Ethical Dilemmas in Social Work: A Case Study on Mental Health Units

This case study examines the ethical challenges encountered by a social worker, Cindy, in an adolescent mental health unit. The central issue revolves around a client, Ben, who attempted suicide and is in a relationship with a 30-year-old man, presenting dilemmas regarding confidentiality, self-determination, and the duty to protect. The analysis explores ethical perspectives, including self-determination, confidentiality, beneficence, and non-maleficence. The case study delves into various ethical theories and principles such as human rights, codes of ethics, and healthcare ethics, including autonomy and justice. Recommendations emphasize the importance of balancing client rights with professional responsibilities, particularly in cases involving suicide risk and the need to involve team members and, potentially, parents, while respecting the client's autonomy. The study underscores the complexities of ethical decision-making in social work practice.

Running Head: ETHICAL ISSUES 1
Ethical issues

Case study 2
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
1Identification of ethical issue.....................................................................................................................3
2 Ethical perceptive on issues......................................................................................................................4
3 Alternative perspectives on issues............................................................................................................5
4 Ethical issues............................................................................................................................................7
5 Recommendations....................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10

Case study 3
Introduction
Social workers make an effective contribution to various areas in the society. They
provide the best possible help to the individuals and society to overcome different problems.
However, in the professional practices, there are certain types of ethical standards which should
be followed by social workers. Ethics refers to standard practices which are set by each working
institution and morals refer to the general practices which are adopted by the society. Many times
social workers face issues while selecting between ethics and morals (Bayoumi, Kame and
Fathalla, 2017). The present report highlights ethical issues of social workers working in the
mental health units.
Identification of ethical issue
Social workers in the community make different types of contribution. While working as the
social worker, there are many types of ethical issues which are faced by them. Ethical issues
refer to the phenomenon in which one cannot make differences between what is right and what is
wrong. In the given case study, Cindy is social worker in an adolescent mental health unit. Her
client tried to commit suicide 3 months ago. He also told Cindy that he was in a relationship
with 30 years old man. So, the ethical issues for Cindy is that how to help Ben. The main ethical
issues faced by Cindy is wether to share such information with client’s parents and her team
member. If she shared information then it will break the law of confidentiality and also the trust
of her client. On the other hand, if she did not tell her then it may create future problems and also
it is possible that Benmay try to commit suicide again (Cullen, 2016). This case is based upon
teenage suicide case. According to social working ethical guide, social workers should not share

Case study 4
any sensitive information about patients to anyone but if she did not share such information then
team members cannot provide proper treatment.
In addition, Ben was in relationship and his parents were not aware of this. In such condition,
according to social workers’ ethical guidance, Ben is able to take any type of decisions. He is
free and all decisions are dependent upon him. On the other hand, in the suicide case, if patients
tried to commit such act, social workers need to increase awareness of team member because it is
caused by someone others. If Ben tried to end his life because he was is abusive relationship
then, according to ethical standards, Cindy need to share such information to people associated
with the patient and her team members (Fowler, 2016). On the other hand, an ethical issue is
that if Ben was happy with such arrangements. It becomes ethical issue for Cindy
2 Ethical Perceptive on Issues
Social workers have numerous social responsibilities and also his decisions are based on clients’
best interest. There are different types of the guidelines provided to social workers to develop
ethical perspective so they can provide the best treatment to their clients. An association such as
National Association of Social Workers or the International Federation of Social Workers guides
worker’s action. As in the human service professional, there are different types of ethical issues
which are faced by social workers (Gaudine and Beaton, 2016). The similar issues are also faced
by Cindy. She cannot make decisions how to react to situations and what are the possible ways to
help her client, Ben. So following are ethical perspective based on ethical issues in case of
suicide.
Self Determination

