Analyzing Justice Concerns: The Role of Human Service Workers

This essay delves into the justice concerns surrounding the competencies of human service workers, particularly focusing on ethical dilemmas such as dual relationships, consent, and confidentiality. It addresses the question of social worker-client privilege in psychotherapeutic counseling, referencing the Jaffee v. Redmond case and arguing for the importance of granting psychotherapists the necessary privileges to effectively serve their clients. The analysis critiques the Supreme Court's judgment, highlighting the conflict between state and court laws regarding privilege rules and emphasizing the versatility and capacity of social workers to handle diverse issues. Ultimately, the paper advocates for recognizing the competencies of human service workers and ensuring they have the privileges required to improve the lives of individuals facing various problems. Desklib offers this essay as part of its collection of resources for students.

Running head: HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS COMPETENCIES RESPONSE 1
Human Service Workers Competencies Response
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliate
Date

HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS COMPETENCIES RESPIONSE 2
Human Service Workers Competencies Response
The people who assist other individuals and organizations to attain their goals and
objectives using their knowledge and skills are referred to as human service workers. As a
profession, human service assists different customers by considering the well-being of the
society and the client to enhance their life. Consequently, while providing help, they uphold
professional ethics and integrity. In the process of carrying out their duties, there are certain
ethical dilemmas which the human service workers face such as dual relationships, consent, and
confidentiality. This paper seeks to give insight into the justice concerns relating to competencies
of human service workers.
Helping various people to resolve their problems is the primary purpose of the human
service workers, and this, therefore, was an answer to the question relating to the case which was
"Should there be a social worker-client privilege with regard to psychotherapeutic counseling?"
The answer to the question was, therefore, a yes (Sandra Kopels, 2016). A psychotherapeutic
who is a social worker or not has the right to receive services of a social worker who is
competent and knowledgeable. A fellow social worker can also offer services to another social
worker.
In the case Jaffee v. Redmond, the recommendations which were made by the Judicial
Conference Advisory Committee on the privileges of a psychotherapist such that the privileges
are only provided to individuals who have specialized in medicine was wrong. A competent
service worker has the capacity to address any particular issue just like the judges. The capacity
of the social workers to handle any issue is based on the fact that they are versatile (Hasen,
2015). The Supreme Court, therefore, had no power to remove the privileges of the
psychotherapist just because they are not a social worker.

HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS COMPETENCIES RESPIONSE 3
The judgment which was made by the court based on the argument that the privilege
statutes of the psychotherapists are found in all the states, and therefore the purpose of legislation
which had been formulated to enhance confidentiality would be frustrated due to the failure to
acknowledge such privileges by the court was a wrong decision. There was, therefore, a conflict
between the state laws and court laws (Saks, 2016). The different policies guiding the privilege
rules in a court are different from one particular state to another, thus when the court selects to
comply with the policies, the clients would be denied the privileges (Ford, 2014). The proposal
by the Supreme Court that the decision making bodies are the only ones who have the right to
grant the privileges to the social workers and psychotherapists.
To conclude, the decision which was made by a Supreme Court judge was wrong about
the justice concerns. The psychotherapist should be granted privileges to allow them to offer
services to the various client. The various competencies of the human service worker have also
been indicated in the paper including the steps which can be taken to improve the lives of human
beings who have different problems.

HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS COMPETENCIES RESPIONSE 4
References
Ford, C. (2014). A Surprise: Montana's Mental Health Provider Privileges, Or Lack
Thereof. Mont. Law., 40(1), 8.
Hasen, R. L. (2015). The Most Sarcastic Justice. Revista Forumul Judecatorilor, 63.
Saks, E. R. (2016). Confidentiality and Its Discontents: Dilemmas of Privacy in Psychotherapy.
By Paul W. Mosher and Jeffrey Berman. New York: Fordham University Press, 2015,
xiv+ 343 pp., $125.00 hardcover, $37.00 paperback. Journal of the American
Psychoanalytic Association, 64(5), 1081-1088.
Sandra Kopels JD, M. S. W. (2016). Social Workers Need to Exercise Their Right to Vote: The
Supreme Court Depends on It. School Social Work Journal, 40(2), IX.