Ethical Decision-Making in Community Work: A Case Study Analysis

This case study delves into an ethical dilemma faced by a community worker, where a client from a modest financial background attempts to exchange a flat-screen TV for additional therapy sessions. The paper meticulously examines the ethical issues at play, particularly focusing on the implications of bribery and the potential for corruption. It analyzes the ethical decision-making processes of the stakeholders involved, including the community worker and the client, considering principles such as non-maleficence and the guidelines provided by the Australian Community Workers Ethics and Good Practice Guides. Furthermore, the study explores the possible outcomes of the situation, acknowledging the potential for both positive and negative consequences, such as the collapse of the therapeutic alliance. The analysis concludes with recommendations for making ethical decisions, emphasizing the importance of upholding professional standards and avoiding actions that could compromise the worker's integrity or the community's trust. The paper underscores the significance of adhering to ethical guidelines to prevent repercussions and maintain the reputation of the profession.

Running head: ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Executive summary
This paper is a case study which provides a situation where a client belonging from a modest
financial background tries to negotiate with a community worker to get two additional
therapy sessions in exchange for a fancy television. This paper will reflect on the ethical
issues that have been found from the case study and will also discuss the ethical decision
making raised by the stakeholders. This paper will also provide the probable outcomes from
the case study and provide suitable recommendations to make ethical decisions.

2ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Brief overview of the case study............................................................................................3
Ethical issues in the case study..............................................................................................3
Ethical decision making raised by the stakeholders...............................................................4
Possible outcomes of the case study......................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6

3ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Introduction
Professional ethics are considered to be the principles that usually govern the behavior
of an individual in the business environment. Professional ethics, just like values provide
individuals with specific rules on how an individual needs to act towards institutions and
people in an environment (Cohen, 2016). Good ethics is considered to be a requirement in
any kind of profession. It is important to maintain good ethics in order to be consistent with
the fundamentals of good and positive moral conduct (Maley, 2014). This paper is going to
focus on a case study and reflect on the ethical issues that can be witnessed from the case
study and also provide the probable outcomes that can be done from the case study.
Discussion
Brief overview of the case study
A client who has a modest financial background asks the case worker who works for
the community service if the case worker would take two additional therapy sessions in
exchange for a flat screen TV which is 36 inches. The case workers son longed for a
television for a very long time thus the situation that has been built up looks easy and
suggests a simple transaction.
Ethical issues in the case study
After analyzing the theory, it can be seen that the simple case study is seen to be
relatively benign however problematic. The repercussions and seriousness largely depends on
how the case worker responds to the situation. However, from an ethical perspective the case
study seems to be highly unethical. By approaching the community worker to provide two
additional therapy sessions in exchange for flat screen 36 inches TV indicates bribery.

4ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Bribery is considered to be an unethical practice and there are countries who have introduced
commercial bribery to curb this unethical issue. Batabyal & Chowdhury, (2015) opines
bribery supports corruption and also increases inequality in terms of wealth.
Community services are considered to be non-paying jobs where an individual or a group of
individuals performs in order to benefit their institutions or community (Tsolekile et al,
2014). Thus, community service workers should be working for free to make a positive
contribution for the betterment and the welfare of the society and not in exchange of money
or any product. According to Kantianism, there are some categorical imperatives that
motivate the way one behaves. In one of the categorical imperatives, Kant suggests that one
should behave in a way that can encourage others to behave the same way in the given
situation (Robinson, 2019). Here it can be seen that the client has been bribing the case
worker thus if this action is considered to be the universal law then bribing will become
acceptable in the society which will contribute to the negative impacts on the society and will
have a negative impact on the people who are not financially stable. Thus more focus will be
given on people who bribe case workers and the others will be deprived of their rights which
will be highly unethical.
By stating that the community service workers son longed for a television suggests
that this situation did create an ethical dilemma for the community service worker and this
offer to some extent did attract the community service worker. Ethical dilemma is considered
to a situation where one needs to make an important and yet difficult choice between any two
courses of action, either of which is accepted preferable or accepted (Banks, 2016).
Considering and thinking about the offer of providing therapy sessions in exchange of a
television is unethical as well as unprofessional. It is the job of the community service worker
to provide services for free especially to people who are not secured financially.

