Ethical Dilema

Ethical Dilemma

Ethics is the values and customs of a person or group and covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right and wrong. The choices we decide are not always going to be easy to make, and when we’re faced to choose between equally unsatisfactory alternatives this is called ethical dilemmas. How can such dilemmas be handled? Well, if and when this situation arises, it would be helpful to ask yourself three questions. 1) Is it legal, 2) Is it balanced, and 3) How would it make me feel about myself. In this paper I will be applying the ethical dilemma questions to a situation and will be search for alternative ways in which things can be handled.

Dilemma:

You are a social worker working in an outpatient mental health clinic. A young, junior enlisted woman comes to your office stating she is agitated, angry, and scared. She is the mother of two small children, ages 3 years and 7 months, and the spouse of a non-active-duty member. She is a member of a unit scheduled to deploy on a six-month tour of duty in three weeks. She holds a high-level security clearance. She tells you that her husband abandoned her last week and there is nobody available to watch her children during her six-month absence. Her Personal Readiness Plan has not been modified to reflect the husband’s abandonment.

While in the military for only several years, she has an excellent military record and plans on making the military a career. She wants to talk with somebody about the situation and has come to you for help and guidance. She does not want to turn to her family for help because they disapprove of her inter-racial marriage. She is not sure what you can do for her, but feels desperate. She states that with your help she can resolve the issue herself. She is looking forward to the upcoming mission and does not want to be left behind. Finally, she asks you not to tell her unit, because she is afraid it will hurt her career. She says her commanding officer is not flexible and will be angry with her.

You are faced with the dilemma of honoring her request for privacy and confidentiality or reporting the situation to her unit. Again, you are faced with conflicting moral choices: mission or client? In addition, because you have not worked with this unit before, you do not know how the unit commander will handle the issue. Therefore, this magnifies your dilemma because you must choose the best moral course of action without knowing in advance the outcome of the decision for your client.

In order to solve this dilemma, the officer should ask these questions.

• Is this legal? (Does it violate company policy?)

• Is it balanced? (Will my decision be win-win or win-lose?)

• How would I feel about myself? (Will I feel good about the decision?) (Nickels, 2006)

The right to privacy and confidentiality are hallmark social work values. Ethical standard 1.07 (a) (NASW Code of Ethics) notes that social workers should respect clients’ right to privacy and ethical standard 1.07 (b) (NASW Code of Ethics) notes that social workers should protect the confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of professional service, except for compelling professional reasons. Ethical standard 1.07 (c) notes that a social worker may breach confidentiality when disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, foreseeable, and imminent