PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND VALUES IN HUMAN SERVICES

1. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND VALUES IN HUMAN SERVICES DR. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD JABATAN PEMBANGUNAN MANUSIA DAN PENGAJIAN KELUARGA, FEM

2. INTRODUCTION • What is Values? • What is Morals? • What is Ethics? SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

3. REFLECTION... SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

4. INTRODUCTION • All professional organizations, representing licensed and unlicensed staff, have established ethics codes. • They are public statements that set clear expectations. They guide practice and uphold the key values of that profession or discipline. (Mohr & Nunno, 2007) • They are broad and general… not “cookbooks” for responsible behavior. (Corey, Corey, & Callahan, 2003) SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

5. ETHICS • A set of moral principles or values; principles of conduct governing an individual or a group (as in ‘professional ethics’), and a guiding philosophy. (Merriam-Webster, 1993) • Ethical principles form moral choices as persons act as moral agents. • Ethical standards are based on a foundational value system designed to tell us the difference between good and bad behavior. • Another more basic way of putting it is that ethical standards and principles tell us what we oughtto do in any given situation. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

6. MORALS/MORALITY • Morals encompasses the individual’s evaluation of what is right and wrong. • Morality implies a sense of obligation toward standards share by a social collective. • Morality includes a concern for the welfare of others. • Morality includes a sense of responsibility for acting on one’s concern for others. • Morality includes a concern for the rights of others. • Morality includes a commitment to honesty as norm. • Breach of morality provokes perturbing judgmental and emotional responses. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

7. MORAL RELATIVISM • Absolutism vs. Relativism • Consider context when evaluating “rightness” and “wrongness” of behavior: • Culture • Generation (i.e., age) • Personal value system • Consider effect of emotional desires on ethical and moral behavior. • What happens when there is a tug-of-war between ethical standards and emotional desires or feelings? • Competing values. • What do we do when our values collide? SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

8. DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL REASONING • Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development (1976) • Based on Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory. • Cognitive-developmental approaches to moral development. • People go through stages in development of their ability to reason morally. • 6 stages of moral development – associated with changes in the individual’s intellectual development - morality is considered to change through personal development. • Moral reasoning is significantly linked with age, IQ, education and SES (Colby et al, 1983). SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

9. CONTINUE...KOHLBERG’S FINDINGS • The stages of moral reasoning are similar for all persons regardless culture. • Progress from one stage to another. • Changing from stage to stage is gradual. • Some individuals move more rapidly than others through the sequence of stages. • Although the particular stage of moral reasoning is not the only factor affecting people’s moral conduct, the way they reason does influence how they actually behave in a moral situation. • Experience that provide opportunities for role taking foster progress through the stages. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

10. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS • Professional ethics are at the core of social work. The profession has an obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. • Codes are meant to assist the staff person in making decisions, in other words to guide “professional judgments” regarding their practice. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

11. CONTINUE • Ethical Standards of Human Service Professionals includes all staff who work in human service settings, including those who are unlicensed. • Unlicensed/non-certified staff generally include Bachelor level prepared staff who work in social work or rehab positions, case managers, and mental health technicians. • However, all staff practices are important. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

12. CONTINUE • Ethical codes are not legal documents but they are a component of the expected standard of care. • They are often used to assisting legal decisions related to human service worker behavior. • They help guide treatment decision making and protect against future harm or difficulty. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

13. PURPOSE OF ETHICS CODES • To safeguard the welfare of clients by providing what is in their best interests. 1. To educate professionals about sound ethical conduct. 2. To provide a way to assure professional accountability. 3. To serve to improve practices. (Corey, Corey, & Callahan, 2003) • Meant to protect vulnerable individuals from incompetent or dangerous people who are in powerful positions and who can cause harm. (Mohr & Nunno, 2007) SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

14. HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS • Responsibilities to clients. • Responsibilities to society. • Responsibilities to colleagues. • Responsibilities to the Profession. • Responsibilities to employer and self. (Codes of Ethics, 2004) SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

15. GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN ETHICS • Integrity • Objectivity • Professional Confidence • Confidentiality • Professional Behavior • Technical Standards SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

16. NASW ETHICAL PRINCIPLES • CORE VALUE: Service ETHICAL PRINCIPLE: to help people in need and to address social problems. • CORE VALUE: Social Injustice ETHICAL PRINCIPLE: challenge social injustice. • CORE VALUE: Dignity and worth of all person. ETHICAL PRINCIPLE: respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

17. NASW ETHICAL PRINCIPLES • CORE VALUE: Importance of human relationship. ETHICAL PRINCIPLE:recognize the central importance of human relationship. • CORE VALUE: Integrity ETHICAL PRINCIPLE: behaves in trustworthy manner. • CORE VALUE: Competence ETHICAL PRINCIPLE: practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

18. ETHICAL DILEMMA • Absolutism vs. Relativism • Consider context when evaluating “rightness” and “wrongness” of behavior: • Culture • Generation (i.e., age) • Personal value system • Consider effect of emotional desires on ethical and moral behavior. • What happens when there is a tug-of-war between ethical standards and emotional desires or feelings? • Competing values. • What do we do when our values collide? SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

19. ETHICAL DILEMMAS – WHAT YOU DO IN THOSE STICKY SITUATIONS? SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

20. ETHICAL DILEMMAS – WHICH ONE? SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

21. HOW DO YOU DECIDE? WHOSE JUDGMENT IS RIGHT?

22. ETHICAL DILLEMAS – THE APPROACHES • There are two major approaches that philosophers use in handling ethical dilemmas: • One is to focus on the practical consequences of what we do. • The other focuses on the actions themselves and weighs the rightness of the action alone. • The first school of thought argues that if there is no harm, there is no foul. • The second claims that some actions are simply wrong in and of themselves. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

23. HOW TO RESOLVE? • Kitchener’s Model (1994): four assumptions that need to be at the heart of any ethical evaluation. • Beneficence • Autonomy • Justice • Non-malfeasance SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

24. KITCHENER’S MODEL • Beneficence: our human duty to assist another in need and to facilitate a good outcome. It speaks to preventing harmto another person. • Autonomy: the right to liberty without interference; the right to make personal decisions and act on them without being coerced or manipulated. • Justice: giving others their due, assuring fairness, equal distribution of resources, and appropriately providing what is owed to a person in any circumstance. • Non-malfeasance: to do no harm, prevent harm, remove harm and facilitate good. Do not kill, do not cause pain, do not cause offense, do not deprive others . SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

25. STEPS IN SOLVING ETHICAL DILLEMAS • Recognize the Ethical Issue • Get the Facts • Relevant Facts • Individuals and groups with an important stake in decision • What are the options for acting? • Evaluate Alternative Actions • Make a Decision and Test It • Act and Reflect the Outcomes SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

26. CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE PERCEPTION OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR • Model of ethical decision making that stresses the importance of being culturally sensitive. (Garcia Cartwright, Winston and Borzuchowska, 2003). • Challenged the notion that all cultures value autonomy equally as many cultures operate on a very interdependent basis. • Cautioned that what one culture considers abnormal, another culture considers perfectly normal. SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM

27. ETHICAL STANDARDS IN HUMAN SERVICES AND OTHER RELATED FIELD • National Organization for Human Services: Ethical Standards • National Association of Social Workers (NASW): Code of Ethics • American Counseling Association (ACA): Code of Ethic SA’ODAH AHMAD G0521898

28. REFLECTION... Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) Say’s: “You cannot treat people by means of your wealth; hence, you should treat them by means of your moral conduct.”

29. REFLECTION... Always do right – this will gratify some and astonish the rest . (Mark Twain, 190I) When I do good, I feel good, When I do bad I feel bad, That’s my religion.(Abraham Lincoln) SA’ODAH BINTI AHMAD, JPMPK, FEM