The article “The Willow River Developmental Disabilities Center” talks about a dilemma involving social worker Juan, an employee at the Willow River State Center. This article is embedded with a story that simply communicated the unjust care clients received at the facility. As a result of the undeserved treatment being experienced by clients; social worker Juan grew tired of the inadequate active treatment being provided to clients. So, Juan took it upon himself and demanded for better clients treatments and programs form his employer. The following questions embedded in this assignment attempts to identify and address some general ethical dilemma social workers might encounter at a workplace.…
When you have a big heart and the need to help people, you want to do it correctly and have programs in place to improve their quality of life. When you start an organization you need to have a plan. The company needs to have in place what the services will be; so that the clients will know what the organization is all about and if they can help them with their needs. Today, we have an overabundance of citizens who cannot afford good, quality medical care. The Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, Inc. (BPMC) is hoping to change that. We are going to be a non-profit dedicated to the citizens…
I think that the NASW code of ethics is adequate in explaining what is expected of a social worker in their career. There is plenty of information on how to behave, what is to be expected of a social worker, why a social worker must behave ethically and morally correct, and who the social worker is here to help. However I do not think that the code has enough information on what will happen to a social worker if they are caught behaving unethically, or immorally. In my opinion there could be a little bit more information on this subject.…
Everyday health care workers around the world are faced with tough decisions. The law guides many decisions but some decisions require ethical considerations. Making good ethical decisions is not always as easy as it seems. Making ethical decisions is even harder when the primary intention is to be helpful, but it is beyond an employee’s qualifications.…
As nurses, we encounter ethical situations everyday regarding patient care. How we handle these situations promote equality while seeking rationality. After reading the two case studies presented, I will discuss in my reflective journal how the ethical issues were presented, the steps taken in the decision-making process to ethically address the issues, the lenses used and how these lenses influenced the decisions made, and also how these can relate to the workplace. The Baird Decision Model is a five step process that guides us through that decision-making process when making ethical decisions.…
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.…
The NASW follows six Ethical Principles. The Ethical Principle that social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships is most relevant to the problem of child abuse because it coincides with the best interests of those working to bring child victims of abuse out of their unhealthy state of living. Under this Ethical Principle, the NASW Code of Ethics states that “Social workers understand that relationships between and among people are an important vehicle for change. Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process. Social workers seek to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote, restore, maintain, and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups, organizations, and communities.” This Ethical Principle is the most relevant because it values human relationships and their coexistence with the outer forces of society. With this Principle intact, professional social workers are thus driven to improve the living conditions of those in need. They react to specific social problems that are harmful to individuals, such as child abuse and neglect.…
The NASW has an established Code of Ethics, (1996) for the profession. And the code applies not only to social workers but also to social work students. In addition, social worker must follow the Code regardless of the professional functions they perform, the setting they work in, or the populations they serve. The Code summarizes broad ethical principles that reflect the profession’s core values and establishes a set of specific ethical standards that you should use to guide your social work practice. And the primary mission of the social work profession according to the Code, is “to enhance the human well-being and help meet basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty”(p.1). The six core values of the profession relate to service, social justice,…
Professional ethics are at the core of social work. The social work profession has an obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical standards (NASW, p.2). The NASW Code of Ethics sets forth these values, ethical principles, and standards that should be used to guide social workers conduct. The code is relevant to all social workers and social work students, regardless of their profession, the settings in which they work, or the population they serve (NASW p. 2). Professional ethics are very important in the field of social work. According to the article NASW, the NASW Code of Ethics serves six purposes: It identifies core values on which social workers mission is based, the code summarizes broad ethical principles that reflect the professions core values and establishes a set of specific ethical standards that should be used to guide social work practice, the code is designed to help social workers identify relevant considerations when professional obligations or conflicts arise, the code also provides ethical standards to which the general public can hold the social work profession accountable, the code socializes practitioners new to the field to social works mission, values, ethical principles and ethical standards and lastly the code articulates standards that the social work profession itself can assess whether social workers have engaged in unethical conduct…
Social work is seen as a profession dedicated to helping different types of societies from children, adolescents and adults. Within the profession relationships develop because of all the compassion and inclination. This paper discusses the case of Angel Z. and her school’s therapist two-way relationship that develops through time. It states that social workers should caution on developing dual relationships, for the importance of upholding the standards of the code of ethics and the stability of the client. The key aspect is explained and illustrated with examples on how the NASW Code of Ethics is a valuable source for social workers to distinguish certain boundaries that should not be crossed or violated. It debates how boundary violations…
Because human services work often involves direct client interaction, there are times when the values of the worker differ from those of their clients. In these circumstances, ethical dilemmas tend to arise. Review the case examples and current ethical conflicts presented in Chapter 5 of your textbook. Choose…
All of us at a certain point of time have to encounter the situation of ethical dilemma in personal or professional life. In any field of life, there are certain ethics that every associated professional has to follow. In social services, focus on ethical behavior is of importance, as it is a part of the nature of these services. The social workers many times go through situations where they have to face moral or ethical dilemmas, which can be due to many reasons. This can be due to pressure from many sides such as management, colleagues, junior staff, clients, funding agencies. A social worker has to take hard steps in such situations to overcome those…
The 6 core values of the NASW code of ethics include service, social justice, dignity, and worth of a person, he importance of human relationships, integrity and competence. Social workers have ethical responsibilities to clients, colleagues, in practice settings, as professionals, to the social work profession and the broader society.…
Reamer, F. G. (1998). Ethical Standards in Social Work: A Critical Review of the NASW Code of…
National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp…