( First discussion repsonse with one resource. Please keep seprated)
Week 2!
DISCUSSION QUESTION MONDAY
Karissa Tongue
Yesterday at 5:34 PM CDT
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One of the aspects of my internships that I have been enjoying the most has been the focus on changing the agency and wanting feedback and direction for continued improvement. It has been nice to see a state agency that wants to improve how they work so that the oppression and disproportionality that some are experiencing can be remedied. Ethical advocacy is how I am seeing that played out the most at my site. Lavitt (2009, pg 11) talks about the importance of those who have positions of authority to hear out social workers and their ethical concerns on behalf of the client.
One of the meetings I attended was with my supervisor talking about making changes to their policy to meet new legislation. My supervisor talked about all of the people in higher administrative positions that have checked this policy and approved it. The screeners that did not have as much authority as the supervisor, felt safe enough to correct wrong definitions that the policy had around sexual identity and gender identity information. They advocated appropriately for a community that has been oppressed within the child welfare and abuse reporting system. Seeing the ethical advocacy that happened during that meeting inspired me to want to stand up for the clients in need.
Reference:
Lavitt, M. (2009). What is Advanced in Generalist Practice? A Conceptual Discussion. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 29(4), 461–473. https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1080/08841230903253267
( second response with one resource. Please keep seprated.)
Week 2 Discussion
Shawn Pierce-Nyback
Today at 12:48 PM CDT
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Many times in my previous internship and a few times at my current internship, which are at the same location, I have recognized ethical dilemmas and discussed them with my supervisor. Ethical dilemmas are very important to recognize and discuss with other team members to better understand them and how to better help your clients. With ethical advocacy, the practitioner should be aware and work toward social justice when helping their clients. The practitioner should be aware that all practice is value-based and involves the consideration of ethics (Lavitt, 2009).
Two examples come to mind regarding ethical advocacy. One was from my last internship, where two clients wanted to participate in a social group event with the program. However, they each had a protection order against each other. I sat in while my supervisor called and discussed this with both clients separately and explained why they couldn’t come to the social event this time around. It needed to be handled delicately as they both really wanted to go, and we needed to maintain client confidentiality. In the end, it worked out and both parties didn’t go, but they took the news poorly. My supervisor also asked for my opinion on what we should do from my law enforcement background. I did not give a lot of input though because we all knew they couldn’t break the protection order guidelines. This example shows ethical advocacy because there was an ethical dilemma, but we were trying to also look out for each client’s best interest.
The second example was regarding a different client, where we requested them to be considered for a program, where we knew they were eligible for and needed. However, they were denied to be put on the program. We assume they were denied because they had been previously put into the program at a different time and this client is known to be difficult and at times violent to handle. Now, because our client was denied, we are likely to appeal the decision and go through a court proceeding in order for our client to be accepted. This is an ethical dilemma because it could be potentially discriminatory based on his mental health diagnosis because these violent outbursts are due to his psychosis and psychotic symptoms.
References
Lavitt, M. R. (2009). What is advanced in generalist practice? A conceptual discussion. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 29, 461-473. 10.1080/08841230903253267.
