University Social Work Report: Ethical Analysis of Skye's Case

This report examines the ethical complexities surrounding the case of Skye, a 15-year-old with a history of violence and drug abuse in a child safety setting. The report delves into the questions a practitioner must ask when considering Skye's release, particularly concerning her desire to reconnect with her mother. It explores the balance between practicality, emotional ethics, and the potential risks to Skye's well-being. The report discusses the importance of a correct approach when addressing Skye's desires, contrasting professionalism with humanism. The report also considers the potential for harm to Skye, given her mother's circumstances and the possibility of rejection. The findings are summarized using a table and a visual map, which illustrate the decision-making process, with utilitarianism being applied when ethical paradoxes arise. The report emphasizes the need for a comprehensive ethical analysis to ensure the best outcome for Skye.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES
SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES
Name of the Student:
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Abstract
The purpose of this report is to come up with questions, which a practitioner must ask,
relating to the release of Skye from a childcare setting. Skye is a 15-year-old teenager, with a
history of violence and drug abuse, but does not currently have a youth justice order on her.
She desires to see her mother, and try out one more time if living with her would work out.
The report outlines several questions, which a practitioner must ask regarding the release of
Skye, and whether it would be proper and responsible on their part to do the same. The
report summarizes that if the officials decide to detain Skye, they must ask about the correct
ethical approach to confront Skye on the same. On the other hand, if she is allowed to let go,
or if it is found that Skye’s decision could hurt her in return, utilitarianism should be applied
to assess the maximum benefits of the actions to the parties involved in the scenario, and the
final path of the ultimate decision would be decided accordingly.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Practicality and emotions.......................................................................................................3
Correct approach....................................................................................................................4
Professionalism vs Humanism...............................................................................................5
Chances of Skye getting hurt.................................................................................................5
Findings..................................................................................................................................6
The visual map.......................................................................................................................7
Explanation............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Ethical issues can sometimes be highly complex to solve, and might not have a
definite answer to a particular problem. In such situations, theories of ethics can also apply in
many forms to different parts of a single problem, and combining all of them to the main
problem could lead to an ethical paradox, as per (Mind, 2016). This is the kind of scenario
which this report will be dealing with, taking example from the case of a 15 year old girl
Skye, who has been in a child safety setting for the past 3 years.
The case suggests that the main thing which has been wrong with Skye, is the fact that
she has some serious problems with her peers, often indulging herself into fights, and has
even had to get medical attentions resulting out of injuries from those fights. Evidence also
suggests that she has been doing drugs on a regular basis However, Skye has been doing well
in her studies in the 9th grade, and also wishes to complete high school education. Recently,
Skye has wished to see her mother to try out whether living with her would be a good option,
but is reluctant on the other hand, presuming that her mother would simply treat her as a little
kid, and that it would simply fall apart. Skye wishes to be accompanied in the venture by one
of the residential workers with whom she gets along well. She has not had any youth justice
orders in the recent times.
The purpose of this report is to come up with the questions which a practitioner could
consider while making decisions on this ethical dilemma.
Discussion
Practicality and emotions
The first thing which needs to be asked is that whether or not Skye is sober enough at
the moment to be left out on her own. Since she has had a bad history with violence and drug

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abuse, it is the responsibility of a child safety setting to make sure that they keep a child
under their care and supervision, unless he or she is free of facing or posing danger to the
society. That is after all what a child care setting stands for, and takes responsibility for the
same. Hence, what a practitioner must ask is whether the kid is ready to be set free. In this
context, her performance at school cannot be assessed against the scenario, since it is vague
to think that a good student cannot be indulged into cynical activities (Huttunen et al., 2019).
Therefore, her current mental state could be assessed for the purpose, through a one on one
interaction, or even let her take an aptitude test, to get insights into her current mentality in
the process. This can be then used to decide on Skye’s eligibility to be let out of the setting.
The main question which a practitioner should be asking himself, is whether emotional ethics
comes first or practical ethics. In such a scenario, practical ethics are more viable, since threat
to the society is also a consideration which one must think of before letting a kid with a
violent history get out of the setting pre maturely.
Since the topic of emotional ethics has been brought up, it is important to consider
whether a child’s urge to see her mother should be rejected by an official. That is to say, the
main thing which has to be considered in his regard is the fact that the bond between a mother
and her child is sacred, and it is unethical to come in between that to manipulate it. This itself
gives rise to an ethical paradox, considering the analysis from the previous point of view.
What a practitioner needs to consider in this regard is once again whether emotions should be
given priority over practicality.
Correct approach
There should be no confusion regarding the problem related to accompanying Skye on
her venture to meet her mother, since in no way can a kid under child care be left to go alone
to her family, since the risks of never coming back again is high. However, the question that
remains is how should Skye be approached if the ultimate decision is to not allow her to meet

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her mother, since it is a highly sensitive rejection, full with ethical perceptions. This is an
ethical concern which has to be highly considered in this regard. This is because it calls for
sensitive issues, since if Skye does protest against this intervention, it would be justified, and
same stands for the authority if they rightly decide that letting her go with her decision is the
right thing to do. Therefore, since both of the parties would be correct in their actions in this
regard, this would lead to yet another ethical paradox. In such a scenario, the officials must
ask themselves about a suitable way to approach Skye, with a proper message. That is to say,
they must figure out what the content of the message should be.
Professionalism vs Humanism
Another question which the people officials must ask, is what is the main purpose of
their role, in regard to Skye? As discussed earlier, the main purpose of a child care setting is
to ensure that a child is rehabilitated completely before she is released from the setting.
However, that can be an ethical complexity in Skye’s case. This is because it has a personal
sentimental factor associated with the case and the officials must ask whether the main
purpose is to make sure that Skye is happy, or whether Skye is safe to the society. Skye was
brought to the child care setting with a purpose to rehabilitate her completely. However, on
ethical grounds, it must be ensured that the desire to be at home, is of utmost priority for a
person, than to get rehabilitated in a setting involuntarily (Congress, 2017). This is further
supported by the fact that Skye does not have any youth justice order on her at the present,
meaning that the obligation to stay inside the setting does not apply to her. Therefore, the
officials must ask whether their professionalism comes before humanism, and do a thorough
analysis of the strengths and weaknesses in both of the cases, and proceed accordingly.
Chances of Skye getting hurt
Perhaps the most important of all of the questions discussed so far, is to ask whether
this decision of Skye would turn out to be in the interests of Skye herself. This provides for a

