Case Study: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Individual Support Work

This case study delves into the ethical and legal responsibilities of an individual support worker, focusing on a scenario involving Cindy Smith and her son's Power of Attorney. It addresses Cindy's right to revoke the Power of Attorney, the necessary steps for revocation, including informing relevant parties like banks, and the ethical considerations Cindy should have made initially. The study emphasizes the importance of ethical decision-making, balancing interests, and disclosing information appropriately to prevent harm. It references legal and ethical research to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of the duties and considerations in such situations. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Running head: ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Ethical Responsibilities
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Answer 1:
It is worth mentioning that, as an individual support worker, one has to undertake various
responsibilities for the betterment of the society. There is a duty to take care on the part of the
individual support workers by taking into consideration various legal and ethical responsibilities
(Bender & Stauffer, 2017). As a support worker, there is a responsibility to gather appropriate
knowledge regarding the existing legal provisions related to the concept of Power of Attorney.
Therefore, considering the present scenario, it is important to provide appropriate advice to
Cindy Smith regarding the fact that there is a right on her part to revoke and cancel the Power of
Attorney given to her son. A Power of Attorney may be revoked at any point of the time
depending upon the nature of the relationship with the Attorney (Craft, 2014). In the present case
scenario, it can be observed that there was a mother and son relationship between the two parties
which can be revoked by signing appropriate documents by registering such revocation.
Answer 2:
In order to provide appropriate remedy to Cindy Smith, it is important to act according to
the provisions of revocation of a Power of Attorney document. In this regard, it is noteworthy to
mention here that, there are various reasons in which the Power of Attorney can be changed
depending upon the relationship with such Attorney (Brothers & Goldenberg, 2016). Therefore,
in the present case, Cindy can revoke the Power of Attorney by bringing prior notice before her
son. In case of failure to inform her son regarding the revocation or the cancellation of the Power
of Attorney, her son will continue to make decisions on her behalf. In this regard, if she fails to
provide prior notice, then the other relevant business enterprises and even the bank could use all
the records on her behalf and therefore a notice should be given to the bank as well. However, it

2ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
is worthwhile to refer here that, if the power of Attorney provided to her son was not duly
registered. Therefore, it is important to register the revocation deed.
Answer 3:
It is evident that, the life of a community is reflected from the law it creates. However,
the concept of ethical considerations is concerned with statements that are related to good or bad.
Therefore, in most of the cases, an individual social worker may apply ethical considerations
while addressing various issues. In the present scenario, it is important for the individual social
worker to advice Cindy Smith in ethical way. In the present scenario, Cindy Smith should have
made her decision ethically from the beginning while providing her son with the power to act as
the Power of Attorney. Before entrusting her son with the Power of Attorney, she should have
known that her son could utilize such power illegally and in an unethical way. It is worthwhile to
refer here that, there are many ways in which individuals are affected by the conduct of others. In
this context, the risk of harm to the concerned person becomes a part of ethical consideration.
Therefore, in the present scenario, it is essential on the part of Cindy Smith to decide that what
information needs to be disclosed and how it should be disclosed. As an individual social
worker, it is important to balance the ethical interests of the person affected as a result of the
harm.

3ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
References:
Bender, S., & Stauffer, M. D. (2017). Ethical and Legal Considerations in Counseling.
In Introduction to the Counseling Profession (pp. 73-93). Routledge.
Brothers, K. B., & Goldenberg, A. J. (2016). Ethical and legal considerations for pediatric
biobank consent: current and future perspectives. Personalized Medicine, 13(6), 597-607.
Craft, J. C. (2014). Preventing Power of Attorney Abuse-A Lawyer's Role. Ala. Law., 75, 117.
Hodgson, R. (2016). Legal and professional boundaries: a case study. Journal of Paramedic
Practice, 8(2), 90-94.
Ries, N. M., Thompson, K. A., & Lowe, M. (2017). Including people with dementia in research:
An analysis of Australian ethical and legal rules and recommendations for reform. Journal of
bioethical inquiry, 14(3), 359-374.