The work of social workers could be challenging since they have a role of helping groups of people, families, and individuals to deal with problems they encounter in their lives. While doing so might seem normal superficially, a dissection of the task of social workers reveals a need for both professional and decision-making skills. The focus of this paper is on the decision-making component of the work of social workers. Specifically, the paper applies the Lowenberg, Dolgoff and Harrington (2000) Ethical Principles Screen and the code of ethics proposed by the National Association of Social Workers to demonstrate how social workers could make ethical decisions. The paper uses the case study of a fifteen-year old boy who seeks the services of a social worker to deal with substance abuse but refuses to let his parents know of the counselling services he receives from the social worker. Therefore, two ethical issues, informed consent, and the conflict of interests result from the scenario. The paper applies the ethical standards identified in suggesting that the social worker should arrange for a meeting with the client in which they will inform the client of the importance of involving the parents in the process before proceeding to disclose the information to the parents.
Summary of the Case Study
A social worker provides counseling for a 15-year-old boy with depression. One day he comes to his counseling session with blurred eyes and slurred speech. The boy admits to the social worker that he was under the influence and that his new friends had introduced him to ecstasy and crystal meth. The boy is worried about his drug use. The social worker offers to enroll him in the state-funded program for adolescents with both mental illness and substance abuse issues. The boy agrees to participate, but refuses to let the social worker tell his parents about his drug problem. The social worker is unsure whether she is allowed to provide the boy with drug counseling without informing his parents and obtaining their consent.
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Identification of the Ethical Issues
The case study presents the challenge of a possible conflict of interests between the social worker and their client. In specificity, the client does not want to let his parents know of the issue of substance abuse, which the social worker feels is relevant since the client is a minor. In addition, the case study also reveals the aspect of informed consent, which is a fundamental aspect of the professional code of ethics for social workers. For example, the social worker might want to ignore the client and inform the parents even while it could breach the code of ethics stipulated by the national association of social workers.
Identification and Application of Relevant Standards from the Code of Ethics
In dealing with the wide array of problems that social workers might meet in their field of practice, it is needful that they use a variety of skills, which depends on their tasks. Judgment and decision-making are among the skills that social workers are required to be equipped with, which is why the code of ethics is useful in arriving at proper decisions. The code of ethics in social works provided by the national association of social workers serves six purposes (NASW, 2008). For example, it identifies the core values that underpin social workers and their delivery of service to the clients, the ethical principles that reflect the core values identified, directs the social workers on how to deal with conflict of professional obligation or ethical issues among others (NASW, 2008). The fact that the code of ethics directs the social workers on how to deal with issues of professional and ethical conflict makes it useful for the case study used in this paper. Of specific and direct relationship with the case are the ethical values of dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence of the social worker (NASW, 2008). The social workers are supposed to uphold the identified values of ethical practice in accordance with the seven ethical issues identified by Lowenberg, Dolgoff & Harrington (2000) Ethical Principles Screen of the protection of life, equality and inequality, autonomy and freedom, least harm, quality of life, privacy and confidentiality, and truthfulness and full disclosure.
The code of ethics narrows down to identify the standards of ethical practice that social workers are supposed to uphold in their professional practice. It identifies the ethical responsibility of the social worker to their client, requiring them to be committed to them, and respect and promote their client’s right to self-determination. Other responsibilities identified in the code of ethics are that the social worker should work on the basis of informed consent, exhibit professional competence, have a high level of cultural competence, and social diversity, ovoid conflicts of interest, and show high levels of respect for privacy and confidentiality (Rotham, 2013).
A Summary of the Strategies for the Resolution of the Ethical Issues
Conflict of interests and informed consent are the issues that the social worker in the case study must address. According to the Lowenberg, Dolgoff & Harrington (2000) Ethical Assessment Screen, the social worker should first identify their own relevant personal values that relate to the ethical issues presented while working with their client. The social worker should also consider the societal values that are related to the decision they would like to make. These two steps are also catered for by the code of ethics. Starting with the issue of informed consent, the social worker should provide services to their clients within the professional context based on valid informed consent when appropriate (Barsky, 2009). The social workers are supposed to use simple and understandable language while informing their clients of the purpose of their services, the associated risks, the limits of the services so provided due to the requirements of third-party forces and other issues. This aspect of informed consent affects the commitment of the social worker to ensuring confidentiality and privacy of their clients. Specifically, according to the professional code of ethics, the social workers should only disclose confidential information to third party players after they have the consent of their clients. The client in the case study presents a real case in which the social worker feels it is right for them to involve their parents though if they did so, it would be against the wishes of the client, and a breach of the privacy and confidentiality policy. However, rules of confidentiality and privacy do not hold if the disclosure is relevant in the prevention of foreseeable and imminent harm to the client (Rotham, 2013).