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whole new perspective. Until now, all of the questions that have been considered are from the
point of view from the officials. However, it is also important to consider things on behalf of
Skye, since the motto is to take care of Skye under all circumstances. It must be analysed
whether Skye is going in the correct direction towards her decision. It must be noted that
Skye’s mother has already had two subsequent after Skye had been made to move to the
setting. Skye has been in the setting for a long time, but not as long as a decade. This means
that the time for which Skye has been away from her mother could just be enough for her
mother to get over the emotional attachment which she is supposed to have with Skye, while
on the other hand, it is also important to note that the time could be just not be enough for the
other two children to grow up completely enough, for Skye’s mother to divert her attention
from her growing kids towards a fairly grown up teenager. Here, the officials must ask
whether Skye would be rather hurt in the process of trying to make amends with her mother.
The way in which the case points out “subsequent children”, it is evident that Skye’s mother
gave birth to those kids as a replacement to her other kids, who have been in a child care
setting. This replacement means that Skye’s mother could have well moved on a lot from her
attachments with Skye, and is much more inclined to her new little kids, who rightly require
more attention. Hence, the chances of Skye getting hurt by her mother’s reaction to her in the
process must be assessed. And if that happens, that could be catastrophic, since psychological
pain can cause a violent personality to become more violent as a result.
Findings
The findings from the above discussion could be summarized according to the
following table:

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Problem Explanation
Practicality and emotions Whether it is right to consider emotions
over the practicality that Skye can indeed
pose threat to the society.
Correct approach How Skye should be approached if the
ultimate decision is to not let her go.
Professionalism vs Humanism Whether it is justified to stop Skye from
going with her desires, given that she does
not have any youth justice order against her
name at the present.
Chances of Skye getting hurt Whether Skye would rather be hurt from the
consequence of her action, given that the
chances of her mother not giving enough
attention to her, is high.
Table 1
Source: As created by author
The visual map
The questions, which need to be asked in the case, to reach at a just conclusion, have
been discussed in the previous section. To simplify the matter further, it is important to create
a conceptual framework for the same, as follows:

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Fig. 1
Source: As created by author
Explanation
The visual map says that each decision to lead to a definite action, to a conclusive
decision. At first, if practicality is chosen over emotions, a practitioner must ask what the
right approach would be to confront Skye to turn down her desire to make amends with her
mother. Furthermore, if professionalism is chosen over humanism, the correct approach to
confront Skye must also be identified in this case as well. However, if emotions are chosen
over practicality, and /or humanism is chosen over professionalism, the theory of
utilitarianism must be applied.

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This theory by Emmanuel Kant suggests that ethical alternatives must be chosen on
the basis of maximum benefits which it brings to all of the parties involved in the decision
and action (Mill, 2016). In this regard, the two parties are Skye’s surrounding society and the
child care setting, thereby indicating that the decision to let Skye go should be analyzed to
suggest that it is for the benefit of both of the parties, in terms of rights and responsibilities.
In case of Skye getting hurt, applying the theory would suggest that the officials must
ask themselves enough questions to justify that letting Skye stay back is good for Skye
indeed, and subsequently for the setting too. Considering all of the above factors, the path of
the ultimate decision would depend on the various answers to the questions pointed out.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the case, which the report dealt
with, is a complex one, and has several ethical concerns related to it. This is the reason why
the several questions have been pointed out in the case relating to the context of ethical
decision making, to make sure that the final decision, which is to be made by the officials, is
just. The first question, which the officials must ask, is whether they should opt for
practicality or emotions in this regard. That is to say, they must assess whether letting Skye
out in such a situation would be beneficial to the society, given her history of violence and
drug abuse, since it is their responsibility to ensure the same. Secondly, given that Skye does
not have a youth justice order on her at the present, would it be just and ethical to detain her?
Given that Skye’s mother might not be able to give her the attention which she would strive
for, would it hurt Skye’s sentiments? And if so, what could be the consequences of that?
Keeping all of those questions in mind, if the officials decide to detain Skye, they
must ask about the correct ethical approach to confront Skye on the same. On the other hand,
if she is allowed to let go, or if it is found that Skye’s decision could hurt her in return,

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utilitarianism should be applied to assess the maximum benefits of the actions to the parties
involved in the scenario, and the final path of the ultimate decision would be decided
accordingly.

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References
Congress, E. P. (2017). What social workers should know about ethics: Understanding and
resolving practice dilemmas. Social Work Ethics, 1909.
Huttunen, K., Pekkarinen, T., Uusitalo, R., & Virtanen, H. (2019). Lost Boys: Access to
Secondary Education and Crime.
Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 337-383).
Routledge.
Mind, O. M. (2016). The Preventive-Pill Paradox. Circulation, 2016(134), 1599-1600.

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Appendices
Table/Figure Title
Table 1 Table of findings
Fig. 1 Visual map of the case study