Ethical Decision Making Chapter 4 Summary

Chapter 4 of The Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making was very informative. The chapter covered important points that are essential in the field of social work. The chapter was about the guidelines and process of ethical decision making. One of the main points of the chapter was the process of ethical decision making. The chapter defined this as “a process or series of thoughts and activities that occurs over time and that results in a person or group acting (or not acting) in a particular manner” (Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making, N.D). The chapter than provided a model of 7 items that we can follow when making an ethical decision. Another main point discussed was the ethical assessment screen. The screen is a tool for social workers to use. They can use this tool to clarify and integrate ethical aspects of decision making in their practice. Another important point the chapter discussed was the least harm principle. The least harm principle is used when there is no option where the client will not be hurt in some way. So this principle represents a way where we chose the option that does the least harm to our clients. Another point discussed was efficiency vs. effectiveness. Efficiency is concerned with the cost of achieving an objective. Effectiveness relates to the desired outcome achieved. Finally, the chapter discussed to screenings, the ERS and EPS. This two screens help rank our ethical principles.
The tool I will most likely use is the ethical principles screen.
I feel that this screening will help me make ethical decisions because it ranks our ethical principles in order from most important to least important. In my practice there will be challenging situations with many factors and ethical principles that must be considered. This screening will help put things in perspective and can help me figure out how to approach these difficult
situations. Ethical decision making connects to all of our social work core values. Ethical decision making and our values work as a team, you can have one of them without the other. As social workers we need both of them to be an effective social worker. It connects to our values of service because we must make ethical decisions in the way we serve our clients. It connects to social justice because we make ethical decisions in order to bring social justice to our clients. It connects to the dignity and worth of a person because we make ethical decisions in order to ensure our clients are treated fairly and equally by other factors that may be affecting them. It connects to the importance of human relationships because we make ethical decisions to make sure we continue the relationships we make in an ethical and professional way. It connects to integrity because ethical decision making helps ensure that we act efficiently with integrity in mind. Finally, it connects to competence because in order to be a competent social worker we must be able to make ethical decisions.