Begin by selecting from one of the following ethical dilemmas:
Case A
You are a human service professional working in an elementary school providing psychoeducational workshops for a group of 6th grade girls. One of the girls has been referred to to you because of absences and tardiness, and because it appears she has been cutting. The student did not show up for the first three appointments but finally kept the fourth appointment. She is tentative and withdrawn. She asks if she can trust you to tell you a secret and asks that you not tell anyone else. You realize that her help-seeking is in a very tentative, fragile state, and you would like to increase her trust with you and the likelihood that she will engage in services. You explain confidentiality to her, and she discloses that she is being sexually abused by her stepfather. She tells you that if you tell anyone, she will get beaten by her stepfather as he has threatened to do this.
Case B
You work for a domestic violence program for teens and provide services for a perpetrator program where clients are mandated as a condition of probation. One weekend you are out with colleagues at happy hour and a friend introduces you to someone they know at the bar. You strike up a conversation, and this person tells you about the troubles their teenage daughter has been experiencing since she started dating this young man. They tell you about an incident that happened 2 weeks ago, when their daughter came home upset that she was being pressured to report her every move to her boyfriend. As the conversation continues, you realize she is referring to a young man who is a member in your group.
Case C
You are a human service student intern at a child welfare agency. You are shadowing your field instructor, who has been assigned to supervise a visit between a child on their caseload and their parents. During the visit, the child says to her parents that the foster parent has been mean to them. When the parents prompt the child to say more, your field instructor interrupts the parents and tells them to focus on the visit with the child and not to worry about what is happening with the foster parent. The field instructor ensures the parents that they will follow up with the foster parent. Upon your return to the agency, the field instructor turns to you and says, “Can you believe those parents? They are trying to manipulate the child into saying the foster parent is mistreating her.”
Assignment Directions
Based on the case you selected, please respond to the following:
- What is the ethical dilemma based on the National Organization of Human Services Professional standards?
- Why is this a problem/challenge?
- Who would be the best person to consult in this situation?
- How would you address this ethical dilemma?
- What challenges could working with this child and family pose for you as a human service professional?
- What personal values or self-bias could potentially impact your ability to work effectively with this child and family?
- What self-care strategies would you practice to respond to the ethical dilemmas, conflicting values, and self-bias?