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Ethical Dilemmas In Social Work

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Ethical Dilemmas In Social Work
A social worker is often perceived as working a challenging job, however rewarding. Seabury and Garvin (2011) states, "The main mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty." Social workers make an obligation to ethical practice, but there will be times social workers hit a wall and will not have an easy answer to some ethical dilemmas (Seabury & Garvin, 2011). When a social worker is hesitant about what to do during an ethical dilemma, he or she needs to request assistance from a supervisor and if the social worker needs to make an exception to an ethical …show more content…
The spouse does not know and does not want you to revel this information. He just wanted your expertise. The ethical principal that the social worker should follow is integrity. Social workers should behave in a trustworthy manner, act honestly and responsibly, and promote ethical practices ("Read the Code of Ethics," n.d.). If the social worker told the wife, then she would be breaking her other client's confidentiality rights. The husband is not thinking about harming himself or others, so his confidentiality right cannot be broken. However, the social worker could ask to have a separate meeting so he or she could talk to the husband alone about the issue. Talk to the husband about their achievements in their marriage, how far counseling has come, and why did he decided to have an affair. Discuss his marriage with him and why he decided to stop working on his marriage. Try to convince him to end things with the man or woman he is having an affair with and to talk to his wife about the situation. If he decided to talk to his wife, then ask if he would prefer it to be during a counseling session. If you are a social worker that thinks it is morally wrong to have an affair, then there still should not be a negative reaction towards his or her client. As a social worker he or she needs to work on the individual not the marriage right away. Inform them what it means to be a spouse again. It is important for the client to really address his or her feelings, so they can come to the conclusion about their affair and

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