Professional Ethical Dilemmas In Social Work

a. How has God challenged you to include the excluded? Please provide an example.
God challenges me each day to include the excluded through my work with parents, children, and families that have become involved with the Department of Child Services. Every family that I encounter has their own story and that story is often times not understood or accepted by individuals looking at the family from the outside leading to the family being excluded or looked down upon. Each family has different needs and circumstances that impact their story, which are needs and circumstances that need to be taken into consideration as to why the family has become involved with the Department of Child Services.
One example of God challenging me to include the excluded occurred when I began working with a mother who had been released on parole after serving a three year sentence for possession of a controlled substance and theft. This particular client was released to a half-way house, she had one child in the foster care system, had no personal belongings other than the change of clothes she was released with,

and a very minimal support system. The client established three goals, which included, reestablishing a relationship with her daughter, obtaining employment, and eventually obtaining independent housing. Accomplishing the goal of obtaining employment has been extremely difficult for the client due to the lack of employment experiences, her criminal record, restricted availability due to the schedule of the half-way house, and lack of transportation. Upon her release she immediately began filling out applications for employment at local restaurants, hotels, stores, and factories, but did not receive a response from any of the places that she had applied over the first several weeks. Although this client has committed to continuing sobriety and creating changes in her lifestyle it is difficult for society to accept the commitment that she made due to her past record. I reached out to several resources and companies that I had worked with in the past with other clients and eventually was able to assist the client with obtaining employment at a local factory.

b.

How does/will your work as a social worker allow you to be like the Good Samaritan, yet uphold professional ethical boundaries?
My work as a social worker allows me to be like the Good Samaritan because I am committed to helping individuals especially within vulnerable populations grow and improve their life circumstances in various ways. I am able to appreciate and respect the human dignity in all individuals no matter what their circumstances are. While working with individuals I uphold professional ethical boundaries by only making connections based on the client’s needs, which allows me to build a professional relationship with the individuals I serve while avoiding befriending the individual. I allow the NASW Code of Ethics guide all of my interactions with individuals that I work with to ensure that I continuously uphold professional ethical boundaries with

clients.