Case study 5
This is one of the guiding principles for social workers to determine clients’ rights to self-
determination. According to this guiding principle, the client ultimately charges to make his own
decisions and finding the solution of problems, regardless of whether a social worker agrees with
his course of action. A social worker’s duty and responsibility is that he should provide best
options and guidelines to his clients to explore more options (Mallari, Grace and Joseph, 2016).
This is an ethical dilemma for social workers to work according to the client’s best interest and
needs to provide respect to his rights even in case of suicide. In the given case study, Cindy took
right decisions as she helped Bento take decisions and also help Bento terminate the relationship.
Confidentiality
Another common ethical issue which is related to the case study is confidentiality. It refers to all
sensitive information which is related to clients but not disclose it to anyone without written
consent. The social workers need to respect interest and decision of his client. Social workers
must also respect a client's right to self-determination; that is, his right to choose his preferred
course of action. But in the case of suicide or harm generated by the third person, then social
worker needs to break confidentiality (Mitchell, 2016). In the given case study, Cindy did not
share information with her team members about Ben’s suicide at it is related to her physical
relationship with 30 years old man. So according to ethical perspective, Cindy need to share this
information with other team members.
3 Alternative Perspectives on Issues
Social workers face many types of ethical issues; especially, when they are taking care of the
client who is suffering from mental illness. According to ethical principle, there are certain
standards which should be following by individual to solve any problems on ethical issues

Case study 6
(Mitchell, 2016). However, social workers can also adopt their individual perspective to serve
client’s best interest and help him to overcome any problems. According to personal experiences,
Cindy can also follow this ethical standard for solving different issues such as:
Beneficence
It is also an ethical perspective on issues. It refers to providing the best options to clients by
taking the best actions to overcome threats. According to international ethical standards for
social workers, one should always take positive actions so they can help the individual to
promote better health and well-being. It also refers to actions through which individual can help
his clients to change his life with more positive attitudes. In the given case, Cindy needs to take
some action so Ben can terminate his relationship as she needs to give all facts and information
to her clients so he takes his own decisions and left the idea of suicide (Preshaw, Brazil,
McLaughlin and Frolic, 2016). Through this, she can help Ben to make positive changes in his
life.
Non-maleficence
It refers to minimization of harm or preventing threats. Under this ethical perspective, one should
also take such action through which individual should not harm himself. In the social caring,
there are many cases which are identified by individuals who try to impair him. It is an
obligation for social workers to try to minimize harm by taking corrective actions (Ulrich, Grady,
Hamric and Berlinger, 2017). As present in given case study, Cindy needs to take corrective
actions and also need to maintain regular talk to Ben. Through this, she helped her client to
overcome such threats and convince him to terminate his relationship.

Case study 7
4 Ethical issues
Following are the ethical issues in different perspective and approach:
Human Dignity and Human Rights
According to human rights and dignity, one is set to free to take any type of decisions. In the
continuation of democracy, an individual is free to take any type of decisions without harming
another person (Bayoumi, Kamel and Fathalla, 2017). In the case of minor, all his decisions are
taken by their parents, but in case of an adolescent, in terms of age and capacity, he is not able to
understand his situations then all rights and choices are depended on his caretaker or parents. In
the given case, Ben tried to commit suicide and according to international and national law, one
is not permitted to committed suicide in whatever conditions he faced. So, according to human
rights and dignity Ben can take any action but he did not end his life because it is illegal and
immature decisions.
Codes and Ethics and Practices
The Code and Ethics provide information about the best possible way in which an individual can
help other people and also they can give equal rights and justice to their patients. According to
code and ethics, social workers always commit to clients in all conditions. For social workers,
the first priority is their patients. The other guidelines should help the clients to take their own
decisions. The best ways to overcome with any type of future threats is that the social workers
motivate the clients to take right decisions and avoid conflicts. In addition, justice and privacy
are also other practices which should be followed by the individual (Cullen, 2016). It refers to
giving equal priority and treatment to all individuals and also maintaining sensitive information
of clients. All these codes are effectively followed by Cindy.

