Provides students with a decision-making process for ethical issues.

Now a part of the Core Competencies Series, From the Front Lines: Student Cases in Social Work Ethics, 4/e helps students develop a method of decision-making while providing examples with a number of case studies. Part One teaches readers the rationale for each part of the decision-making process and the tools needed to address it professionally. Part Two encompasses a thorough presentation and consideration of cases that address ethical dilemmas, issues, and problems which occur in social work practice. This text also encourages students to explore their own values and how they are used in everyday life as well as professionally.

Connecting Core Competencies series -- Each chapter highlights the core competencies and practice behavior examples found in the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) set by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Critical thinking questions throughout reinforces these connections.

Learning Goals

Upon completing this book, readers will be able to:

• Develop a method for decision making for ethical dilemmas, issues, and problems which occur in social work practice.
• Explore their own values.
• Relate their decision making to real world examples.

Juliet Rothman, MSW, PhD.                                              

Dr. Rothman received her MSW from Hunter College (CUNY) and her PhD. (in philosophy) from American University in Washington DC. She specialized in ethics, focusing especially on professional ethics.  She taught at National Catholic School of Social Service (CUA) in Washington DC. At UC Berkeley, she has taught  social work practice, diversity-competent social work practice, social work with people with disabilities, death and bereavement, aging, and law and ethics in gerontology in the School of Social Welfare, aging, health and diversity in the School of Public Health, and interdisciplinary teams in the UCB/UCSF Medical School program.  Her professional publications include: From the Front Lines: Student Cases in Social Work Ethics, The Self-Awareness Workbook for Social Workers, Contracting in Clinical Social Work, Stepping Out into the Field: A Field Work Manual for Social Work Students,  Social Work Practice Across Disability, and  Cultural Competence in Process and Practice: Building Bridges. She authored the Social Work Desk Reference’s article on Therapeutic Contracting with Clients. Recent journal articles include Teaching Spirituality: What We Can Teach and How We Can Teach It, and The Challenge of Disability and Access: Reconceptualizing the Role of the Medical Model. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work and the Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation. In the field of bereavement, she has written a child’s bibliotherapy book, A Birthday Present for Daniel, and a book for bereaved parents, The Bereaved Parents’ Survival Guide. 

Dr. Rothman has worked in the field of long-term care with elderly and people with severe disabilities for many years.  With the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Maryland, she has organized county-wide  programs, worked with support groups, and provided individual counseling and therapy, as well as developing guidelines for social work practice with people with multiple sclerosis. 

In this Section:
1. Brief Table of Contents

2. Full Table of Contents

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1:   FRAMING THE ETHICAL PROBLEM

CHAPTER 2:   THEORETICAL CONCEPTS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES     

CHAPTER 3:   USING THE CODE OF ETHICS OF THE NATIONALASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS

CHAPTER 4:   EXPLORING VALUE SYSTEMS

CHAPTER 5:   CONSIDERING OPTIONS AND RESOLVING THE DILEMMA

PART TWO

CHAPTER 6:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD ONE

CHAPTER 7:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD TWO

CHAPTER  8:  NASW ETHICAL STANDARD THREE

CHAPTER 9:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD FOUR

CHAPTER 10:  NASW ETHICAL STANDARD FIVE

CHAPTER 11:  NASW ETHICAL STANDARD SIX

  FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1:   FRAMING THE ETHICAL PROBLEM

Defining the Ethical Problem

Gathering Information

CHAPTER 2:   THEORETICAL CONCEPTS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES     

Theoretical Concepts

From Theories to Principles 

Selecting an Appropriate Theory      

CHAPTER 3:   USING THE CODE OF ETHICS OF THE NATIONALASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS

Code Structure and Content

Legal Codes and Ethical Codes

Laws, Malpractice, and the NASW Code of Ethics

Laws and Personal Ethical Standards        

Using the Code to Inform Legal/Ethical Decisions

CHAPTER 4:   EXPLORING VALUE SYSTEMS

Real and Ideal Values

Value Terminology

VALUE SYSTEMS

Developing a Values Hierarchy

CHAPTER 5:   CONSIDERING OPTIONS AND RESOLVING THE DILEMMA

Defining Options

Selecting A Resolution

PART TWO

CHAPTER 6:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD ONE

SOCIAL WORKERS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO CLIENTS

Provisions of Code

The Cases

Case Study A: Protecting The Best Interests Of a Minor/Elena B. Glekas, MSW

Case Study B: When “Best Interests of Client” Harms a Third Party/ Karen Altenberg Libman, MSW, MBA

