Ethical Dilemma In Social Work

This essay will address the ethical dilemmas faced by social workers and how they address these ethical dilemmas when working with service users and carers. It will be illustrated that codes of practice and codes of ethics are of paramount importance when dealing with these dilemmas as they are ones that guide social workers as to how they should try and solve these dilemmas.

Social workers face complex ethical issues in every aspect of their profession. This work is often ethically challenging because it involves direct contact and interaction with individuals who are vulnerable. There are many factors that influence our decision making especially when working with at risk youths, we often face challenges in wanting to take on certain roles to protect our clients. These roles often conflict with our professional obligations. When our personal and professional values conflicts, our decisions may affect the individual, family, group, community and the organization.

Fourth ethical issue I spotted was the relationship was deepened when Dr. Lowenstein asked Tom to coach her son in football. This is an indicator of a dual relationship that should be prohibited. Football is a contact sport and this created a relationship between Tom and Susan’s son. The relationship escalated as Tom and the son we rolling around in the grass and became close as summer went on. This is an unreasonable distance between client and Susan’s personal life.

As a social worker many problems may arise because of the constant grey area of either letting your personal values interfere with your professional opinion. It is essential to provide your client with information and tools to help them succeed and overcome their problems. Following the core values is essential to being a resourceful, competent social worker. In some cases, core values are in conflict. In a situation where more than one core value is in conflict it is considered an ethical dilemma (Hick, 2009). It’s not guaranteed that a perfect solution will arise, therefore one of the core values is subsided because the other has more of an impact on the client.

The ethical dilemma concerns the client’s best interest vs do no harm. The case worker is attempting to determine the best placement for each of the sisters, together or separately. All client systems must be considered carefully in order to prevent harm to either parties. In order to make a

Ethical dilemmas happen frequently in the social work and how one handles them could be the difference on how a clinician keeps their license or not. The problem is there is no way to prepare a person from knowing what situations will arise. Scenarios arise all the time and new ways to handle them is constantly changing. The ethical dilemma can happen anywhere and at any time with anyone, it could be a client, co-worker, and even supervisors. No social worker is safe from them. One however can practice with scenarios and be aware of personal biases. A social worker needs to evaluate each dilemma with the different frameworks and principals to determine which one applies best, anticipate what possible outcomes could happen, and what interventions a social worker would implement.

The purpose of this study was to examine and understand the types of activities viewed as either ethical or unethical by psychologists practicing in different settings and orientation. Psychologists from the district of Hilo, Hawaii completed questionnaire and survey concerning the behaviors and acts that lead practitioners to engage in dual roles with client. Measures included demographic questionnaire and the Therapeutic Practices Survey. The participants rated the degree or level to which each behavior or act was ethical. A majority believed dual role behaviors to be unethical under most conditions and some reported that they have rarely or never engage in such behaviors. The profession and practice setting did not vary among terms of involvements, which includes incidental, social/financial, and dual roles. A review of previous studies and literature assisted in revealing the nature of relationships, ethical guidelines provided, and limits of boundaries for relationships. This study offers data to support the need for awareness of activities and behaviors leading to dual roles and the settings of practitioners most at risk.

To begin, the counselor described her client and the ethical dilemma that took place. CMB was seeing her client, a 36-year-old white woman, for one and a half years. The client’s reason for attending counseling was to work through family issues, particularly, managing the effects of growing up with an alcoholic father. One day, the client asked CMB if she would take on her sister as a client. Initially, the counselor was hesitant, explaining that she does not normally like to take on new clients who have a personal relationship with her current clients. However, the client pushed, and explained that her sister was going through a very specific situation, unrelated to her own therapy, that would only require short term counseling. Further, the client said that is will not interfere with her counseling experience. So, CMB decided to take on her current client’s sister as a new client.

There are many ways in which social workers can avoid ethical dilemmas. In regards to the Jones case I will explain five ethical dilemmas. I will explain what 3 core values could have benefitted the Jones family and I will give three strategies I will use to practice ethical behavior in my field of social work in the future.

The ACA Code of Ethics states, “when counselors are faced with ethical dilemmas that are difficult to resolve, they are expected to engage in a carefully considered ethical decision-making process,” (ACA, 2014, p. 3). Throughout these three case studies, I will use the seven-step ethical decision-making model to address the important professional issues, relevant ethical codes, and legal standards (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996). By applying the steps to each case I will share how I came to my resolutions.

In the mental health field, a dual relationship is a situation where multiple roles exist between a therapist, or other mental health practitioner, and a client (Zur, 2015). Dual relationships are also referred to as multiple relationships, and these two terms are used interchangeably in the research literature (Zur, 2015). Standard 3.05 of the APA ethics code outlines the definition of multiple relationships. Dual or multiple relationships occur when (APA, 2010):

As a social worker, there are obligations you should abide by in the field of practice. Dual relationships should among the client and the social worker should never take place in the field of practice. The NASW Code of Ethics, section 2.07 states, social workers who decides to engage in sexual intercourse with their client’s, will suffered many consequences for their actions. (NASW Assembly, 2008).

To begin with, the client whose name is Mr. Sam Pilsudski has an obstructed airway secondary to cancer of the larynx. He is a 67-year-old widower, and a father of one son and two daughters, who is unconscious and terminally ill, if not for a much-needed operation to remove both his cancer and larynx to save his life. However, one of Mr. Pilsudski’s daughters has adamantly refused to consent to the surgical procedure despite the physician explaining that although the operation would unfortunately render his patient disabled without a voice consequentially, but ultimately surviving the procedure to live and recover. Moreover, the physician attempted with rational and clear communication to express the gravity of the rather poor prognosis of his illness to his daughter that in the event of foregoing the surgery, his patient would surely die (Ralph Dolgoff, Donna Harrington, and Frank M. Loewenberg (2012), Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice. 9th Ed; p. 279).

In the mental health profession of counseling, therapy, psychology, psychiatric and social services ethical dilemmas are faced primarily on a daily basis. Being that mental health professionals are working with clients who are often fragile and vulnerable, they must develop an intense awareness of ethical issues. On the other hand, mental health professionals would never intentionally harm their clients, students or colleagues and others whom they work with. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough to ensure that wrong doings will not occur and mental health professionals have no choice but to make ethically determined decisions. Depending upon the experience and expertise of the professional determines the outcome of the ethical

In this case, the psychologist is presented with several ethical issues which could cause harm to the client. The first ethical issue that arose in this case is the potential for a role conflict. The psychologist and Mr. Hartwig had contact prior to the development of a therapeutic relationship when the psychologist bought a car from Mr. Hartwig. It may not be enough that the brief, informal relationship ended. The psychologist must assess the dimensions of the previous relationship from the viewpoint of the client as well as his/her own personal feelings (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2008). For example, the client could feel that he gave the psychologist a good deal and that the psychologist was indebted to him. This could leave the