Case study 8
Ethical Theory
There are several types of ethical theory which can be adopted by Cindy. In given case, the best
theory practice which is adopted by an individual is utilitarianism theory (Gaudine and Beaton,
2016). According to this theory, social workers take actions which can minimize the harm and
pain and maximize pleasure. So, Cindy need to take those activities through which Ben can
overcome his own pain and also receive best possible outcomes through the process. However,
according to this ethical theory, one should not possess right to hide information about patient’s
suicide. So, Cindy should share all relevant information with her team members so they can
prevent Ben to take any type of suicide actions.
Principles of Health Care Ethics
In the healthcare ethics, there are four fundamental healthcare ethics such as justice, autonomy,
non-maleficence and beneficence. It is considered as the basic health care ethics which should be
followed by everyone.
Autonomy: It refers to all decisions of clients taken by him only. The social workers cannot
impose his decisions on clients. So Cindy needs to provide only guidance to Ben for decision
taking and also do not impose her wishes to the terminated relationship.
Justice: According to health care ethics, one individual has right to receive all medical
treatments and benefits which he should receive during medical treatments, Cindy needs to
provide all medical facilities and consultation to Ben so he can recover from his situations.
Non-maleficence: It refers to providing all type of help and prevention so the individual can
minimize his pain (Fowler, 2016). Cindy should make continuous communication to Ben so he

Case study 9
can share more information. Through this, she can also provide best medical treatment and help
Ben.
Beneficence: It refers to helping clients to evaluate the best options for all types of alternatives.
The social workers need to provide all information and facts which can help the individual to
make his own decision. However, in case of a minor, the best interest should remain with his
parents. It is the case based on adolescent mental health so best decisions is taken by the Ben
himself.
5 Recommendations
For the professional practices in social workers, there are many types of recommendations which
should be followed by the Cindy. She made best possible ethical decisions to help Ben, but there
according to the professional practices Cindy do not have right to hide information to her team
members. In case of suicide, individual can break confidentiality if suicide appears by threats on
the third party. In the above case, according to professional and legal practices, Cindy need to
share information and also become aware of team members about the Ben’s suicide cause. In
addition, self -determination should remain with patients; but, it is a case of suicide and minor so
all decisions should be taken by Ben’s parents only. So, according to professional practice,
Cindy also share information with Ben parents as well
Conclusion
Summing up the present report, it can be concluded that social workers have to face a lot of
ethical issues. Each day there are many types of ethical issues which can influence ethical
practices of the individual. In the above report, Cindy has also faced similar types of ethical

Case study 10
issues related to self-determination and confidentiality. She made correct decisions and also
follow standard ethical practices. However, hiding information about Ben’s suicide causes is not
correct professional practice; therefore, it should be avoided and it is against the health care
ethics.

Case study 11
References
Bayoumi, M.H., Kamel, F.F, & Fathalla, A.A., 2017. Guideline Education Program about
Nursing Ethics in Pediatric Oncology Unit: Effect on Nurses’ Knowledge and Practice.
IOSR J Nurs Heal Sci, 6(3), pp.01-09.
Cullen, J. G. (2016). Nursing management, religion and spirituality: A bibliometric review, a
research agenda and implications for practice. Journal of nursing management, 24(3),
291-299.
Fowler, M. D. (2016). Heritage ethics: Toward a thicker account of nursing ethics. Nursing
ethics, 23(1), 7-21.
Gaudine, A. P., & Beaton, M. R. (2016). Employed to go against one's values: nurse managers'
accounts of ethical conflict with their organizations. Canadian Journal of Nursing
Research Archive, 34(2)
Mallari, M.S.N., Grace, M, & Joseph, D., 2016. Ethical Frameworks for Decision-Making in
Nursing Practice and Research: An Integrative Review.
Mitchell, P. H. (2016). Nursing ethics and social justice. International nursing review, 63(1), 1-
2.
Preshaw, D.H., Brazil, K., McLaughlin, D, & Frolic, A., 2016. Ethical issues experienced by
healthcare workers in nursing homes: Literature review. Nursing ethics, 23(5), pp.490-
506.
Ulrich, C.M., Grady, C., Hamric, A.B, & Berlinger, N., 2017. Response to “Nurses at the Table:
Nursing, Ethics, and Health Policy”. Nursing Outlook, 65(2), p.142.

Case study 12