HHS 201 Responses and questions

Read each section and provide a reponse and answer any question--at least 75 to 100 words each.

Section 1

Ethical dilemmas arise when there is a conflict between a need and an action or where a law and expectations may arise. Ethical dilemmas require a person to make a choice as to the right course of action that upholds standards and laws and does the right thing by the parties involved. 

For the case study, I chose the case of the elderly woman who chooses to live in deplorable and unsanitary conditions and does so by her own free will (I am working from the 6^th edition of the text). In this case, the client’s conditions are deemed unsanitary and threaten her health, yet the client is deemed mentally competent, so the choices she makes are of her own volition. As a human services professional it is important to respect the autonomy of all people and to respect the choices made (Mandell & Schram, 2006). This means that forcing help onto the client, such as evicting her, would go against the guidelines of autonomy. It is her own individual right to live in her home and to choose how she lives. However, the conditions must be inspected for code violations and public health hazards. As a human services professional, it is important to assure that every client is in a safe and heathy environment. In this case, it would be wise to have the home inspected and to address any conditions. I feel that instead of imposing fines or seeking eviction, it would be wise to involve the community and volunteer organizations, such as churches, who can offer assistance in improving the conditions without burdening the client (Wacker & Roberto, 2008). Any approach must balance her rights with the desire to assure she is in a healthy and safe environment.

Sexual orientation is a major conflict that is impacting human services as there is a need to be respectful of all person’s rights and freedoms and also the need to assure that there is adequate protection for these same people. Sexual orientation may cause an ethical dilemma for human service workers in that the sexual orientation of the client may conflict with the values and beliefs of the worker or could impact the availability of services to clients (Mandell & Schram, 2006). The conflict that exists is how to provide services that are fair and equal to those whose sexual orientation could cause moral issues with the worker. As a worker in human services, there is a need to see all people as being equal and to place aside one’s personal values in order to do what is in the best interest of society and clients. This means focusing on the client’s needs and not sexual orientation and being open and objective when working with clients. In this case, I feel it is necessary to treat the clients with equality and dignity and follow the laws and also the moral right thing, which is to provide all services required for the client (Kadushin, 2012).

References

Kadushin, G. (2012). The social work interview: A guide for human service professionals (4th). New York: Columbia University.

Mandell, B., & Schram, B. (2006). An introduction to human services: Policy and practice. Boston: Pearson.

Wacker, R., & Roberto, K. (2008). Community Resources for Older Adults: Programs and Services in an Era of Change (3rd). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

I chose the case of Jeff a juvenile delinquent on probation. (Mandell & Schram, 2012). A counselor needs to help him understand the benefits of therapy so he can sort through his feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Although itis completely up to Jeff to receive therapy, he must be presented the proposal to make an informed choice. He must be willing to change and to recover. Teaching and working with him regularly is a path in the right direction that leads to the road of personal victory. Jeff needs to know that his counselor cares deeply for his well-being. He will not heed the counselor’s knowledge and guidance, unless he knows that the counselor cares. The ethical conflict would be self-determination meaning that the client has to agree to receiving help for his problem’s it is clear that there could be are a lot of pinned up anger that probably occurred as a very young child. I would handle the situation with Jeff with integrity, competence and with dignity. For example, asking Jeff what he feels that he needs to do to resolve the issue with getting in trouble all the time and letting participate in his on solution. Listen to Jeff I am quite sure he has been dictated to instead of someone listening to him. I would balance my values as a professional with a client’s needs by remembering my code of ethics as a human services worker when helping him.

Reference

Mandell, B.R. & Schram, B.  (2012).  An introduction to human services: Policy and practice (8th ed.)

hen we look at skills, knowledge and attitudes &values there are a level of professionalism in human services and the structure and content of a helping relationship. We must first define the meaning of a helping relationship. Helping relationship is that relationship between you and the client that often requires caring and commitment. “When people search for someone to help them reflect upon and improve their lives, they tend to be drawn towards those who are compassionate, committed and wise.”(Smith, Heather and Mark K. Smith (2008) A humans services worker should be someone who wants to help people, who has a good grasp on their own issues, who is able to empathize with their clients with out getting too caught up in their lives. A human services worker should know how to get the services that their clients need and be able to direct them to those services. A person who cares about the physical as well as emotional well being because the two are so interrelated. A client could be disadvantaged if the human services is not skilled enough to understand and take care of the needs of that client. Also, having an enormous case load and not having enough time to provide the adequate service to your client.

Reference

Smith, Mark K. (2008) ‘Helping relationships’, the encyclopedia of informal education. [www.infed.org/mobi/helping-relationships-principles-theory-and-practice/.

Mandell, B.R. & Schram, B.  (2012). An introduction to human services: Policy and practice (8th ed.).