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Ethical Use Of Email Critical Analysis

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The age of people going to their mailboxes to retrieve important documents is soon to be an action of the past. Very people use what we now call “snail mail” to transport important information to different destinations. We can now send documents in a matter of minutes by using an email account. Technology has become so advanced that we can now access our medical records by using an online network and never leaving our homes. We can also email our physicians and ask them questions about our records using this same network. The article that I chose to critique, raises questions about how ethical the use of email is in a clinical social work setting. The use of email has both benefits and risks, which the author discusses in this article.
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A client can send an email at any time of the day and will be expecting a respond in a timely manner. This can inconvenience a worker that has other tasks to get done and cause a client to feel neglected if the worker does not respond right away. Another disadvantage is the lack of visual emotions when using the email system. A worker cannot always tell what the client is feeling through an email and may respond in error as a result. Ethical and legal risks also contribute to the uncertainty that workers have about the use of online communication. The article mentions three ethical risks: confidentiality, boundary violations, and dual relationships. Even with the best intentions, emailing is not always kept private. Some legal issues that were discussed included: informed consent, liability coverage, service delivery across jurisdictions, and licensure problems (Mattison, 2012, p. …show more content…

We would be able to better connect with adolescences and give them a place to share emotions that cannot be spoken. Also, our clients will have a sense of control and involvement in their treatment and will be more engaged. However, the NASW and CSWE is dropping the ball, by not implementing regulations and guidelines to ensure students and workers know all the risks and limitations involved. Information needs to be added to the curriculum and training needs to be mandatory for current workers. I liked how the author did not place all the responsibility on the associations, but gave the social worker a job as well. The worker must seek out the available information and stay abreast of the knowledge that is currently

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