Professional Decision Making in Social Work

PROFESSIONAL DECISION MAKING IN SOCIAL WORK 1
PROFESSIONAL DECISION MAKING IN SOCIAL WORK
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Institution
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Introduction
In psychology, decision making refers to the selection of the course of action by collecting
information and analyzing all the possible available solutions. Decision making is a problem
solving tool because it provides the answer to the prevailing issues. One needs knowledge
and skills in making a quick decision. This determines whether the decision made is poor or
not, in fulfilling the intended need. Every decision making results in an outcome that can put
is put into action. It's common in our day to day life that we found ourselves in a situation
where you have to choose an option among many possibilities. The major part of decision
making involves analyzing the advantages and the negativities of the possible outcomes and
select the best alternative, that’s appealing to the decision maker. Psychologists Hammond,
Keeney and Raiffa (2015), on an article, Practical guide to making better decisions, states
that;
"Decisions define our future. They often come in a series of connected decisions and
encourage us to think about what will come next. Decision-making skills across all
disciplines and are transferrable to any job, career, or vocation. A focus on these fundamental
skills should be considered essential to any meaningful education."
The decision-making process is greatly affected by the environment of the decision maker.
For example, a complex environment influences cognitive function. A complex environment
refers to a situation where various types of possible outcome keep changing over time. A
study was done by, O'Doherty, Cockburn and Pauli (2017), states that "... More complex
environments correlate with a higher cognitive function ". Meaning that decision making is
influenced by location. Psychologists have developed various theories on decision-making
decisions. Examples of such decision-making models include; Practical reasoning model,
critical thinking model, and ethical reasoning. In this scenario, Mary is faced with a challenge

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of deciding on whether to accommodate the refugees on her room or not to accommodate.
Based on the above models or theories, the course of action that Mary will take is discussed
below.
Critical thinking model
"Critical thinking is that model of thinking about any subject, content or problem in which
the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the
structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them," (Forawi,
2016). In applying the critical thinking model, one has to consider different steps before
concluding. These steps include organizing the available information, consideration of
different available opinions, review of the evidence to support the reasoning, identification of
assumptions involved, evaluation of the arguments and finally communicating of the
conclusions made (Moon, 2013). In this case study, Mary has to consider various options
before considering hosting clients and the needy people in her house. She has to consider the
kind of people she is hosting, alternative ways of assisting them, the evidence to consider the
assumptions she has made, the dangers and benefits of hosting the people in her house. In as
much as Mary's workmates are having different opinions on the matter, she needs to make a
lot of considerations before accepting or rejecting the idea of having the needy people stay at
her place. She needs to consider her safety and security before allowing the people at her
residence. At the same time, the people who need help are many, with each having urgent
needs to cater for. She cannot be able to fulfil the desires of each one to make them happy.
Mary seems to be empathetic to the challenges that these people are going through.
Considering that she had passed through the same case, and someone stepped in to help her,
she may be feeling the need to assist them. This makes her remain silent to think critically
and try to make an effective decision towards helping the needy. Mary also should be careful
when making any decision as they will be held accountable if anything goes wrong. For