Deck 5: Values and Ethical Dilemmas

Question 1

What are some of the reasons for the authors' assertion that insoluble dilemmas are inevitable as we try to adhere to the attitudes and values discussed in the previous chapter?

Answer 1

At some point there are bound to be conflicts between what we have been taught in our family or in our professional training and what our clients believe is right and wrong. Perhaps we have always accepted an assumption, which we find through our reading or research is not as accurate as we believed. In addition, the agency we work for or some bureaucracy we interact with may operate in terms of its goals of efficiency or some legal or political agenda that may be opposed to what we think is in the best interests of our clients.

Question 2

Why do the authors assert that workers can never be totally value-free, no matter how hard they might try?

Answer 2

We have all been raised in different families and towns that helped to shape our values. Our social class, gender, and ethnic or religious group are bound to have influenced, to some extent, how we understand the world. It is almost impossible for us to recognize and then suppress all of these values. Even if we stay silent, our facial expressions, the sounds we make, every word we use can reveal some amount of acceptance or rejection of what the client is saying about a sensitive subject. But of course we have to try to be as neutral as we can so the clients can express a wide range of feelings, describe behaviors and make their own decisions.

Question 3

Why do you think you might have a value conflict when trying to adhere to the concepts of confidentiality and self-determination if you suspect that a child in your after-school recreation program is being abused by his parents or care givers?

Answer 3

The law requires that human service workers report any suspected cases of child abuse, so we might have to reveal what a young person has told us in privacy or what we overheard when the children were talking among themselves. If we discuss our suspicions with the parents and they admit any abuse to us, then we must turn this information over to the Department of Social Services and file a report. The parents may believe that their concept of discipline is correct, but the law will determine if it is "discipline" or "child abuse" therefore taking away from them their right of self- determination in raising their child.

Question 4

Give an example of a conflict you have heard about or been involved in, which puts the rights of an individual against the rights of the members of the community.

Question 5

What is meant by mandated or involuntary treatment? Under what circumstances might it occur?

Question 6

To what extent do you think that Dr. Kevorkian (the doctor who has assisted in several patient suicides) or anyone else should be legally allowed to assist persons who are terminally ill and want to end their lives? Under what circumstances would you permit this if you were a judge? List and explain at least one potential problem if "mercy killing" is legalized, and one potential benefit of active euthanasia that was presented in the case of Andrea.
Examples of potential problems that acceptance of assisted suicide or mercy killing might lead to:

Question 7

Give one example of the way in which a human service worker's view of human nature might influence the kind of treatment program he or she would suggest for a teenager who has committed a crime. (Refer to the theories of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau or Gilligan or Miller.)

Question 8

What is meant by the phrase, "the client is your employer"? Do you think that there should be limits to this concept or situations where this could be difficult to believe, for example when working with an adult who is addicted to drugs or to having sex with children?
The phrase means:

Question 9

Give an example of how a human service worker in a hospital or in a school for young children might show sensitivity to any gay or lesbian clients.

Question 10

What suggestions do the authors offer to help us find our way out of the ethical jungle?

Question 11

By carefully delineating the required attitudes and values, new human service workers can be taught to avoid conflicts and dilemmas when they go out into social agencies to work.

Question 12

Human service workers face dilemmas or value conflicts of one sort or another every day, no matter what their role in an agency.

Question 13

Treatment is said to be mandated when:

A) It is given by a trained professional.
B) It is required by a court or other authority.
C) It is covered by an insurance plan.
D) It is rendered according to strict guidelines.
E) All of the above.

Question 14

We would characterize the following intervention as subtle manipulation of the client when:

A) A judge decrees that a woman who has three charges of driving under the influence should attend AA meeting for one year.
B) An agency announces that any teenagers caught using narcotics on the premises will be banned from coming to the recreation center.
C) A residence for pregnant women who are not married, focuses on preparing the women for the future adoption of their children but does not offer classes or counseling on child rearing techniques.
D) A day care center holds a workshop on how to determine if your child has a learning disability.

Question 15

Fierce battles have raged about abortion for over two decades. Now, the issue has been permanently settled by the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which found abortion to be a legal medical practice (and a woman's right to privacy).

Question 16

The Hyde Amendment prohibits using federal funds for abortion.

Question 17

Disagreement brought about by differences in values between people is:

A) A value dilemma.
B) A value conflict.
C) An ethical issue.
D) An ethical conflict.

Question 18

If a mother who is abusing drugs wants to get treatment, it is readily available because most residential treatment programs make provisions for the children.

Question 19

In dealing with a bureaucracy whose practices seem to be hurting, rather than helping clients, workers should consider doing which of the following:

A) Speaking out about their beliefs, showing the politics that might lie behind certain bureaucratic rules.
B) Forming alliances with other workers and with the clients to do social action.
C) Questioning rules and regulations rather than docilely going along with them.
D) Lobbying to change the legislative mandates that might have set these rules.
E) All of the above.

Question 20

If coercion is necessary, such as in the case of mandated treatment, it should generally be undertaken with the client's knowledge.

Question 21

Although one can never generalize about the values of a country, in the United States we do seem to place a large emphasis on:

A) Family loyalty and commitment to a locality.
B) Obedience to authority.
C) Individualism, mastery and competition.
D) Family allowances and other non-means tested programs.

Question 22

Self-determination is at the top of the professional values list for the National Association of Social Workers.

Question 23

Which of the following is false?

A) Values of self-determination and confidentiality may be difficult to adhere to.
B) A human service worker needs to be aware of and sensitive to ethical and legal issues.
C) The personal values of a human service worker must be a priority when working with a difficult client.
D) Human service workers must be honest with themselves and their clients

Question 24

Many babies can recover from the effects of crack-cocaine if given adequate treatment and support.

Question 25

A choice that is made after a person has been given all the relevant information about an issue or treatment is considered:

A) Commitment to treatment.
B) Obedience to authority.
C) Informed choice.
D) A contract.
E) Manipulation