Handling Unethical Situations

Potential Areas for Unintended Client Contact

A community drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is a potential area for unintended client contact. This is a potential “red flag” to possible ethical misconduct because if the social workers would ever happen to fall off the wagon, there would be a negative impact on their handling of the other recovering substance abusers. To avoid such a situation, each social worker should pay attention to signs of misconduct among themselves and watch out for their fellow colleagues. If any concerns arise, they should bring this to the attention of the supervisors, management, colleague assistance programs and if the situation is extreme, regulatory and licensing bodies can be involved. Social workers with a drug abuse problem should take remedial action by seeking professional consultation and taking any necessary steps that protect their clients and even terminate practice where the situation worsens (Kaptein, 2011)

Case Analysis

In regard to the Case 6.9, Ms. W being the executive director of the new corporate entity formed as a result of the merger between her organization and that where her husband was a chief financial officer presents a case of nepotism and a conflict of interest since he will be her subordinate. This being a concern to the board if no policy already exists they should come up with a corporate policy on workplace relationships to ensure professional conduct is adhered to. It should include the allowed and discouraged types of relationships and the consequences of violating them (Kaptein, 2011) This would help avoid such cases that present a conflict of interest in areas such as favoritism, discrimination, and the creation of a hostile work environment where personal issues interfere with their work. In the case of Mr. and Mrs. W, such a situation should not be allowed to persist since they present an opportunity for collusion due to the chain of command involved that presents a conflict of interest. In order to solve this, one of the two could be moved to a different department that has no ties whatsoever to the one the other one is in.

Reference

Kaptein, M. (2011). Understanding unethical behavior by unraveling ethical culture.  Human relations ,  64 (6), 843-869.