Case Study C: When Living Feels Like Dying: Ethical Decision making with a Depressed Dialysis Patient/Mary Kardauskas, SHCJ, MSW

Case Study D: Reading the Future: When “Best Interest” Must Last 20 Years/ Amy Craig-Van Grack, MSW

Case Study E: In the Client’s Interest: Self-Determination and Mental Disability/Jose Carlos Vera, MSW

Case Study F:   Determining an Acceptable Risk for a Vulnerable Client: Where Protection Impacts Self-Determination /Mira Underwood, MSW

Case Study G:   Permanency Placement for Very Young Children: What Happens To Family Preservation?/Amone Bounkhoun, MSW

CHAPTER 7:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD TWO

Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues

Provisions of Code

The Cases

CASE STUDY H : Interpreting for Limited English Proficiency Clients:  Is “Some”

Really Enough?/ Sarah Thibault, MSW

CASE STUDY I:  Staff Safety and Patien Care: What is the Social Worker’s Role?/ Natalie Aragon, MSW

CASE STUDY J: COLLEAGUE MISCONDUCT:  IF NOTHING HARMFUL REALLY HAPPENED, DO I STILL HAVE TO REPORT?/Rosa Lutrario, MSW

CHAPTER  8:  NASW ETHICAL STANDARD THREE

Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Practice Settings

Provisions of the Code

The Cases

Case Study K    .Can Limitation of Informed Consent by an Agency Ever Be Justified?/Diane Inselberg Spirer, MSW

Case Study L   .Meeting the Needs of Immigrants: Must Acculturation be A Condition of Agency Service / Thomas W. Gray, PhD., MSW

Case Study M  .An Employee Assistance Counselor’s Dilemma/ Mel Hall-Crawford, MSW

Case Study N .Group Therapy: Client Needs and Fiscal Viability/Thomas C. Bertone, MSW CSC

Case Study O:  Supporting “Best Interest” in a Host Setting/ Kylie Pedersen, MSW

CHAPTER 9:   NASW ETHICAL STANDARD FOUR

Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities as Professionals

Provisions of  Code

The Cases

Case  Study P:  When a Client Threatens Suicide: Client Autonomy and Professional Obligation/Gigi Stowe, MSW

Case Study Q:   Fidelity to a Client Unable to Communicate/ Marian D. Kaufman, MSW

CASE  R:  Keeping Client Secrets: Where Does Professional Responsibility Lie?/Catherine Turnbull, MSW

CHAPTER 10:            NASW ETHICAL STANDARD FIVE

Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to the Social Work Profession

Provisions of Code

The Cases

Case Study S:  “My Clients Are in a Hurry!”: Professional Integrity versus Client Self-Determination/ Shereen Rubenstein, MSW

Case Study T:  Rape: When Professional Values Place Vulnerable Clients at Risk/ EILEEN DOMBO, MSW

Case Study U: DISCHARGE HER TO A HOSPICE NOW!”–A Conflict of Professional Loyalties/ Josephine Bulkley, J.D., MSW

CHAPTER 11:            NASW ETHICAL STANDARD SIX

Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to the Broader Society

Provisions of Code

The Cases

Case  Study V: A Journey to Moral Action: Balancing Personal, Professional, and Legal Obligations/Penelope Nabakov, MSW

Case Study W: Dealing Drugs: Can Confidentiality Ever Be Justified?/Julie B. Goodale, MSW

Case  Study X: Outpatient Commitment: Must Mental Disability Preclude Civil Liberty?/ Kimberly Platt, MSW

CASE  STUDY Y : Hoarding: Drawing the Line Between Personal and Public Rights/ Kari Kientzy, MSW

CASE  STUDY Z : PERMANENCY PLANNING FOR YOUNG CHILDREN: ARE BRIEF TIME FRAMES ALWAYS IN THE CHILD’S BEST INTERESTS?/Maria Melendez, MSW

CASE STUDY  AA : Preparing a Child for Death:  Medical and Religious Considerations/ Colette Hottinger