Introduction
Social workers adhere to practice standards that sometimes conflict, resulting in professional and ethical dilemmas. However, prioritizing the immediate individuals’ needs and applying ethical theories to social work practice can help to provide practical recommendations on the best solutions to deal with stressors. The case study presents the Glass Family, currently in a crisis because its members suffer from aggravated constraints. The appointed social worker faces critical ethical dilemmas due to their responsibilities to the family and their oath to moral principles outlined by the code of conduct. In particular, the social worker should oversee the self-determination of his clients and adhere to the rules of confidentiality. Thus, the following essay explains how the service provider can adopt ethical concepts to navigate associated challenges and offer comprehensive assistance to Miss Jodie, Erin, Miriam, and Tim Glass because they require special attention.
The Concept of an ‘Ethical Dilemma’ in Social Work Practice
Ethical conduct in social work is critical to positive outcomes but characterized by complexities that give rise to dilemmas. An ethical dilemma in social work is a situation where two or more professional values, obligations, or practice standards do not align. These values include dignity, self-worth, the importance of human life, privacy, confidentiality, minimizing harm, self-determination, empowerment, competence, and integrity (Barsky, 2019). In some cases, assuring a particular value can mean going against another, thus presenting hardships and indecision on the appropriate path to take. As a result, social work service providers should act fast and swiftly when faced with ethical dilemmas, especially when potential outcomes have notable implications on the clients’ lives.
The family in the case is exposed to detrimental risks and faces issues that impact their relationship and life quality. As a result, the social worker assigned to their case is tasked with dealing with complex matters. However, the two values related to the study are individuals’ self-determination and confidentiality. Although these values are designed to enhance social work and improve the welfare of service providers and their patients, they can present dilemmas (Banks and Williams, 2005). Self-determination is a social work principle that acknowledges the needs and rights of individuals to make autonomous choices and decisions. As a result, the role of a service provider is to assist the client in making the right choice and facilitate access to the required resources (NASW, 2021). An individual who lacks self-determination can hardly make tough decisions without the input of others who might present ideas that are not in their best interest. Thus, understanding this principle puts social workers in a better position to determine what they can and cannot do in particular cases.
The second value associated with the case is confidentiality, as the parties share vital information that they prefer to remain private. In the social work profession, confidentiality entails that workers should not pass information shared within a relationship with a patient to other parties. In other words, social workers are expected to avoid revealing anything their client tells them during their session, especially when the privacy preference is explicit (BASW, 2021). Social work practitioners deal with patients suffering from various challenges, including comorbidities, drug abuse, and relationship issues. Therefore, confidentiality is a tenet that limits critical personal information from getting to the wrong hands or reaching recipients who might use the knowledge to harm patients. Hence, confidentiality is often a prioritized social work value due to its significant implications on clients and workers, including blackmail, litigation, loss of jobs, and defamation.
The ultimate goal of social work is to improve the lives of individuals by presenting them with effective challenge resolution strategies and allowing them to initiate the proposed recommendations. However, adhering to the standards of self-determination can raise issues when clients are problematic or if their preferences bear significant risks. Some of the limitations social workers can experience when reinforcing this principle include the lack of a patient’s motivation in following up on treatment solutions or the best practices, religious and cultural practices, fear, and misinformation (Banks and Williams, 2005). Similarly, mental instability issues like stress, anxiety, and depression can also hinder social workers’ efforts toward ensuring positive outcomes from a client’s self-determination. Thus, it is crucial to investigate potential limitations for effective preparation of how to tackle complicated issues.
On the other hand, confidentiality suffers from significant constraints as social workers and community health officers depend on the information they receive to offer treatment and manage cases. Sharing confidential information puts social workers and their patients in risky situations. However, not sharing essential information can pose safety concerns as social workers are required to adopt the best possible care practices to manage individuals’ adversities (Beckett et al., 2017). For example, a patient might be suffering from a severe disease but would not want to share the information due to the stigma associated with the condition or its effects on other life qualities. Nevertheless, this information might be crucial to family members or clinicians who can help. Even so, passing this knowledge to other people to facilitate the best outcomes can result in worse outcomes like diminished trust. As a result, social workers can experience severe pressure in making the right decision regarding what to do.
An Outline of the Ethical Dilemma Identified From the Case Study
The Glass family is forced to deal with several issues because of their complex family relationships, financial constraints, and poor quality of life. However, the ethical dilemma presented in the case has different implications for affected individuals and the outcomes of the initiatives. The social worker was assigned the role of addressing Ruby’s problems and the factors that contributed to her school non-attendance. However, the case indicates that several other factors come into play to affect Ruby’s performance. For example, the family comes from a poor social background, but their status is worsened by limitations that prevent them from accessing and utilizing available resources. In addition, the family is of mixed race, which presents issues as Ruby complains of being bullied and treated differently. Similarly, Ruby is at a critical age where she is gullible and easily swayed into risky behaviors by peers and her friends, who are supposedly older. Thus, the implications of these components have a critical impact on her behaviors and lifestyle choices.
