Professional Decision Making in Social Work: Case Study Analysis

This essay delves into the realm of professional decision-making within the field of social work. It begins by defining decision-making as a problem-solving tool, emphasizing the need for knowledge and skills to make effective choices. The essay then explores how environmental factors, such as complex situations, can influence cognitive functions and, consequently, the decision-making process. Several decision-making models are examined, including critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and practical reasoning. The essay presents a case study of a social worker, Mary, who faces the challenge of deciding whether to accommodate refugees. The critical thinking model guides Mary to consider available information, opinions, evidence, assumptions, and arguments before reaching a conclusion. The ethical reasoning model prompts Mary to analyze the ethical principles involved, such as social justice and protecting individual dignity, while the practical reasoning model encourages her to justify her actions based on her experiences and circumstances. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of the AASW code of ethics in guiding Mary's decisions, highlighting principles such as non-maleficence, justice, and the protection of human dignity. The essay underscores the relevance of these models in helping social workers make well-informed and ethical decisions, particularly when dealing with vulnerable populations.

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PROFESSIONAL DECISION MAKING IN SOCIAL WORK
Name
Institution
City
Date

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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

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example; she might get harmed, robbed of her properties, or even something wrong may
happen to the people she is hosting. This keeps her at risk of landing into troubles as a result
of her generosity. This can make her reluctant to consider helping them in that manner.
Ethical reasoning model
Ethical decision making refers to the process of analyzing and finding a solution to a problem
with consideration of ethical principles. It is necessary to consider what is ethical and
unethical before making the final decision (Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015). This includes values
that govern social work practices. A social worker should consider delivering proper service,
social justice, prioritizing to protect individual dignity, among other values (Reamer, 2013).
In this scenario, Mary is entitled to help needy people to meet their needs. In this case,
people are vulnerable and needy. At the same time, there are scarce resources, and Mary is at
a position to assist the few that she can. Food and shelter are fundamental needs to ignore
either. She can as well consider accommodating the few individuals that she can. This can as
well make a difference in a few people's lives. As ethics directs her not to harm people, it is
morally upright to help the people. Considering that she grew up in a large family and was
supported by others in life, she can consider helping others as she can understand their
situation. It might be unethical to accommodate the clients at her place, but in a humanistic
view, it is a good thing to do. Making a positive difference in people's lives is more helpful
than allowing them to suffer (Rubin & Babbie, 2016). Mary's boss and other workers are
having different opinions on her decision. Some may consider her actions ethical, but others
may find it unethical, but her focus on helping the people in all the means that she can drive
her, rather than ethical values.

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Practical reasoning model
This model explains that one should have a reason to act in whatever the way he/she decides
to act. One uses the reason to defend the action and decide what follows (Chai and Ngai,
2016). In this scenario, if Mary decides to continue hosting the needy people, she should be
having a reason behind her decision. For example, her past experiences when growing up
may determine if she can allow people to stay at her place. Her experience of growing up in
a large family and getting help from other people may be a reason enough to make her
willing to help others. Having no dependents may also put her in a good position to
accommodate and cater for the needy, as she is in a position to do so comfortably.On the
other hand, Mary may decide not to accommodate the needy people at her place, the reason
being that her actions will make a little difference in their lives. Mary may also decide not to
accommodate the needy in her room, considering that she should keep a safe distance from
the clients to avoid going against the ethics. When the need arises, it does not discriminate
the children from adults, but it affects all. This may make Mary accommodate a specific
group of people due to their urgent and special needs. For example, she may decide to
accommodate the lactating mother for the safety of the children. This can be supported by the
fact that children and lactating mothers are more vulnerable compared to men. Mary may also
consider the opinions of her boss and the colleagues and decide whether to assist the people
or not, based on the reasons that they present to her.
Conclusion
Decision making is an essential aspect of human living; life entails making decisions
economically, socially, and politically. Individuals make the decision which favours their
desires and values (Dichter, 2017). Depending on the decision which an individual decides to
make, there is always a positive or a negative outcome. According to the critical thinking

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model, Mary can accommodate or fail to stay with the needy in her house, depending on her
thinking about the consequences of helping the needy. According to the ethical reasoning
model, Mary, as a social worker, has a code of conduct that should be followed. She has a
role to assist the vulnerable in society. When considering the practical reasoning model,
before making the decision, she should reflect on what she should do and consider the
consequences of the action. Regardless of the model that Mary considers for decision
making, she should consider various principles as stated by the AASW code of ethics. The
principles include doing less harm to the victims, justice to all, protecting human dignity and
competence when dealing with clients and others at workplace, among other principles. In as
much as Mary may not be in the best position to help the people, she should make sure that
she avoids causing any harm to the people, as directed by the social work principles. She
should strive to be just to everyone. This principle leads her to maintain fairness and equality
without discriminating some clients. As a social worker, Mary has a responsibility to protect
the dignity of the victims. This is by helping them to make strategies aimed at meeting their
basic needs. This includes finding safe shelter. This principle keeps Mary the mandate to
provide housing for the vulnerable. Mary’s boss and her colleagues have differe4nt opinions
on the matter; hence, they may not be the best to consult in the issue. I such unclear
directions, she should consult the AASW for further guidelines. Therefore, all of the above
models are relevant and applicable to Mary while making the right decision.
References

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Chai, J. and Ngai, E.W., 2016. Decision model for complex group argumentation. Expert
systems with applications, 45, pp.223-233.
Dichter, E., 2017. The strategy of desire. Routledge.
Ferrell, O. C., and Fraedrich, J.2015. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases.
Nelson Education.
Forawi, S.A., 2016. Standard-based science education and critical thinking. Thinking Skills
and Creativity, 20, pp.52-62.
Hammond, J.S., Keeney, R.L. and Raiffa, H., 2015. Smart choices: A practical guide to
making better decisions. Harvard Business Review Press.
Moon, J., 2013. Critical thinking: An exploration of theory and practice. Routledge.
O'Doherty, J.P., Cockburn, J. and Pauli, W.M., 2017. Learning, reward, and decision making.
Annual review of psychology, 68, pp.73-100.
Reamer, F. G. (2013). Social work values and ethics. Columbia University Press.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2016). Empowerment series: Research methods for social work.
Cengage Learning.