities - Confidentiality - Promoting anti Discrimination - Effective communication Equality and Diversity Carers must value diversity themselves before they can effectively care for the different races, religions and differently abled people they will come across in their caring profession.
In the social work practice, social workers should abide by and respect the protocol of their particular organization. The first ethical standard I would like to discuss is that a social worker having cultural competence and social (NASW, 1999). A social worker must possess the knowledge of values, customs, tradition and history just to name a few in order to have success with clients that may identify as something other than their own identity. Culture directs impacts human behavior. Within this case study, due to Mrs. Sanchez’s culture, she struggled to assimilate with the American culture and this included her being able to learn the English language. Her culture was very important to her and I respect that. As a social worker, I would have
This paper is about a reflection on a class interview for a senior social worker. The teacher gave every student ten minutes for this interview. The students did not have an idea of what their situation was about until couple minutes before the interview. This paper will focus on the limits of confidentiality for the client, potential assessment for the client, engagement with the client, and evaluation of the social worker.
As a part of the National Association of Social Workers, social workers may face different kinds of ethical dilemmas in their scope of practice. The code of ethics is put in place so that these professionals may be able to act wisely and make the most suitable and appropriate decisions thereby positively benefitting the client likewise themselves. An ethical dilemma is a conflict between two or more ethical principles. These ethical principles aim to provide beneficense, least harm, respect for autonomy, and provide justice. I will discuss three ethical dilemmas affecting human rights in social work.
There is a breach of confidentiality as a resident tells Fiona of Bree’s drug history and Fiona uses that unconfirmed information to confront Bree. Confronting Bree with her past drug use, an a public space that leads to an argument is also an ethical dilemma.
“In this essay, we have been asked to critically assess the professional values in the ‘British Association of Social Work’ (BASW). With this the concepts of ethics and how this operates in social work practice and analyse the general role in governing and representatives bodies in social work practice”.
The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43). In addition, ethical decision-making is a process that
All social workers are beholden to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Professional ethics are the main core of social work. The profession has an obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. The code is composed of thematic sections that outline a social worker’s responsibility to clients, colleagues, employers, and the profession. Some responsibilities that a social worker has to a client are that the clients are their primary responsibility, fostering maximum self-determination in clients, respecting the privacy of clients, keeping information that has been shared during the course of their duties confidential and charging fees for services that are fair and considerate