Interview Project Paper on Moral Ethics in Social Work

Moral ethics are the principles that guide a person on how to behave and conduct themselves in a community or around people. They act as a guide in directing the actions of people and coming up with proper means to deal with issues that come up in the society such as corruption. They condemn certain social evils like corruption and applaud some acts such as kindness among others. They are critical to social workers during their profession. It is crucial for a social worker to understand the morals of a client before giving them advice on an issue that is affecting them. This way, the client gets advice that is in line with his or her moral standards. The social worker also needs to understand the religious beliefs that a person has and how they affect the situation at hand. This essay focuses on two interviews with different social workers about incidences they had during their jobs and the type of advice they gave.

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Derrick (not his real name) is one of the social workers who we got to interview. In his career, he was once faced by a situation where a young lady came to him seeking help on how to cope with her addiction to alcohol. The lady explained that she started taking the drug due to stress caused by her parents' stringent measures to "protect" her from the world. Her father was also at constant fights with her mother. She started sneaking out at night to meet friends who had more liberty than she had. She went on doing this for about a year until one day, some of her friends found out that she has to sneak to have her freedom. This caused a lot of ridicule from her friends such that she thought that alcohol was the best means to solve her issues. The behavior went on for some time, and she snuck out for little amounts of beer during the night. However, of late, she realized that she could not resist the great craving she had for the drug. She spent most of her savings on it, and she even sold some shoes she had when she had no money to buy the drug.

Derrick thought that the best method was to advise the parents against their fights in the presence of their daughter and to allow her some freedom to socialize and mingle like most of her friends. It would also help her get access to rehabilitation facilities. However, the lady was entirely against the idea since she thought that her parents would be furious at her. She feared that she would appear as a moral disgrace to the family. Was it right for Derrick to protect the client's information or discuss it with the parents which was an almost sure way to reform the lady? He chose to tell the parents on the troubles that their child was undergoing despite the code of ethics which denies one the right to disclose patient information without their consent ("Issues in Ethics: Confidentiality," 2018). He does not regret the idea and claims that if offered a similar situation he would do the same. The lady was helped at the end even though most of her family members were astonished by her behavior. It changed the way the parents overprotected their children.

The next interview was with Maureen (not her real name) who was also faced with a dilemma when a married woman, Mrs. V (identity concealed) came to her seeking help. The lady had issues with her temperamental husband who spent most of his time and money on partying and hanging out with friends and did not come home on most nights. She was not sexually satisfied with the man. One thing led to another, and she got involved with a man in her workplace. She, however, felt that the guilt was too much especially when one of her friends found out about the affair. She fears that her husband would leave her if he found out about the incident. Though she had changed her ways, she still worries that her husband may one day know about the affair which is worse if he finds out by himself.

Maureen urged the lady to confront his husband about his behavior and come up with a solution that will benefit both of them. It would also serve as a means to avoid any future disputes that may come between them. She, however, urged her to avoid mentioning about the affair at the workplace since it would have caused significant relationship in her marriage. Considering the temperament that the husband had, it may have had adverse effects such as break up which may have caused both physical and emotional suffering to the spouses and the children. It would also have caused extreme shame to the woman in case it happened. Maureen would have chosen to contact the husband on behalf of the client and disclose the information that the lady had offered and urge him to change the behavior, but this may have had an adverse effect on the marriage. She is sure that the way she handled the situation was the best and would repeat the same in any other similar case.

Conclusion

The two interviews both show how the two workers chose to handle information about their clients. Derrick decided to disclose the data since the effects of concealing the information were worse than those of hiding it. By hiding the information about his client, the lady may have drifted deeper into drug abuse but would have maintained the family name and kept their secrets. However, revealing the details to the parents would have caused the parents to seek help for their daughter in rehabilitation despite tarnishing the image that the family had created and exposing their secrets. The impact of the decision was positive since it granted some freedom to the children in that family and changed the behavior of the parents of arguing in front of their children. In the second incidence, however, the social worker decided to conceal the client data since the effects of disclosing Mrs. V's complaints to her husband would be detrimental. It is essential for social workers to consider the expected outcome of their advice. They should consider several factors including the culture and religious background of a client before giving their opinion on how the cases should be handled. This is evident in both cases as described above.

References

Issues in Ethics: Confidentiality. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/practice/ethics/confidentiality/