Ethical Practices in Social Work: Case Study and Reflection

This assignment delves into the ethical considerations within social work, using a case study to illustrate complex dilemmas. The analysis focuses on a scenario involving a social worker, Mary, and the ethical compromises made regarding dignity of risk, informed consent, confidentiality, and beneficence. The assignment includes a reflective discussion of these compromises and a comprehensive essay exploring ethical challenges, such as covert surveillance, breaches of confidentiality, and the impact of risk management frameworks on client autonomy. The essay examines the ethical dilemmas faced by social workers and emphasizes the importance of upholding ethical principles to ensure the well-being and rights of vulnerable individuals. The author concludes that social workers must navigate ethical considerations carefully, prioritizing the needs and autonomy of their clients.

Running head: ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
Ethical practices in social work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
Part A: Reflective discussion about the case study
Are these good or rotten compromises? Explain and justify your decision
The field of social service is an extremely delicate field of work. It requires the careful
treading of the social workers around their subjects of interest (Beckett, Maynard & Jordan,
2017). The mental framework of the concerned people in the society comes in to question who
are in urgent need of some kind of external help. This help, in turn, is provided by such social
care givers (West & Bowman, 2016).
In this respect, it can be observed that there are certain ethical principles which needs to
be adhered to in order to ensure the effective implementation of such social care to the
individuals (Reamer, 2015). In the case study, it can be analyzed that the ethical principle of
dignity of risk was compromised for duty of care, informed consent was compromised in the face
of autonomy, confidentiality was compromised for truthfulness and beneficence was
compromised in the face of nonmaleficence.
These are rotten compromises because the work of a social worker is to ensure the well-
being of their patients (Iphofen, 2016). In other words, they are only supposed to aid them to
develop in to a better version of themselves. As a result, such vulnerable individuals should be
given the dignity of risk to find out their own comfort zone (Mänttäri‐van der Kuip, 2016).
Furthermore, the social worker should work with the help of informed consent and for this
confidentiality is one of the most important attribute to be adhered to (Timms & Watson, 2018).
Beneficence should be main objective of such a social worker which was not followed in the
context of this case study (Bond, 2015).

2ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
Thus, to conclude, it can be observed that the ethical considerations that are followed by
a social worker may have the potential to degenerate in to bad compromises based on the
situations. This affects the relevant working of the social work and also the mental health and
safety of the vulnerable individuals of the society.

3ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
Part B: A reflective essay on the case study
The field of social work and social service is considered to be significant for the growth
and development of the human society. There are certain vulnerable individuals of this society
who are in need of help and attention from their peer groups (Schubert, 2017). However, since it
is not always possible for the family members to effectively understand the desires of such
individuals within their household, they often end up harming them more. In this regard, the need
of the professional social workers are required (Guillemin & Gillam, 2015). This essay tries to
understand the different ethical dilemmas that a social worker encounters while being in their
field of work.
The case study talks about an individual named Mary who has been assigned Grace as
her own social worker. After a certain point of time, Grace started to have some serious concerns
regarding the welfare and mental well-being of Mary and she raised such concerns with her own
supervisor, Matt. Matt undertook the decision that Mary should be considered as a ‘level 3’
priority whereby Grace should start keeping a regular check on her and take a more ‘proactive’
approach for taking care of Mary.
Grace started a covert surveillance on Mary, trying to understand if Mary is consuming
any alcohol or injecting drugs. Furthermore, the local pharmacists, Patricia revealed to grace that
Mary once came to the store to purchase contraceptive pills. This made Patricia question about
the capability of Mary to engage in consensual sex. Another event that occurred was that the
Greenback Community Housing Support sent a letter to Mary stating that her unit would be
inspected by them as they were concerned that the unit was not up to the standards of being well
maintained.

4ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
In the context of this case study, it can be observed that several ethical dilemmas were
present. I feel that the first ethical dilemma was that regarding to the decision of Matt. Matt
under took the decision of escalating the situation of May to ‘level 3’ without even conducting
the necessary observations. He thereby appointed Grace to make daily visits to Mary which
started to change the relationship between Mary and Grace as Mary felt that she was being
regulated by Grace.
In this regard, the social theory of dignity of risk comes to play. Dignity of risk states that
the vulnerable individuals should be given the benefit of doubt to explore their lives themselves
and should be allowed to make mistakes (Androff, 2015). This would act as their character
development as they would be able to draw important lessons from their own life experiences.
Another ethical dilemma which can be observed within the case study is that of Patricia
telling Grace about the medical health of Mary. I feel that in this scenario, Grace should have
confronted Mary and asked her about her medical purchases. Patricia told Grace that Mary has
recently purchased certain contraceptive pills and she doubted about the fact that whether Mary
knew about the idea of consensual sex. Being a vulnerable person, there is a tendency to judge
the ability of a person to take informed decisions. However, in this scenario, Grace allowed
Patricia’s thoughts to influence her rather than allowing Mary to clarify her own position.
In this regard, the ethical dilemma of truthfulness and confidentiality can be examined.
Within the field of social work, it can be observed that the vulnerable individuals should be
given the opportunity to undertake certain activities that they want to. The desires and the needs
of such group of individual assumes a priority for the social workers assigned to them. In this
context, the fact that Mary purchased contraceptive pills should have indicated Grace to take
Mary in to confidence and allow her to be transparent with regard to her desires. This would

5ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
have allowed Grace to abide by the ethical principle of truthfulness. However, it can be seen that
Grace decided to keep the information which she received from Patricia a secret and confidential
rather than giving an opportunity to Mary to be truthful to her wants and needs.
In this context, it can be concluded that it depends upon the activities of the social
workers to ensure that they abide by the ethical considerations in their field of work. The social
workers are required to work with a host of vulnerable people of the community. This means that
they have to take care of the feelings and emotions of such people in a tactful manner. The
vulnerable people are often criticized or demeaned by the other people of the society. This
adversely affects their level of mental development and the consequent development of their
personalities. As a consequence, it depends upon the social workers to ensure that they give
enough space and respect to the vulnerable people so that they are able to develop themselves.
The vulnerable individuals should not be made to feel condescend in nature. They should be
given the opportunity of dignity of risk whereby they can understand the different risks to their
self and take the necessary measures to overcome them.

6ETHICAL PRACTICES IN SOCIAL WORK
References:
Androff, D. (2015). Practicing rights: Human rights-based approaches to social work practice.
Routledge.
Beckett, C., Maynard, A., & Jordan, P. (2017). Values and ethics in social work. Sage.
Bond, T. (2015). Standards and ethics for counselling in action. Sage.
Guillemin, M., & Gillam, L. (2015). Emotions, narratives, and ethical mindfulness. Academic
Medicine, 90(6), 726-731.
Iphofen, R. (2016). Ethical decision making in social research: A practical guide. Springer.
Mänttäri‐van der Kuip, M. (2016). Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient
resources. International Journal of Social Welfare, 25(1), 86-97.
Reamer, F. G. (2015). Clinical social work in a digital environment: Ethical and risk-
management challenges. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 120-132.
Schubert, C. (2017). Green nudges: Do they work? Are they ethical?. Ecological
Economics, 132, 329-342.
Timms, N., & Watson, D. (2018). Philosophy in social work. Routledge.
West, J. P., & Bowman, J. S. (2016). Electronic surveillance at work: An ethical
analysis. Administration & Society, 48(5), 628-651.