Ethics and Values of Social Work - Term Paper Example

? Social Work: Ethics and Values Introduction s of ethics are regulations used to guide behaviors of professionals in anorganization, which are written or documented. Counseling profession involves dealing with some crucial information that needs to be confidential. There exist principles and standards of ethics that are applicable in certain situations. Academicians developed a hierarchy of principles that available for counseling. These principles focus on the well-being of clients as counselors consent not to share the information given to them. They are important since practitioners use them to resolve ethical dilemmas, define responsibilities of social workers. These workers can also use the principles and ethics to develop problem-solving strategies and improve decision-making skills. Case study 1: “Mellissa’s HIV diagnosis” Principles and standard codes of ethics Social workers can apply principles and standard codes of ethics in this case. This is a situation involves the other party losing. Mellissa’s fiance is not aware of what is about to unfold and he becomes a point of reference for the counselor. The therapist is obliged to select the best principles and standards of codes of ethics to help the client (Walsh, 2008). This research paper recommends the use of ethical responsibility to clients, self-determination, and informed consent as the best principles and codes of ethics to decide on this case (Cournoyer, 2010). The social worker should look at the implications of Melissa’s decision to her fiance. She gives crucial information about their relationship that the professional must treat carefully. On the other hand, any slight mistake by the counselor may hurt her. She states clearly that the worst that can happen is seeing the fiance walk away from her because of her condition. The paragraphs below explain why these principles best suits the scenario. Ethical responsibility to clients People who seek counseling services expect professionals to have ethical responsibilities (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2011). The counselor must be responsible for any he or she does or says. The HIV scenario requires that the therapist must Melissa with respect. In most countries, those who live with the conditions receive unfair treatment. The worker should avoid stereotyping the client due to her condition and what she is about to do. This means that commitment to clients forms the center stage. Privacy and confidentiality are equally important. The client, Melissa has disclosed her status. The counselor should treat it very confidential and keep it a secret between them. Ethics goes along with people’s culture. The counselor should embrace cultural competence and ensure that social diversity exists in the office. While giving advice, matters to deal with religion and culture should never be concentrated on (Kirk-Ashman, 2013). Most important is the client’s backgrounds which should not be looked down upon in any way. The language used should also be very polite. Self-determination This principle focuses on helping the client at the counseling session (Kirk-Ashman & Hull, 2010). After listening to client’s side of the story, he or she should give available options. A variety of options help the client to choose from among the best. On the other hand, the counselor should give consequences of each option. The session should be very involving such that both client and the worker take part in defining the options (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2011). It makes the whole process credible since the client has alternatives. The client does evaluation of alternatives. However, the therapist can go an extra mile of assisting individuals evaluate each option. The client can also make a decision, which helps the worker to know the type of individual that seeks help. The professional is encouraged to allow room for decision making among the clients. It helps bridge the gap between the client and the therapist. Informed consent Informed consent is another code of ethic or principle that entails the client agreeing to seek service and providing information used by the counselor (Walsh, 2008). Firstly, the worker must define the client’s competence. This means that the client’s ability to deal with certain situations is determined. On the other hand, the worker provides service information to the victim. This describes the types offered, time allocated for the whole process. It helps individuals anticipate what is going to unfold and compels the counselor to duty. It is ethically acceptable to ensure that the client understands the whole process. The process should be transparent and simple enough for better understanding. Enough time should also be allocated for the session. The counselor must avoid unnecessary breaks because it is a distraction to the client (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2011). Finally yet importantly, the social worker must document the informed consent. It binds the counselor and the client to avoid breaches. Ethical hierarchy principles Organizations list these principles in the order of importance thus forming a hierarchy with the first principles being the most important (Miller, 2003). Principles that can apply in this situation include autonomy and freedom, privacy and confidentiality, truthfulness and full disclosure (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2011). Autonomy and freedom suite this situation since Mellissa needs to break free from her fears. She gets into trouble and already defines a solution for it. This principle recommends that clients should not put all burdens to themselves and speaking out leads to self-freedom. Privacy and confidentiality in this context are important since Mellissa’s HIV status is a secret. The fiance is ignorant of the situation should not learn it from the social worker. Truth fullness and disclosure is a principle that revolves around Mellissa and her fiance. She is supposed to be truthful to him and disclose her condition. The counselor must also be straightforward with her while giving advice. How to handle the situation After Mellissa speaks out her problem, the counselor should take time to understand the situation. He or she should remind themselves of the ethical responsibilities that they must observe. The counselor after getting to the root of Mellissa’s problem should give an informed consent her information gets to none and create room for decision-making. He or she can encourage Mellissa to be truth full to her fiance. Her suitor can understand her condition. The decision to break up with him is rushed and she should stop being autonomous. The counselor must be careful when giving such advice and arm him or herself with convincing reasons to do so. Breaking up with her fiance may be cruel since he will experience heartache. She should be careful of her conscience, which can come to haunt her in future. The break up may be successful but the man will obviously ask for the reasons and discover her secret. Case study 2: Max’s post-polio syndrome This scenario is almost similar to the first one but differs slightly since loss of life is involved. Max is depressed about his condition and feels that he has become a nuisance to his family. Suicide cases are delicate and the social worker must adapt the right principles of ethics and codes. The client needs undivided attention. Self-governance has led the victim to contemplate suicide and the counseling session should discourage the act in the end. It is a huge task since the counselor’s decision is the best in this situation. No social worker can encourage clients to commit suicide hence the worker must be prepared to discourage against the decision using the right ethical principles and the best hierarchy of these principles. Principles and standard codes of ethics that relate to this situation Ethical responsibilities as professional Cases like suicide are a test of people’s professionalism. Some codes of ethics and standards apply in the counseling profession. The counselor must practice in this profession with competence. He or she should be reliable and be available at all times (Walsh, 2008). In Max’s case, the counselor should be dedicated and work with passion in such cases. If the situation is out of hand, the counselor should seek assistance. Seeking advice from other personnel in the field is a form of researching on the problem. Consultation should not stop at the first counseling session but follow up is necessary. The counselor should also avoid misinterpretation. It requires professionals to be sound in mind. For instance, Max is a depressed person whose reason for committing is to improve the family’s life. A social worker who attends to him should consider the fact that this individual wants to commit suicide to ease the burden on his family. Ethical responsibilities should therefore work towards saving the life of Max. Confidentiality Confidentiality goes in hand with privacy. Documenting the consent obliges social workers to keep client information (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2011). The counselor should heed to what the client wants. For instance, Max wants to commit suicide of which the family is not aware. Therefore, the social worker has no right to tell his family about the problem. In this case, the client discloses his property worth as a life insurance. It is a secret between the two parties. Confidentiality makes it possible to avoid a breach of contract. Breaches are two types: intentional and unintentional. Intentional occurs when there is loss of life involved. Social workers can provide certain information to save the life of someone who shows suicide signs. Ethical principles from the hierarchy of ethical principles apply to the case study Social workers in this case must choose hierarchy of principles wisely. They have to be life saving based since life a person is at stake. The counselor must arrange these principles to have protection of life, least harm and quality of life hierarchy (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2006). Protection of life involves the social worker putting endless efforts to discourage the client from taking away life. In this scenario, the counselor should protect Max’s life by encouraging him that life is worth living. He should not feel ashamed of his condition since the family may have not seen any burden that he thinks. The social worker can work closely with other professionals to ensure that this life is not lost. An example can be seeking religious intervention. This helps the client to connect with the spiritual world and can discourage suicide attempts. Second in this hierarchy is least harm. Counseling institutions should work with community-based correctional centers to monitor suicide attempts (Chapin & Russel, 2010). Those found in the community should monitor attempts to do so extensively. This principle is relevant to this case since saving of Max’s life is a duty of the social worker. He or she must work closely with the community and relevant authorities to save him. Lastly, quality of life is another vital principle. It should become the last resort in life threatening situations. The victim should value life since it is a gift from God and should understand that people need them. In Max’s case, the counselor should sit down with him and tell him great life experiences. If the client is outgoing, talk about parties and all those niceties. It can make the client consider think before acting. Quality of life principle applies in Max’s situation since he can be convinced that the family needs him and does not see him as a burden. They have been there for him for such a long time without exhaustion. How to handle the situation The situation should not get casual handling like other cases. By the time Max seeks for help, the counselor must be aware of ethical responsibilities. Confidentiality and breach of contracts apply in this context. All counselors’ efforts are towards saving Max’s life. If the client insists, a social worker has no option but to give out certain information because the counseling should not encourage suicide. Hierarchy of principles should be referred to as it provides a guideline of coming up with the problem solving framework. Protection of life should take center stage. The professional must do whatever it takes to protect the victim’s life even if it means making compromises in such a scenario. Max must understand that he has a life and will reward his family when God takes away his life. References Chapin, T & Russell-Chapin, L. A. (2010). Clinical supervision: Theory and practice. Connecticut: Cengage. Cottone, R. R & Tarvydas (2006). Counseling Ethics and Decision Making. New York City: Pearson/Merrill Pretencise Hall. Cournoyer, B. R (2010). The social Work Skills Workbook. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Dolgoff, R., Loewenberg, F.M & Harrington, D. (2011). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice. Connecticut: Cengage learning. Kirk-Ashman, K.K. (2013). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Human Behavior in the Macro Social Environment. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Kirst-Ashman, K. K & Hull, G. H. (2010) .Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Miller, G. (2003). Incorporating spirituality in counseling and psychotherapy: theory and technique. Connecticut: John Wiley & Sons. Walsh, J. (2008). Generalist Social Work Practice: Intervention Methods: Intervention Methods Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Read More