Health Professionals And Social Workers

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Authors note:

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SOCIOLOGY
Introduction:
Social work is emerged as a core health profession with an origin intensely linked to the
development of contemporary public health in the United States (Banks, 2016). Like any other
health professionals, social workers are a crucial pillar of improvement of public health. In this
context, social workers must incorporate a non-judgmental and empathetic approach to address
the concern of individuals who are seeking the assisting of social workers (Rishel, 2015). Hence,
the paper aimed to provide a brief idea of the ethical issues in the social workers and the
effectiveness of non-judgmental stance with the assistance of a case study. The case study
highlighted a judgmental approach of social workers towards homosexuality of a lesbian couple
which further gives rise to ethical issues. This paper will provide ethical issues in the case study,
advice for the young works and reflection on non-judgmental stance in the following paragraphs.
Discussion:
Ethical issues:
The case involves a lesbian couple who recently migrated to the community. They want
professional help to accomplish two goals such as getting married according to law and have a
child. While discussing the case, the young social worker refuses to offer help by exhibiting a
judgmental attitude towards homosexuality. In this case, the judgmental stance is an ethical issue
which further breach ethics and values of social workers. According to the NASW Code of
Ethics, the social workers should have reflected on values such as service, Acceptance, non-
judgmental attitude, controlled emotional involvement while providing care to the individuals
who are seeking help (Socialwork.utexas.edu, 2019). The primary goal of a social worker is to
address the need of the people by respectfully treating each person despite gender race, ethnicity,

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and sexual orientation (Freund & Band-Winterstein, 2017). While helping others and
establishing a therapeutic relationship, the professionals should be aware of their professional
values and beliefs that it should not interfere with the personal values and beliefs of the workers
(Mänttäri‐van der Kuip 2016). Taking a deep insight into the situation, it was observed that the
young social worker failed to balance between professional and personal values which further
challenged dignity, worthiness, and autonomy of the couple, highlighting it is an ethical issue.
Advise for the young social worker:
Marlowe et al. (2016), highlighted that social work believes that acceptance is the crux
of all help and social workers should not form an opinion about the client such as good or bad,
worthy or unworthy. A social worker must treat the client as somebody who is asking for help
and he or she should be willing to help without the influence of own culture, personal beliefs,
and values (Ahmed, Amer & Killawi, 2017). In this context, it is the responsibility of the
supervisor to advise the worker for considering the non-judgmental attitude towards the client.
The worker is required to alter the personal values and become aware of personal values while
helping the client (Dentato et al., 2018). The supervisor can assist the worker to adopt
professional values and develop self-awareness of not merging professional values with personal
values. It will enable the workers and the client to feel free for developing an understanding of
each other
Actions taken:
According to the verdict of Obergefell v. Hodges, on October 26th june 2015, the
supreme court of USA struck down all state bans of same sex marriage and legalize same-sex

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marriage in all fifty states that it is a fundamental right to marry same-sex couple according to
14th amendments and state must allow the marriage (Gates, 2015). In this context, it is the legal
right of every same-sex couple to get married legally. As the agency is located State of New
York where the agency it is legal for gay marriage to be performed (Cao et al., 2017). Hence, the
young social worker is required to inform the couple that it is legal in the state with a non-
judgmental and warm approach. The worker facilitates the process of legal marriage and
enhances the process of adoption by supporting the birth and adoptive families during the
adoption process. They may perform the home studies, parental background check, parental
counseling during adoption and post-adoption process (McCall & Groark, 2015).
Critical reflection:
Among the social work profession, there is a growing awareness of the need for adopting
professional values and concepts in the practice area. According to the NASW Code of
Ethics, the core social values include service, social justice, dignity as well as worth of the
individual, integrity, and competence (Socialwork.utexas.edu, 2019).. One of these concepts
that gained maximum appreciation in the clinical practice is a nonjudgmental attitude which is
a part of social justice (Stanhope et al., 2015). Freund and Band-Winterstein (2017), highlighted
that the social workers must eliminate factors such as personal values and beliefs of the
personality which are barriers to the professional practice. The nonjudgmental attitude does not
only reflect the tolerance and open-mindedness of a social worker but also reflects the
acceptance of the client by the social worker. The acceptance often referred to the unconditional
positive regard where the social workers professionally believe that clients are coming from
different demographics, culture, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation which may not resemble
their background (Stanhope et al., 2015). Hence, in the United States, the common practice of

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social worker is to provide the best possible care and help to each individual without forming any
personal opinion about the client despite the differences in the background. In this case, as a
social worker, I beliefs that the effectiveness of the non-judgmental attitude towards reduces the
probability of raising ethical issues and discrepancy in practice. The attitude enables clients to
feel free to share their concern and enable professionals to empower and empathize clients.
Previously I was not able to use non-judgmental attitude towards the patients due to the personal
values. However, being a catholic and after involving myself in the role of social worker I altered
my values and developed self-awareness of showing professional values. I have evaluated that I
have an open-minded, empathetic and compassionate approach towards the client. I have the
ability to respect the autonomy of the patients and respect the decision of the patients. I have also
evaluated that I have the ability to encourage, acknowledge and respect the presence of the
clients in the decision making and also have the ability to involve patients in the effective
therapeutic communication which not only comfort client and but also provide client and
opportunity to express their feelings without any fear of subjecting to the judgments and
discrimination. By incorporating these skills, I would be able to provide social care according to
the stand without raising ethical issues. In order to improve the professional values and develop
self-awareness for enhancement of the practice, I would involve myself in the training and
workshops and seek help from the supervisor which will further assist me to reflect on my
professional values while helping the clients.
Conclusion:
Thus, in conclusion it can be said that in the social work, non-judgmental and empathetic
approach is the only approach which can address the concern of individuals who are seeking the
assisting of social workers. The case involves a lesbian couple who recently migrated to the

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community. They want professional help to accomplish two goals such as getting married
according to law and have a child. While discussing the case, the young social worker refuses to
offer help by exhibiting a judgmental attitude towards homosexuality. Exhibiting personal values
in the professional practice itself an ethical issue. In this case, the worker is advised to develop
self-awareness and alter personal values. In this case, the worker should inform that gay marriage
is legal in United States and assist them in adoption.

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References:
Ahmed, S. R., Amer, M. M., & Killawi, A. (2017). The ecosystems perspective in social work:
Implications for culturally competent practice with American Muslims. Journal of
Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 36(1-2), 48-72.
Banks, S. (2016). Everyday ethics in professional life: Social work as ethics work. Ethics and
Social Welfare, 10(1), 35-52.
Cao, H., Zhou, N., Fine, M., Liang, Y., Li, J., & Mills‐Koonce, W. R. (2017). Sexual minority
stress and same‐sex relationship well‐being: A meta‐analysis of research prior to the uS
Nationwide legalization of same‐sex marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(5),
1258-1277.
Dentato, M. P., Kelly, B. L., Lloyd, M. R., & Busch, N. (2018). Preparing social workers for
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Gates, G. J. (2015). Marriage and family: LGBT individuals and same-sex couples. The Future
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Mänttäri‐van der Kuip, M. (2016). Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient
resources. International Journal of Social Welfare, 25(1), 86-97.

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