Many social workers treat more than one member of a family, either simultaneously or consecutively. When treating multiple members of a family, social workers must be careful to avoid potential ethical conflicts or dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is “a situation in which professional duties and obligation, rooted in core values, clash. This is when social workers must decide which values, as expressed in various duties and obligations, take precedent” (Reamer, 2013, p.4). An example of a potential ethical dilemma is when a social worker has seen an adolescent and has also seen one or both parents in conjunction with treatment of the adolescent.
This paper will explore some of the things a social worker should think about when faced with this type of potential ethical dilemma and how to try to control his or her vulnerability. The school social worker is working with a 15-year old female client who was referred for appearing stressed, exhausted, depressed, “not herself”, and unexcused absences. As the social worker assessed the client’s social situation, the social worker learns that her client is helping to care for 2 younger siblings, ages 10 and 8. Client’s mother, is a single parent, has multiple sclerosis (MS), and has needed increasing assistance this year. The client has admitted to the social worker that she sometimes wishes “she could just be a kid.”
When the social worker spoke with the client’s mother, the social worker found that she allied with this strong, independent woman who is trying to keep her family together. The social worker admires her values and her will to fight her illness. The social worker sees that she just needs this bit of help from her daughter to manage. There is a potential ethical conflict in this case example. The potential ethical conflict is whether the social worker is clear who the client is in this case or whether he or she considers both the adolescent and her mother the clients. It is critical to be clear as to who is the client. Knowing who the client is would potentially prevent potential ethical conflicts.
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If the social worker believes that both the adolescent and her mother are the clients, conflicting values may be presented such as confidentiality, self-determination, and conflicting loyalties. Confidentiality may become a potential ethical dilemma because that would mean the social worker would have had to share confidential information with the mother from her session with the adolescent, “she wishes sometimes she could just be a kid.” Self-determination may become a potential ethical dilemma because of the adolescent’s conflicting value with her mother of “just [being] a kid” and her mother value of “trying to keep her family together.”
In addition, conflicting loyalties may potentially become an ethical dilemma because the social worker would appear to be allying with the mother’s values and ignoring the adolescent’s values. Therefore, to prevent a potential ethical conflict, the social worker must be clear as to who is the client. Standard 1.06 (d) of ethical standards of a social worker discusses conflicts of interests. “When social workers provide services to two or more people who have a relationship with each other, social workers should clarify with all parties which individuals will be considered clients and the nature of social workers’ professional obligations to the various individuals who are receiving services.
Social workers who anticipate a conflict of interest among the individuals receiving services or who anticipate having to perform in potentially conflicting roles should clarify their role with the parties involved and take appropriate action to minimize any conflict of interest” (National Association of Social Workers, 2017, ethical standards). There is a potential ethical conflict in this case example; however, it is only potential. If the social worker is clear as to who is the client, and in this case, it is the adolescent, there will not be an ethical dilemma. If unclear, the social worker should seek consultation.
References
- National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of- Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
- Reamer, F. G. (2013). Chapter 1. Social work values and ethics: An overview. In Social work values and ethics (4th ed., pp. 1–13). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
