Social work ethical dilemmas

[Guest guest]

Copied as fair use from

http://www.worldofestudy.com/hm/examples-of-social-work-ethical-dilemmas.html

I am not aware if social work institutes have ethics committees. : are you

reading this?

Vijay

-------------------------------------------------------

Example Of Social Work Ethical Dilemmas

The primary objective of social work is to improve the living conditions of

human beings and help them in meeting basic human needs, with special focus on

people who are oppressed or those living in poverty. Social workers relentlessly

work towards ending various form of social injustice such as discrimination,

oppression and poverty through a coordinated effort that includes consultation,

administration, policy advocacy, social and political action, policy development

and implementation, education, research and evaluation. Ethical dilemmas are

quite commonly encountered by social workers during their interactions with

clients, agency policies, procedures, colleagues, administrators, and

organizational systems.

An ethical dilemma is a predicament where a person must decide between two

viable solutions that seem to have similar ethical value. An ethical dilemma can

occur when a social worker has to take a moral course of action depending upon

two different moral philosophies that conflict with each other. In another

situation, a decision has to be made from the available choices without even

knowing in advance the outcome of the decision. The result can either be

beneficial or harmful. In the third instance, a social worker has to make a

choice that might be best only for a certain section of individuals involved in

the conflict and is harmful for the other party.

Ethical dilemmas of social workers can be resolved in consultation with social

work organization's ethical committee or a regulatory body or a legal counsel.

However, the most accepted method for dealing with ethical dilemmas is to

develop and implement a professional code of ethics.