Self-determination presents a dilemma in the case because the clients’ values and preferences do not acknowledge the needs of all parties. The Glass family is currently going through hardships because of limited breadwinners and their inability to secure high-paying jobs. As a result, Jodie is forced to work on small tasks and get by with the little she earns. The report suggests that Jodie is hell-bent on taking care of her mother by herself. However, her obligations to her mother consume a lot of time and resources that would have been put to better use. Although Ruby and her siblings receive diminished attention from their mother, advising her to send their grandmother to a government aged-care facility would put her in a better position but come against her wishes. Jodie’s determination to take care of her mother regardless of the stress associated with it aligns with her self-determination. Thus, the recommendation to send her to a care home might not be taken well and might introduce other challenges due to increased resistance.
Similarly, Ruby’s case presents several issues because of her unsupportive environment, low self-esteem, and confidentiality issues. Ruby is a member of a bad social circle that encourages her toward negative behaviors. Moreover, she resides in an area with high crime and violence rates, as some of her schoolmates were arrested for carrying knives. In addition, Ruby complains about not going to school because she is bullied due to her skin color. As a result, the case supports that racial bias, a poor growing environment, and wrong socialization choices are some reasons why Ruby is withdrawn. Nevertheless, Ruby bears a secret that she does not want anyone to know, regardless of the critical role they should play in her well-being. Ruby suspects that she is pregnant, and only her sister knows. However, disclosing this information to her mother would not be in their best interest due to her troubles and high-stress levels. Subsequently, sharing this information against the clients’ can raise ethical issues due to the principles of confidentiality. Hence, her situation presents a moral dilemma as the social worker is also obligated to adhere to her wishes.
Ethical Theories and the Course of Action
Ethical theories are ideologies that attempt to justify moral principles and understand their concepts. As a result, they form a framework to guide decision-making when faced with moral dilemmas. Different ethical theories emphasize various viewpoints and decision-making rules like adhering to duties and predicting potential outcomes. Thus, these theories can be applied to particular cases to help minimize the risks posed to clients and enhance safety. Ethical theories are divided into deontological ethics, utilitarianism virtue ethics, and rights ethics (Doel, 2019). The theories that the social worker can apply to this case to minimize risk to the clients are utilitarianism and deontological. These theories support that the final decision should lie on the social workers’ duties and the potential implications of their actions.
Deontological ethical theories guide practitioners toward adhering to their moral duties and the duties of the people they serve. As a result, deontological ethicists uphold fulfilling their ultimate duties regardless of the consequences. Deontological decision-making is preferred by individuals who seek consistent results (Steiner, 2021). Thus, using deontological theories, the best solution to improve the welfare of the family and sort out all of Ruby’s issues would be to recommend aged care for their grandmother and inform her mother of the pregnancy, her conditions, and the risk factors influencing her positive development. Although this decision is against the interest of some parties, the social worker must improve the lives of all clients. Hence, adhering to these obligations would necessitate revealing private information regardless of associated risks. However, the social worker can alter outcomes by providing the family with solutions to manage the pregnancy and assisting her mother with obligations and treatment to limit her stress.
Utilitarian theories depend on an individual’s ability to predict the outcomes of particular actions. Utilitarian ethicists settle on decisions that yield the most benefits for all associated parties (Steiner, 2021). Therefore, from a utilitarian perspective, it would be best to help Jodie to save more time and money by recommending an aged-care home. Subsequently, it would be best to inform Jodie of her daughter’s pregnancy as this will help ensure their safety and well-being. In addition, it is advisable to enlighten Jodie about all potential issues the family might face and how to mitigate her loved ones against their implications. For example, racism is an injustice that is rooted in the community. Thus, instead of employing avoidance, Ruby should be proud of her background and do her best to support her culture. Moreover, it would be wise to advise Jodie of her son’s pre-disposition to autism due to his genetic makeup and father’s history. Consequently, addressing all the family’s needs will ensure that they all benefit.
Conclusion
Social workers are responsible for ensuring that individuals in the community live a high-quality life by adopting the appropriate lifestyle practices and utilizing community resources for their benefit. However, they experience several complicated challenges that introduce hardships to the profession. Ethical dilemmas are situations where professionals are forced to decide between two conflicting choices, either of which involves going against moral principles. The case study reveals several issues that limit Ruby from living a normal life and progressing like her peers. Although their mother, Jodie, cares for them, she spends a lot of time and resources on their grandmother, whose age is overtaking her abilities. In addition, she lives in an unsupportive environment and suspects that she is pregnant but prefers not to share the information. Thus, the case presents ethical dilemmas involving self-determination and confidentiality. Nevertheless, utilitarian and deontological moral theories support that individuals should always make decisions that have the best outcomes for everyone while respecting their duties. Thus, the recommended action is to inform her mother of all issues and provide guidance on solutions to improve their livelihood.
Reference List
Banks, S. and Williams, R., 2005. Accounting for ethical difficulties in social welfare work: Issues, problems, and dilemmas. British Journal of Social Work, 35(7), pp.1005-1022.
Banks, S., 2018. Ethics, accountability, and the social professions. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Barsky, A.E., (2019). Ethics and values in social work: An integrated approach for a comprehensive curriculum. Oxford University Press.
BASW, (2021). Code of Ethics. [online]. BASW. Web.
Beckett, C., Maynard, A. and Jordan, P., (2017). Values and ethics in social work. Sage.
Doel, M., (2019). Ethics and values in social group work. In The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Ethics and Values (pp. 181-190). Routledge.
NASW, (2021). Code of Ethics. [online]. National Association of Social Workers. Web.
Steiner, O., (2021). Social work in the digital era: Theoretical, ethical and practical considerations. The British Journal of Social Work, 51(8), pp.3358-3374. Web.