Finding the Right Answer
When we were children our parents, teachers, clergy, and community leaders taught us that doing the right thing was simple; don’t lie, obey the law, protect others from harm, and keep one’s promises. They led us to believe that making the right choice was obvious. To us it appeared that they always did the right thing, so we had better follow their lead if we wanted to grow up to be upstanding members of society - Simple.
Then we grew up and became social workers, and doing the right thing became a little more complicated. For social workers, "doing the right thing" means, at minimum, not to lie to your clients about their circumstances or falsify records about them. It means to comply with mandatory reporting laws, honor promises we have made to clients and colleagues, and complete important paperwork - again, Simple.
But let’s take a closer look...
CONFIDENTIALITY
A social worker’s unstable client shares in confidence that he’s about to go home and assault his wife to see that “she gets what’s coming to her”. The social worker has a duty to her client to respect his confidentiality. However, she also has a duty to his wife to “keep her from harm.” Suddenly, for the social worker, “doing the right thing” is not so simple.
SELF-DETERMINATION
A community outreach worker in a mid-western city comes across an inebriated homeless man huddled freezing in an alley during a snowstorm. “Go away and leave me alone,” the homeless man grumbles at the social worker. Should he “force” this mentally ill man to take shelter and save his life, or is he required to respect the man’s right to self-determination? He has to pause and think about the situation a little further.
OBEY THE LAW
A client admits to her substance abuse counselor that she has occasionally relapsed into heroin use and has left her eighteen month old child unattended when she gets high. Although the counselor is bound to help her client in confidence, she is also bound by the state’s laws to report suspected child abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services. The client vows she is sober now and it will not happen again. Which duty takes priority?
TRUST YOURSELF
Every social worker yearns for a clear moral formula that would make these choices simple. The truth is, however, in the complex, imperfect world of social work, reasonable minds can and do differ about what the right thing is. Hard moral choices resist easy solutions.
Look to your instincts for the right answer. Every well-meaning social worker possesses an informed moral conscience that speaks through instinct. Trust your instinct at a moral crossroads and you will probably “do the right thing”.
