Social Work Ethics Violations

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Pages: 2

Code of Ethics Assignment When reviewing the scenario given regarding the social work student who is in relationship with a client, I found several ethical violations. I identified these violations by examining the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. I also reviewed the ethics check questions found in the book The Power of Ethical Management. The following is my summary of violations that I identified, and measures that I would take to address these violations. The first ethical violation that I discovered concerns privacy and confidentiality. The NASW code of ethics states, “Social workers should not discuss confidential information in public or semipublic areas such as hallways, waiting rooms, elevators, and restaurants” (National Association of Social Workers, 2014). The social worker student in the scenario violated this section of the code of ethics by discussing the situation regarding the client at a restaurant, …show more content…
This is evidenced by the social work student not recommending the client for a group which could be beneficial to him, and possibly influencing him to terminate services at the agency. In addition to the social work student not making the client’s interest primary, the violation can also be identified by using the ethic check questions from the book The Power of Ethical Management. According to Blanchard & Peale (1988), the first question to ask oneself is, “is it legal” (p 27). In the given scenario, the answer to this question would most likely be “no,” as such dual relationships are usually against company policy. The second question “is it balanced” (Blanchard & Peale, 1988, p 27) would also be answered “no,” as the decision by the social work student, to withhold information about available treatment is not fair to the