Social Services Ethical Dilemmas

The Onslow County Department of Social Services primary responsibility is to address child abuse, neglect and dependency. The Child Protection Services Division provides intake, investigation, assessment, and in-home services when needed. The division has a commitment to deliver family-centered services to children and families in Onslow County. When social workers are providing these services they may be faced with ethical dilemmas. An ethical dilemma, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of actions, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.” Social workers working for the Onslow County Department of Social Services have a duty to follow agency policies while still abiding by the NASW Code of Ethics. Being able to respond to ethical dilemmas while working as a social worker is crucial. The intent of this paper is to discuss an ethical dilemma that arose during field placement at the Onslow County Department of Social Services.

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This focuses on the best interest of the client which is the child and will cause for the mother to take responsibility for her actions. This course of action will likely cause the mother to feel betrayed and not trusting of other social workers in the future, but it will limit the possibility of putting the child in danger if the mother was allowed unsupervised visits in the future. The case was opened because of drug abuse issues and it is important to continue to advocate and do what is best for the child. Maintaining your integrity is also important when working in an agency setting. If you violate agency policy by withholding pertinent information, you are being disrespectful and dishonest towards your supervisor and