DQ
When working with clients, it is important to maintain professional boundaries to safeguard both you and your clients. Legislation such as HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics are specific in how you as a social worker should protect client information and safeguard confidentiality. Responding ethically in a professional situation may be clear in most situations, but not necessarily in all situations. Even though you have established laws and code of ethics to guide your decision-making process, you may still face ethical conflicts.
Required Reading
Video
1. Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Sessions: Bradley (Episode 5 of 42) [Video file]. VIDEO Document
2. The Case of Bradley Background Document
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014a). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing [Vital Source e-reader]. Attached Document
3. Northouse, P. G. (2018). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.
Chapter 12, “Addressing Ethics in Leadership” (pp. 273-300) Attached Document
4. Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Chapter 16, “Leadership Ethics” (pp. 423–449) Attached Document
Websites
5. Stephenson, M. O., Jr. (2011). Considering the relationships among social conflict, social imaginaries, resilience, and community-based organization leadership. Ecology and Society, 16(1). Retrieved from http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art34/ Open website
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art34/
Website NASW Code of Ethics
National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.aspx Open Website
For this Discussion, review the media of the Bradley case and consider how the case relates to social work professional ethics.
Discussion Question
Post 1 page pager the strategy you would use to address the Teen First director’s request if you were the social worker in the Bradley case. Then, describe a hypothetical situation in which an organization’s decision conflicts with your personal/professional ethics but remains within the law. Explain how you would respond to this situation, and why.