College Assignment: Ethical Dilemma Poster for Social Work Course

This assignment is a poster creation focusing on ethical dilemmas in social work. It highlights situations where a social worker's personal values conflict with a client's needs, using abortion assistance as an example. The assignment emphasizes the importance of the NASW Code of Ethics in guiding social workers, particularly the section on family planning and reproductive health. The worker must prioritize the client's autonomy in making decisions, even when those choices conflict with the worker's personal beliefs. The worker is expected to maintain a professional relationship and provide the requested service. The assignment stresses that the client's choices should be respected without any interruption or discrimination from the social worker. The assignment emphasizes the importance of understanding and applying the NASW code of ethics to navigate these difficult situations.

NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE COLLEGE
SUBMISSION DATE-
POSTER CREATION

Social work consists of ethical and practical uses code of conduct. The workers are
expected to act quickly when dealing with the dilemmas involved in the work. It impacts their
relationship with the clients. Hence, it is required by the social workers to make themselves
familiar with the code of conduct and also learn about the predicaments one might have to face
while working for the people and the society.
Ethical dilemma stands for a situation, where the professionally defined values are in
conflict with each other. These are defined by the NASW, i.e., the national association of social
workers, as Code of Ethics (Woodcock, 2011).
The ethical dilemma to be discussed in the following account is for the ‘Differences that arise in
Personal Values’.
This situation occurs when a client needs an assistance which conflicts with the personal
moral beliefs of the social worker, then the dilemma of following the preferences arises in the
mind of a social worker and it can create a conflict of interest in both the parties. As an example,
if a client needs to get an abortion assistance from the social worker, but, as per the personal
belief of the worker, getting an abortion done is not the right value or practice to be conducted,
then, a dilemma is created and it has to be solved practically as well as per the rules and
regulations mentioned in the code of ethics issued by NASW (NASW, 1990).
As a result, the social worker might feel awkward in helping the client for the same, but
he/she must go with the client’s choice for maintaining a positive relationship with the same and
also providing the requested service to the client. The only possibility in this case is to encourage
the client for the opposite point of view but it must contain force and power over the client.
If the client does not want to choose the alternative, the social worker must work
according to the guidelines mentioned in the NASW policy statements under the family planning
and reproductive health section to ensure that he/she is working according to it. The section, in
this case, clarifies that the clients are allowed to make their own decisions when it comes to their
reproduction and sexuality (Weinberg, 2013).

The statement promoted by the NASW says that the social workers are there to promote
the client’s socially responsible self determination. As a social worker, it is his duty to believe in
the potential parent for being free to decide according to their choice without getting affected by
anybody’s personal beliefs or convictions. It must not get hampered by the involvement of
anyother person, including the social worker. Being a social worker, it is his/her duty to address
the issue and provide required service for maintaining a better relationship with the clients
(Ethics, 2019).
Hence, it is expected from the social worker to maintain a professional relationship with
the client, along with a personal relationship in terms of assisting the client. The conflict of
interest must be taken in the purview that the client is sole responsible for the choices he/she
makes, without any interruption or discrimination from the social worker on any issue.
References

Ethics, C. (2019). Code of Ethics. [online] Socialworkers.org. Available at:
https://www.socialworkers.org/about/ethics/code-of-ethics [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
NASW (1990). Nasw Standards for Social Work Personnel Practices. NASW Distribution
Center.
Weinberg, M. (2013). The ideological dilemma of subordination of self versus self-care: Identity
construction of the ‘ethical social worker’. Discourse & Society, 25(1), pp.84-99.
Woodcock, R. (2011). Ethical Standards in the NASW Code of Ethics: The Explicit Legal
Model, and Beyond. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services,
92(1), pp.21-27.