Ethical Decision-Making
Welcome to Sojourner Recovery Services’ training on Ethical Decision-Making. Below you will find some general information on this subject as well as agency guidelines and policies. This is not intended to be a comprehensive training and further training may be required. If you have additional questions, please contact your supervisor or an administrator.
Purpose:
This training is being provided to familiarize employees of Sojourner Recovery Services with the ethical code by which the agency abides, as well as to educate staff on the importance of these codes in making decisions regarding agency clients, protecting the interests of the client, the public and the professional.
Introduction:
Too often there is confusion about what an ethical code really is and what it is not. Personal values, moral standards, and religious convictions are important influences for most people with regard to the way they act. These are not, however, professional ethical codes. It is simplest when these influences line up with your professional ethical code but still they are not the same. When professionals substitute what these influences teach them for the explicit provisions of their ethical codes tempting as it may be they can fall into an ethical trap. Following are some definitions that may be helpful.
*Professional ethical codes are generally accepted systems of conduct designed to guide the on-the-job behavior of individuals in their working relationships with their clients, employers, communities, and their peers. All organizations of helping professionals we know of have such codes, which are sometimes referred to as standards. Most disciplines require that practitioners formally agree to abide by the ethical code of their profession when they receive their license or credential.
*Personal values are priority systems all people have and use to determine what is important and what is less important to them. These personal value systems are used as a guide in making major decisions. For example, a choice to work overtime rather than spend more time with one’s family is a value driven decision (the extra money or benefit from working ha a higher priority than spending time with the family). Sometimes we say that some folks have “no values”. The reality is that everyone has values, but they may differ from our own. Values may change as one’s life experience changes.
*Moral standards are codes of personal behavior used primarily as a guide to conduct in our everyday lives, especially in social relationships with others. Unlike personal values which rate life priorities, moral standards are generally absolute and positive (I will be hones, I will be faithful to my partner) but frequently put into action as personal prohibitions (I will not cheat at cards, I will not turn in a fraudulent service ticket). As with values, we all have some kind of moral code that guides us even if we do not label it as such. It is a system of thinking which guides our behavior. Sometimes what guide our moral standards are our religious beliefs.
*Religious beliefs, for those who hold them, often influence the value systems and moral standards that they set for themselves and others. It influences what we see as “right and wrong”. Those who use religious convictions to guide their own behavior see these convictions as having special force behind them since they tend to have been handed down by a higher spiritual power and, therefore, override temporal authority.
Think through these definitions and the ways you apply them to your personal life. Do you see how tempting it might be to apply them automatically to your professional life without regard for your professional ethical code? People who go into social work are generally people who are strongly motivated by a desire to help others and work for the good of our communities. Too often we see ourselves as having an accurate internal moral compass which will unerringly guide us to sound ethical decisions. But the fact remains that sometimes what is required of helping professional by their professional codes may seem to conflict with their own personal values, moral standards, and religious convictions and as a result, set them up for an ethical trap.
For example, a helping professional who holds a strong religious conviction that homosexuality is fundamentally wrong can find reasons to refuse to work with a homosexual client or make sexual orientation the primary therapeutic issue when it is not. Our ethical codes prohibit discrimination of all kinds, including that which is based on sexual orientation.
The important thing to remember is that in your professional life, when professional codes conflict with your own beliefs-no matter how sound those beliefs are-you must use the professional codes and standards as your guide.
Deciding what to do about a real or potential ethical problem can’t begin until a situation is identified as a possible problem in the first place. This means developing familiarity with professional ethical principals in general and with the specific principles of your professional discipline. These principals are quite comprehensive, but research has identified the following four problems as the most common sources of professional ethical violations:
*Dual relationships-activities involving the helping professional and client beyond the primary therapeutic or service relationship. These include social and financial relationships as well as sexual ones.
*Breaches of client confidentiality, which often occur unwittingly at the coffee machine or by telling a colleague or co-worker more than he or she needs to know.
*Attempts to provide treatment beyond the scope of an individual’s professional competence or the provision of inappropriate treatment or service to the client. This often happens before we realize it, or simply because of requests by a client we want to help.
*Failure to take appropriate steps to prevent suicide attempts.
The point is that no problem can be rectified unless it is first identified as a problem; thus the decision-making process must begin with recognition that a problem may exist. The following outline graphically shows the steps of this ethical decision-making process.
1. Problem Identification
* Is this an ethical problem? Or could it be clinical, legal, or a difference of opinion?
2. Ethical Standard Identification
*What ethical standard or standards is involved?
3. Considerations
*If standard is clear and provides useful guidance to my decision, move on to considering legal, clinical and ethical trap issues.
*If standard is unclear and provides little guidance, consult with peers and supervisor.
*If standard is clear but the action already taken is “wrong”, consult immediately with experienced colleagues and supervision.
4. Determine ethical trap possibilities.
5. Frame your preliminary response(s).
6. Consider the consequences
7. Prepare ethical resolution.
8. Get feedback from experienced peers, supervisor, Board or attorney, if needed.
9. Take appropriate action.
A copy of the Counselor and Social Worker Board Code of Ethics is included in your “Welcome to Sojourner Recovery Services” binder. You are also encouraged to review the code for your particular license and certification.
Quiz Instructions:
1. Click on the link below to access the quiz
2. Print the page
3. Complete the quiz
4. Submit the completed quiz to your supervisor