To deal with these dilemmas in a wise way, a social worker has to keep in mind of their responsibilities and the six Core Values, which are the key points of this case study. Key words: ethical dilemmas, professional responsibilities, the Core Values A Case Study on Ethical Dilemmas, Social Workers’ Responsibilities and Core Values In this case scenario, the dilemma arises when I find out that the plan of closing the mental hospital made by my employing agency is detrimental to my clients’ well-being. Normally, I should be obligated to implement any plans issued by my agency. However, when a policy is unjust and harms my clients’ rights and resources to their well-being, its violation may be justified. To an ethical social worker, a person’s rights to well-being may override laws, policies, and arrangements of organizations (Hepworth, Rooney, Strom-Gottfried, & Larsen, 2010, p. 73).
In order to fully appreciate the importance of this process, the history that led to its inclusion in research projects must be understood. Although informed consent is designed to make sure that a participant fully understands the procedures, benefits, and risks involved in an experiment, it is not without its flaws in its practical application. There are many covert communication barriers between participants and researchers that lead to misunderstandings. This prevents participants from making the fully autonomous decisions sought for in the informed consent process. Some of those barriers are related to cultural aspects such as language differences and religious dogma.
If these consequences aren’t taken into account innocent subjects may be harmed, bad reputations can be put on yourself or your affiliates, and other various negative results. Moreover something else to be taken into consideration when doing social research is to always get the voluntary consent of your subject without being deceptive about the study. This is extremely important unless the research is unobtrusive in which the method is strictly observations and don’t have any effect on the people studied. I find being truthful about the study upfront being a valid consideration because if you were to being in subjects who feel as though they have been fooled or not told the truth your research study may go awry. In article 4, Men as Success Objects and Women as Sex objects, the research was unobtrusive and really had no possible outcome for negative consequences besides possibly disturbing results.
Choice of subject is also affected by society’s values and funding bodies. Theoretical issues need to be assessed when choosing a research method. This refers to questions about what we think society is like and whether we can obtain an accurate, truthful picture of it. Our views on these issues will ultimately influence our decisions. Validity is a major theoretical issue.
What guidelines should be applied to the evaluation of psychological research and practices? What ethical dilemmas might arise in psychological research and how might they be avoided? Guidelines were set forth and applied to the evaluation of the research and practices of psychology to establish values, maintain moral boundaries for the respect of the person’s rights and dignity, and analyze the specific needs based on the client. Every client has different needs and by identifying the circumstances and it should be an essential guideline to make the necessary adjustments when performing psychological research and practices. Making adjustments to the client’s needs should also configure in with the guidelines, rules and the law.
Confidentiality of a client can be a challenge when switching the role of an advocate to become the mediator. As an advocate there will be information known that could influence the success of the mediator. Personal Philosophy in Planned Parenthood The most important aspect to have when working as an advocator and a mediator would be self-awareness. An individual needs to know what possible biases may be present within him or herself. An individual needs to leave personal values, opinions, and personal biases completely out of the
EXAMINE THE ETHICAL ISSUES THAT GUIDE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH The American Psychological Association defines ethics as the norms that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Ethics can be acquired as one grows up through social setting such as in families, schools, church and work. It is important to take note of ethics in psychology research because many researches in psychological issues are of social issues amongst people therefore good ethical practices need to be observed. Researchers need to think about the consequences of their actions on others. Homans R (1991) asserted that there is no specific legislation on the ethics of psychological research but what can be found are guidelines to enable researcher’s individual ethical judgements and decisions to be guided by shared values and experiences rather than to be imposed.
Obedience is to follow direct orders from a perceived figure of authority. There can be a downside to this however, if a figure of authority orders individuals to do something unmoral, such as hurting someone we are likely to obey, even though we know it is wrong. This is called destructive obedience. There have been a number of key psychological studies done into why people conform. Asch’s (1951) aim of his study into majority influence was to see if people would conform to giving an incorrect answer, when the correct answer so obvious and how social influence affected this.
The ability to assess the morality and ethicality of an experimental procedure is an important stage that participants undergo when deciding whether or not to take part. Individuals whose capacity to make autonomous assessments about the ethical nature of a proposed paradigm would not be able to make a fully informed decision as to the provision of consent. Of relevance is the fact that neuropsychological evidence has shown consistently that patients suffering from damage to the VMPF are impaired in making ethically charged judgments about themselves and also the environment that they interact with (Damasio, et al 1990). Such a deficit would have an immediate and significant effect on the ability to provide informed consent. Here, researchers should consider the use of an independent third party to assess the ability to provide consent in these cases.
Tensions of this kind must at times produce conflict of interest. It is important to recognise that conflicts of interest may unwittingly lead to manipulation of research subjects and their lay representatives on research committees. It is equally important to recognise distinctions between the legal and moral aspects of conflict of interest. Some practical suggestions are made which may go some way towards resolving these difficulties. They indicate what might be needed to ensure the validity of ethical discourse, and to reduce the risks associated with conflict of interest.