Primary Ethical issue
Discuss about the Professional Decision Making Case Study.
In the given set of circumstances the primary ethical issue is to identify whether Mona should tell the police that the fire which had burned the house was actually her fault. The counselor in this given scenario is also faced with an ethical dilemma. The counselor must decide whether to assure Mona that the she was not the one who was responsible for the fire that burned down the house or whether to make her realize her fault.
The Code of Ethics (AASW) lays down the responsibilities and the values which are essential and integral to the profession of social work. The aforementioned code is intended is to provide assistance to all the social workers individually and collectively (Almeida et al. p.182 2017). The purpose of this code is to provide assistance to the social workers so that they can act ethically in the pursuit of the aims of the professions. The constitution of the AASW mandates it to adopt a code of ethics which contains the set of principles that are agreed upon by the members of the AASW. The ethical principles which are relevant to the given case study are:
- Respect for persons
- Social Justice
- Professional integrity ( AASW’s Code of Ethics2010 p. 12-13)
Respect for persons: It is worth mentioning that the social work profession regards every individual has an inherent and unique personality and that every person has the right to his self-determination, self fulfillment and well being which is consistent with the rights and culture of others (Congress p. 1909 2017). It can be further said that the social work profession mandates the social workers:
- to respect the dignity, autonomy and worth of every individual
- to respect the human rights of individuals and the groups
- to respect and recognize group independence, identity and reciprocity of the collective needs of the group.
It can be stated that the counselor in this given scenario must respect the dignity and individuality of Mona.
It can be stated that the profession of social work regards social justice as a core obligation of the profession which the societies should be called upon to uphold. For the purpose of upholding social justice:
- The social work profession promotes justice and social fairness by reducing social barriers and expanding potential and the choices of persons (Edwards and Addae p. 90 2015). The code of ethics mandates the social workers to have special regards for the needs of those who are unfortunate, disadvantaged, oppressed and vulnerable.
- The code mandates the social work profession to advocate change to the social structures and systems and which preserve injustice and inequalities
- Social work profession aims to eliminate and oppose any kind of violation of human rights and also aims to affirm the political, civil, cultural and economic rights of the individuals ( AASW’s Code of Ethics2010 p.13)
- It also promotes community participation in societal decisions and processes and also aims to develop and implement social services and policies.
The counselor in the given scenario must aim to promote the participation of Mona in societal activities. The counselor must also aim to promote the inherent social well being of Mona so that she can stop blaming herself for the incident that could not have been predicted by her.
It is to be mentioned that the profession of social work stresses on the values of honesty, reliability, competence, commitment, reflective self awareness and commitment (Reamer p. 129 2015). Therefore, in this regard it can be stated that members who volunteer to do social work must:
- Apply the skills and knowledge in ways which focus on the needs of others rather than personal gains.
- Use the powers and authority vested in them in a responsible manner so as to serve humanity
- Make decisions which are in line with the ethical principles. Such social workers must be accountable for the professional decisions taken by them.
- Act responsibly and with dignity. They are required to exhibit a high quality of professional conduct.
- Reflect on their own life-long learning, training and education and supervision for the purpose of ensuring that the decisions taken by them are in line with the ethical principles. They are also required to ensure ongoing professional competence.
Professional ethical principles of AASW Code of Ethics
It can be stated that the counselor in dealing with Mona’s case must ensure that he acts with professional integrity. The counselor must exhibit high quality of professional conduct and apply his knowledge and skills to help him make the decision in relation to the ethical dilemma Professional integrity ( AASW’s Code of Ethics 2010 p.13)
It is worth mentioning that the social work profession acknowledges the fact that ethical dilemmas can arise when a person who volunteers to do social work has to make a choice between the alternative courses of action, which are supported by moral considerations and which are likely to produce a result that is undesirable in some way (Horn et al. p. 100 2018). To resolve ethical dilemmas, social workers resort to the ethical decision making process which is systematic and reflective in nature (Hollowell and Nicholas p. 70 2016). Social workers have the duty to regard several general principles which in turn guide rigorous, reflective and sound decision making. In this regard it can be stated that social workers need to
- Have relevant and full information as possible about the matter before making the decision.
- Identify the key values of social work or the ethical responsibilities which have come into the conflict.
- Assessing the range of the decisions that could be possibly made and the reasoning behind each of the decisions in terms of the ethical theories, code of ethics, natural and legal justice principles, organizational policies and social work based policy principles.
- Be accountable, transparent and collaborative of all the stakeholders relevant to the ethical dilemma while observing the duty of care requirements and maintaining appropriate confidentiality.
- Observe relevant cultural considerations and paying attention to diversity issues
- Engaging in supervision and consultation where appropriate with the stakeholders involved in the ethical dilemma for the purpose of facilitating critical reflection of examining personal and professional preference and prejudices.
- Documenting the issues which have been considered for the purpose of making the ethical decision, decision making process and the outcomes of such decision making process ( AASW’s Code of Ethics2010 p. 14)
It is worth mentioning that social workers while making ethical decisions are recommended to consult and discuss the ethical dilemma with the supervisors, colleagues, AASW Ethics consultation services and other competent professionals. Therefore in the given scenario, the counselor has the ethical responsibility of considering the relevant facts and information related to the self harming nature and tendency of Mona. The health counselor has the responsibility to assess the range of decisions and the reasons behind taking such decisions in relation to the dilemma. Further, it can be stated that the counselor has the ethical responsibility of observing the cultural background of Mona and the diversity issues.
In relation to the facts of the given scenario, the best plan of action would be to assure Mona that her act of giving pills to her grandmother could not have been possibly the root cause of the fire that burned down the house. She needs to be assured that her act was an impulsive one as it did not have any motive of causing any harm her family members. Assuring her this would only help her to overcome her self-harming attitude. It is worthwhile to refer the concept of virtue ethics in this regard. The concept of virtue ethics deals with the fact that when one needs help he has to be helped because it promotes well being of the humankind as a whole (Polito, Sevransky and Dickert p. 624 2016). The concept of virtue ethics can be completely related to the present case study for the purpose of promoting charitable and benevolent concern. Therefore, it is always important to help the individuals in need and it is a kind of decision in which one can live with.
AASW’s Code of Ethics 2010.
Almeida, J., O’Brien, K.H.M. and Norton, K., 2017. Social work’s ethical responsibility to train MSW students to work with suicidal clients. Social work, 62(2), pp.181-183.
Congress, E.P., 2017. What social workers should know about ethics: Understanding and resolving practice dilemmas. Social Work Ethics, p.1909.
Edwards, B. and Addae, R., 2015. Ethical decision-making models in resolving ethical dilemmas in rural practice: Implications for social work practice and education. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 12(1), pp.88-92.
Hollowell, J. and Nicholas, G., 2016. Ethical challenges to a postcolonial archaeology: The legacy of scientific colonialism. In Archaeology and Capitalism (pp. 59-82). Routledge.
Horn, A. R., Weijer, C., Grimshaw, J., Brehaut, J., Fergusson, D., Goldstein, C. E., & Taljaard, M. (2018). An ethical analysis of the SUPPORT trial: addressing challenges posed by a pragmatic comparative effectiveness randomized controlled trial. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 28(1), 85-118.
Polito, C.C., Sevransky, J.E. and Dickert, N.W., 2016. Ethical and regulatory challenges in advancing prehospital research: focus on sepsis. The American journal of emergency medicine, 34(3), pp.623-625.
Reamer, F.G., 2015. Clinical social work in a digital environment: Ethical and risk-management challenges. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), pp.120-132.
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