Deck 10: Organizational and Work Relationships

Question 1

Which of the following are ethical dilemmas faced by social work supervisors?

A)Renaming services to give the illusion of compliance with the requirements of the agency's sponsors
B)Whether or not to maintain a program whose services are no longer needed
C)How to handle misallocation of funds or agency corruption
D)Balancing demands of delivery of services to clients, record keeping and report writing, supervisory sessions with individual workers, and other demands on their time and energy.
E)All of the above.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

A supervisor may be charged with direct liability when which of the following occurs?

A)Supervisor takes responsibility for mistakes made by a supervisee
B)Supervisor causes harm through acts of omission or commission
C)Supervisor does not follow state board guidelines for providing supervision
D)All of the above
E)B and C

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Having sex with a client is acceptable so long as it is consensual.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Social work administrators are accountable to their supervisees for productivity and for operating within the authorized budget.

Question 5

Autonomy, self-determination, and confidentiality are the most important ethical principles in the military.

Question 6

Vicarious liability is defined as the supervisor's being held responsible for the mistakes of the supervisee during placement or employment.

Question 7

Which two actions were viewed as the most unethical behaviors by both supervisors and supervisees in Worthington, Tan, and Poulin's 2002 study?

A)Intentionally fabricating information and engaging in sexual relations with a client
B)Forging a supervisor's signature and engaging in sexual relations with a client
C)Intentionally fabricating information and forging a supervisor's signature
D)Engaging in sexual relations with a client and failure to complete documentation of client records within the required time
E)Failure to complete documentation of client records within the required time and forging a supervisor's signature

Question 8

Research suggests that reporting child abuse interferes with the therapeutic relationship.

Question 9

Social work administrators have an ethical responsibility to protect clients' rights and to foster an atmosphere in which workers will do the same.

Question 10

Explain why a social worker is faced with an ethical dilemma when they discover that the policies of the agency they work for are not ethical.

Question 11

Studies show that after a therapist reports a client for child abuse, the client tends to stay in therapy if which of the following exists?

A)The client was a participant in the informed consent process.
B)There was a strong therapeutic alliance prior to the report.
C)Confidentiality was fully discussed prior to the report.
D)All of the above
E)Most clients discontinue therapy after a child abuse report.

Question 12

Direct liability is defined as harm caused by the supervisor through acts of omission or commission in supervising the supervisee and by not adhering to the guidelines of supervision as stated by their board of social work.

Question 13

A social worker must report a colleague to NASW if the worker discovers that the colleague has acted in an unethical manner.

Question 14

The NASW Code of Ethics recognizes that social workers' commitment to the organizations that employ them as an ethical obligation.

Question 15

Poor supervision consists of the supervisor's:

A)Inability to share performance evaluations with workers
B)Poor documentation
C)Lack of weekly supervision
D)All of the above
E)A and C

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT an option after learning that a colleague has engaged in unethical behavior?

A)Informally approaching the colleague to try to resolve the problematic behavior
B)Bringing unethical behavior to the attention of one's supervisor
C)Bringing unethical behavior to the attention of the colleague's clients
D)Reporting unethical behavior to the state licensing board
E)Bringing the unethical conduct to the attention of the general public (whistle-blowing)

Question 17

Organization maintenance and survival demands may result in rules that contradict the primary obligation of social workers to give priority to their clients' interests.

Question 18

Explain in detail how you would assess the following situation:
Your supervisor is going away for two weeks and asks you to stay at her home to take care of her animals and keep an eye on the house.She offers you $200.00 for your assistance.

Question 19

The book provides six actions a social worker can take upon learning that a colleague has engaged in unethical behaviors.List and discuss four of the six options.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of unethical behavior that might arise with a colleague?

A)Having sexual relations with a colleague
B)Having sexual relations with a client or supervisee
C)Showing up late to a session
D)Sharing confidential information about a client in supervision

Question 21

Engage the class in a discussion of both the positive and negative experiences they have had with supervisors in their past and present placements.

Question 22

Discuss with the class Exemplar 10.2 Failure to Report a Case of Child Abuse (pg.199), and how a report could affect the therapeutic relationship.

Question 23

The goals and objectives of some organizations are not always congruent with the values of the social work profession.To whom should a social worker be committed: the employing agency, the client, or themselves? Provide rationale for your decision.

Question 24

List and discuss the responsibilities of a supervisor.
Discussion Topics:

Question 25

The child welfare agency in your hometown places white children in adoptive homes and minority children in institutions "because there are no adoptive homes for them" (Dolgoff et al, 2011, pg.209).Discuss your feelings related to this discriminatory practice.

Question 26

If an administrator renames "recreation services" to "respite services" because government funding for recreation is dropped, an illusion of compliance is achieved by playing semantics games.Is this ethical behavior?

Question 27

Ask the students to list what qualities they look for in a supervisor and discuss these qualities as a class.

Question 28

Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the concepts of direct liability and vicarious liability.

Question 29

Discuss with the class what each member feels her responsibility is when she learns that a colleague has violated the Code of Ethics.
Class Exercises:

Question 30

Discuss with the class what a social worker should do if their ethics and values are in conflict with the ethics and values of a member of their consulting team who is from another profession.