According to the Lowenberg, Dolgoff & Harrington (2000) Ethical Assessment Screen, the social worker should judge the situation according to their values. In this case, the disclosure of information to the parents might not violate the informed consent policy since the social worker will attempt to talk to their client in the real need to inform their parents. The society considers fifteen-year olds and others below the age of eighteen years to be minors, which means that their capacity to make proper decisions might be hampered by a lack of experience among other factors (Barsky, 2009). Therefore, the discussion between the social worker and the client should address the need for the client to weigh the prospects of being truthful on the nature of family relationships in future. Specifically, chances are that the parents might learn of the involvement of their child in the counselling sessions since he is placed in a community facility. However, the social worker should ensure that they guide the client to accept the role of parents in the case such as payments for the services offered among others. Such talks on the importance of parental involvement in the case will also help to solve the case of conflict of interests.
The professional standards of ethics addressing the issue of conflicts of interests require that social workers should be alert to ensure that they avoid the possibilities of conflicts of interests, which might result in impartial judgment and professional discretion (NASW, 2008). It is the responsibility of social workers to inform their clients when a real conflict of interests emerges and the steps to solve it while satisfying all the involved parties. The case study presents a conflict of interest between the social worker and the client. The client might consider that a fifteen-year old is too young to make his or her own decisions while the client might be feeling the opposite. However, for the sake of attaining benefits for all parties involved in the case study, which includes the parents, the social worker should arrange meetings with the client to describe to them the benefits of involving the parents. One of the explanations that the social worker might want to give to justify the involvement of the parents is that they are figures of authority for minors. It means, therefore, that according to this conclusion, parents have the responsibility of raising their children, especially when they are minors, which involves making critical decisions for them and advising them where necessary (Vyvey et al., 2014). The discussion will be one way of avoiding legal consequences that might arise in the event that the parents of the client learn of the counselling session through other means. In this case, the role of the social worker shall to be improve the quality of life of the adolescent client through facilitating the development healthy family relationships.
Social scientists identify the family as a fundamental social unit for the proper development of their children. As such, literature relating the styles of parenting and the development of some characteristics in the children in future is plenty (Vyvey et al., 2014). As much as this could have little relationship with the case study, it is an elaboration of the need for the social worker to foster healthy family ties between his client and the parents to the client. Involving the parents, in addition, is one way of acknowledging the fact that parental guidance is a critical factor in the development of adolescents such as the client, and the fact that social workers are supposed to help families and other parties to heal from their problems collectively. Specifially, the social worker should assure the client of safety once the information shall have been disclosed to the parents. This move is done in consideration that the client would be fearing possible repercussions from their parents after they shall learn of the process. However, until the client consents to the sharing of information with the parents, the code of ethics requires that the social worker holds such information confidential, and must not disclose it to any third party. In the event of an agreement, the social worker should mediate the process by informing the parents of the challenges that adolescents face from their interactions with others. This way, the process would be smooth, and the client is likely to develop more confidence and trust in the social worker and help ease the process of rehabilitation.
In conclusion, this paper has applied the code of ethics for social workers proposed by the national association of social workers in solving two ethical issues related to the case study of a fifteen-year old boy that seeks such services. The client does not want his parents to learn of the contact between him and the social worker, which raises a concern on the conflict of interests and informed consent. According to the ethical standards of professional practice, the social workers are only supposed to disclose information to third parties after their clients approve of such disclosure. The case study presents such a challenge. However, after application of the ethical standards identified, the paper has argued that the social worker should first talk to the client about the need and usefulness of informing parents about the proceedings of the case. The rationale for this move, as the paper has argued, is based on the role of families in the development of their children. Being a minor, the social worker should explain to the client that parents are critical for their welfare. Therefore, the social worker shall only reveal information to the parents after an approval from the client, which conforms to high standards of confidentiality and privacy.
References
Barsky, A. E. (2009). Ethics and values in social work: An integrated approach for a comprehensive curriculum . Oxford University Press.
National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2008). Code of ethics of the national association of social workers. Retrieved June 12, 2017 from https://umaine.edu/socialwork/files/2013/02/NASW-Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Rothman, J. C. (2013). From the front lines: Student cases in social work ethics . Pearson Higher Ed.
Vyvey, E., Roose, R., De Wilde, L., & Roets, G. (2014). Dealing with Risk in Child and Family Social Work: From an Anxious to a Reflexive Professional?. Social sciences , 3 (4), 758-770.
