Ethics is the dealing of questions of what action is morally right or wrong and what is expected. An ethical problem questions what is right or wrong in a certain situation and in what ways can a social worker able to avoid unethical behaviours in that situation?
An ethical problem arises when there is a competing of values and competing loyalties. As professional social workers, we are guided by social work values which are service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. There is a competing of values when client’s values are conflicting with our social work values or ethics or when there is a commitment to two values. There is a competing of loyalties when a social worker is caught between two or more loyalties. For example, loyalty to client, organisation, public, and government. Such as loyalty to the client to keep confidentiality yet as a member of the public, there is an obligation to report a case of underage sex.
The ethical problem is the client is a 14 years old student who presented that she was in a boy-girl relationship with a boy of the same age and they had unprotected sex. After the break up with the boy, he posted pictures of their sexual activities on the internet which were taken without her knowledge and consent. She is worried of her classmates had seen the pictures of her sexual activities with her ex-boyfriend and of being pregnant and does not want what she shared to be shared with her parents or to make a police report. She is feeling very troubled and harbouring thoughts of killing herself. However, the client does not want the information to be shared with her parents or to make a police report. It is possible that her ex-boyfriend has unprotected sex with his other girlfriends putting them at risk of contracting aids due to his unprotected sex with multiple partners and they also might be under 16 years old and at risk of getting pregnant. He might also have taken pictures of his sexual activities with them and post them online which risk them being exposed, humiliated and eventually have thoughts of suicide after.
Using the ethical principle screen model, I will start from the bottom of the ethical principle screen and evaluate from there to see whether applicable, then I will move up to the next principle and so on. Then I will base it on the highest principle applicable and use it to resolve the ethical problem. In the ethical principle screen, ethical principle 7 is truthfulness and full disclosure. This principle means that I have to explain to the client about confidentiality and its’ limits and boundaries, of when confidentiality can be broken (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). Confidentiality can be broken when others could be at risk of harm if the confidentiality was kept. Another reason confidentiality has to be broken is that underage sex is against the law in Singapore, and as a member of the public I have the obligation to report to the police. Under the Penal Code Section 376A, if the girl is under 16 years old engaged in sex whether with or without consent from her is applicable. Under this code, it is mandatory to report if the person is in the knowledge of it under chapter 3 section 22. It is the obligation of every member of the public to report. Hence, though I’m her worker, my obligation as a member of the public takes greater priority as my role as her social worker. Also, in this case, the other girlfriends which her ex-boyfriend has been at risk of pregnancy, contracting aids due to unprotected sex and with multiple partners, having their privacies being infringed if he took pictures of their sexual activities without their knowledge and consent. If he uploads the pictures of their sexual activities on the internet, it would bring a great feeling of shame for the girls and that would put them at risk of having thoughts of suicide. She also mentioned that she has thoughts of suicide, I will have to further assess as a worker using suicide assessment. And if it is concrete I will have to let her parents know and if it is not, I will still have to inform them for there is the risk she might attempt suicide as things start to escalate. Thus, to prevent further harm to her and others, I have my duty to inform her of all these and have to break confidentiality.
Moving up the principle screen. The next principle is privacy and confidentiality. This principle says that worker is obligated to keep the privacy of client and maintain confidentiality (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). However as mentioned above, confidentiality can be broken if there is potential harm to client or others. In this case, the other girlfriends of her ex-boyfriend are at risk of pregnancy, contracting aids due to unprotected sex and multiple partners, risk their privacies infringed and possible shaming and eventual suicidal tendencies. The client has thoughts of suicide; thus, she is at risk if things were to escalate. Thus, as mentioned for the previous principle, it is my obligation to report above my duty to keep privacy and confidentiality of the client. As this principle is higher than the previous, thus this principle will be taken into account for now.
Next principle is quality of life. This principle is about the worker choosing the best possible option which promotes better quality of life for the client and the community (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). If I choose to or not to report to the police and inform her parents, she is likely to continue to avoid going to school in both cases due to her feeling of shame that her classmates might have seen her pictures online. Hence, there might not be much changed for her quality of life as she will still be worried, and now having to also worry about what her parents would think and feel about her. However, if I inform her parents, they would at least be able to be there for her to support her.