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Ethical decision making raised by the stakeholders
In this case study, two people have been identified as the stakeholders, one is the case
worker and the other is client. The decision of the client offering bribe to the case worker is
an unethical decision however it depends of the decision of the case worker. To avoid
situations with repercussions and negative consequences it is important for the case worker to
make an ethical decision.
According to scholars, there are few basic principles which mental healthcare professionals
need to follow which like nonmaleficence and be courageous (Zhang et al, 2015). It is the
duty of mental health professionals working for community services to work efficiently to
benefit the clients by taking care of the clients to ensure potential damage is minimized or
eliminated completely. Every mental healthcare professional may not be able to help the
client but they should not deliberately harm them. Thus in this case study, the case worker
might not be able to help the client as it has been seen that the case worker has already
provided the services but the client needs additional services for his or her benefit.
It is important for a mental healthcare practitioner in a community service be courageous. It is
their duty to make ethical decisions and deny something which they do not feel right about.
In this case study, the case worker can deny the offer by the client for ethical reasons.
According to Australian Community Workers Ethics and Good Practice Guides, there are few
guidelines that community workers should follow like protecting and respecting the
profession and ethical practice (Acwa.org.au, 2019). In this case study, the case worker needs
to deny the offer to make an ethical decision as this decision many have negative
consequences and hamper the reputation of the profession as it is the duty of the case workers
to protect the reputation and not indulge in any ethical work that may have repercussions.
It is important for the case worker to make ethical decision like work without violating
ethical laws that have been introduced, bring goodwill and benefit the community by positive

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work, not resort to any kind of bribery, be transparent and loyal. Thus, the case worker should
not take the offer as it is a king of bribery and may violate the ethical principles and the
reputation of the profession.
Possible outcomes of the case study
This case study has an open ending which means that the outcomes are analyzed by
the way one perceives the case. This case study has multiple possible outcomes that may have
positive as well as negative impacts.
In this case study, the case worker might be attracted to the offer and accept the offer by the
client and provide the additional therapy sessions which may actually become a win-win
situation for both the stakeholders however, this will be unethical as this behavior can
encourage people to bribe professionals for mutual benefit which may lead to corruption.
This case study might have negative outcomes as well like the television provided by the
client might not work and could be irreparable. The therapist can take the television to the
client and inform him or her about the condition and get some money in exchange or the
client might refuse to give any other alterative and accuse the case worker of mishandling the
television. Therapeutic alliance between the case worker and the client ca collapse which may
lead to causing harm to the reputation of the profession and violate ethical values.
Conclusion
This case study shows the unethical decision making of the client of encouraging
bribery and asking for additional therapy sessions from a case worker of a community service
who is entitled to work for free for the betterment of the society. However, unethical decision
taken by the case worker can cause issues and result in negative consequences which will
have negative impacts on the case worker which he or she might have to face for a very long
time. Thus it is important for the case worker to make an ethical decision which not accept

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the offer as it violates most of the guidelines of ethical work practice and laws. Making an
ethical decision will help the case worker work efficiently and avoid repercussions.

8ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Reference
Acwa.org.au. (2019). Retrieved 17 September 2019, from
http://www.acwa.org.au/resources/ACWA-Ethics-and-good-practice-guide.pdf
Banks, S. (2016). Everyday ethics in professional life: Social work as ethics work. Ethics and
Social Welfare, 10(1), 35-52.
Batabyal, S., & Chowdhury, A. (2015). Curbing corruption, financial development and
income inequality. Progress in Development Studies, 15(1), 49-72.
Cohen, A. I. (2016). Ethics and professional practice. In Practicing Professional Ethics in
Economics and Public Policy (pp. 237-244). Springer, Dordrecht.
Maley, B. R. (2014). Professionalism and professional ethics.
Robinson, R. M. (2019). Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Moral Duties. In Imperfect
Duties of Management (pp. 11-38). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Tsolekile, L. P., Puoane, T., Schneider, H., Levitt, N. S., & Steyn, K. (2014). The roles of
community health workers in management of non-communicable diseases in an urban
township. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 6(1), 1-8.
Zhang, S., Mellsop, G., Brink, J., & Wang, X. (2015). Involuntary admission and treatment of
patients with mental disorder. Neuroscience bulletin, 31(1), 99-112.