Next principle is the least harm. When social worker is facing options, which has potential for causing harm either to client or others then worker has to what is the best to avoid them (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). In the case of unavoidable harm, the worker has to choose the option which causes the least harm as much as possible. By sharing and informing her parents, they will be in knowledge of it and able to be there for her and monitor her because of her suicide tendency. Even though she would be highly stressed by her parents knowing about it and she might want escape through suicide. Yet it would be better for someone to watch over her than not. By reporting to the police, her ex-boyfriend actions can be put to a stop, thus, saving the other girlfriends he has from shame, pregnancy and contracting aids.
The next principle is self-determination, autonomy, and freedom. The social worker is to make decisions which promote the self-determination, autonomy, and freedom to take place for the client (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). It is to allow and give the space to the client to exercise their decision making. However, there are exceptions. In section 4.1.1 of the IFSW (International Federation of Social Worker) and in section A6 of the social workers’ Ethical responsibility to clients of the SASW (Singapore Association of Social Workers) states that “social workers limit the rights to self-determination where in the social worker’s professional judgement, client’s actions or potential actions pose a serious, foreseeable and imminent risk to themselves and others”. The client is 14 years old, is considered a minor and a child in Singapore. Under CYPA (Children and young persons act) a young person is anyone of age 14 or above but below 16. Thus, being a child, the client is under her parents’ supervision and consent, the client is not of legal age to make decisions by herself. She needs her parents’ informed consent. Also, being only a child, she is not capable of making informed decisions. Thus, in this case, as a worker, I’m obligated to inform her parents and not maintain the confidentiality. As this principle is of higher value compared to the previous, then this principle is taken into account for now.
The next principle is social justice. It suggests that in similar situation, all are to be treated the same. If situations are different, then people can be treated differently (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). As this principle is not as applicable to this case, we can move on the next principle.
The next principle is the highest valued principle of protection of life. This principle being the highest valued principle in the ethical principle screen is the most important and takes first priority over all other obligations (Dolgoff, Harrington and Loewenberg, 2012). As the client is having thoughts of suicide, I have to use suicide assessment to assess the risk of her doing so. If her plan is concrete then I will have to as a social worker to break confidentiality to protect her life. However, if it is not concrete, I do not want to risk it as the client being a child can be unstable quickly if the situation escalates such as the pictures of her sexual activities with her ex-boyfriend goes viral online, making her infamous and that would mean that she would feel highly stressed, ashamed and anxious, thus causing her to be highly unstable which may lead to her attempting suicide as last resort. Also, as parents of the client, I’m obligated to inform them of her suicidal tendency to protect her life. There is a possibility that she will be even greatly stressed and worried after sharing with her parents and the police, however, the principle of protection of life takes precedence over all other principles, values, and ethics. Our working relationship might end, as she might not want to see me again as her social worker but it is the protection of her life first before everything else, even over her self-determination, privacy, and confidentiality and if the working relationship would be damaged or end. In the end, what she shared needs to be verified and assessed based on many factors. If what she shared were lies after I made the report and sharing with her parents, then as her social worker my decisions to report to the police and share with her parents are made according to the principle of protection of life and I did what I could do best for the client and others. Hence, I will use the principle of protection of life and break the confidentiality and share with her parents and make a police report. After this, I will counsel her and her family, to support them through this tough period especially the client. I will continue to assess and monitor her and get her parents to keep watch over her.
In summary, in professional practice, it is guided by several aspects such as values, ethics, and legal obligation. These are also different roles social workers play such as social worker to the client to keep the privacy and confidentiality, however, social workers are also members of public, thus has obligation by law to report if potential harm is involved. In this case, social workers are to break confidentiality as the obligation by law as member of public takes precedence over the role of social worker. Protection of life takes precedence over privacy and confidentiality. Ethical principle takes precedence over all others. Appropriate and sound ethical decision is made by social worker who knows and understands human rights, code of ethics, social work values, and legal obligations that affect social work practice. Social worker competency plays a big part as well as having a supervisor to oversee a worker and the cases the worker is seeing.