Running Head: AMINISTRATION FROM A STRENGHTS PERSPECTIVE
Administration from a Strengths Perspective
Andrea LaLonde and Ashley Williamson
University of Louisville
Spring 2010
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Running Head: AMINISTRATION FROM A STRENGHTS PERSPECTIVE
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As many of us Social Work students at the Kent school hope to have high ranking, and
decent paying jobs, we all must consider the various responsibilities that we will have besides
just focusing on our clients. Any social worker that is also a supervisor or director, will take on
the tasks of an administrator. An administrator is one who is a leader, decision maker, mediator,
collaborator and/or politician who performs duties such as: planning, development, supervision,
resource acquisition, evaluations, and also has ethical considerations that overlook clients and the
organizations employees (Long, Tice and Morrison, 2006). However, the administrator at one’s
agency might not have a social work degree, but nonetheless, one needs to understand how an
administrator’s job facilitates and manages an organization.
As an administrator, one will be faced with many challenges related to the organization.
Ethical decisions must be made for the good of the clients and the employees. An employee
might arrive to work under the influence of alcohol and the administrator will likely be the one
who will make the decision regarding the future employment. Using care and justice to handle
the situation could result in two different outcomes: (1) the employee will receive treatment for
their alcohol use and factors that inhibit their use will be addresses so that that employee will be
a productive part of the organization again, or (2) the employee will be terminated for being
intoxicated at work. One choice involves using care, while the other uses justice.
The justice perspective has long been regarded as more appropriate to the public sphere
of our lives, where, as citizens or as public employees, one must weigh the rights of
others and dispassionately apply laws that bind all citizens alike. The care perspective,
on the other hand, is often thought to be dangerously inappropriate in the public domain
and relevant only to the private domain of relationships with friends and family (Jos and
Hines, 1993, p.380-381).
Running Head: AMINISTRATION FROM A STRENGHTS PERSPECTIVE
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While understanding the justice perspective, one must also consider the care perspective
where one would look at the extenuating circumstances behind the employees drinking problem.
However, one should not solely maintain an employee on the idea that it would be less expensive
to sustain the employee than undergo the process of hiring a new one. An organization must
possess care and justice equally as “organizations may be described in terms of their member’s
values and practices” (Grummer, 1996).
An administrator might grapple between care in justice in the workplace and whether the
employee should be dismissed or offered support for their personal issues. It is ultimately up to
the administrator to make the decision, depending on the hierarchal structure of the organization.
The administrator might involve the coworkers in the decision making process and their opinions
offered or one could rely on peer- reviewed articles that offer assistance in the decision making.
One might also employ the National Association of Social Workers and Ethics committee
members for their thoughts on the specific situation. After making the decision, holding
seminars and in-service trainings would be beneficial to all employees to aid in the prevention of
a similar situation occurring again. According to Jos and Hines, 2003, “combining a willingness
to listen and to compromise with respect for law and for appropriate political directives is far
more important for the public administrator than pursuing questions about which perspective is
somehow more fundamental or logically prior”.
In the case of ethics as an administrator, one will have to be the leader and supervisor in
both work and client related ethical issues. Being able to determine the ethical outcome and
justifying it with peer-reviewed articles or the NASW code of ethics lies on the part of the
administrator. Deciding what is morally right may be different in what is ethically right,
however, it most cases it might be the same outcome. If an organization has outlined specific
Running Head: AMINISTRATION FROM A STRENGHTS PERSPECTIVE
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rules and guidelines, then some ethical dilemmas might be avoided. How the budget is allocated
and choosing competent employees to be responsible for important tasks helps to maintain a
beneficial organization.
Ethical dilemmas in any organization are inevitable; it is how the administrator and the
organization’s employees handle the situations. By following the organization’s policies and
following the NASW code of Ethics, the administrator should be able to handle the situation and
make sure all parties are well informed of the process and decisions that have been made.
Making decisions based on either the care or justice perspective should be decided by clear
evidence based practices that are going to consider both the client’s and the employee’s best
interests.
Running Head: AMINISTRATION FROM A STRENGHTS PERSPECTIVE
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References
Grummer, B. (1996). Ethics and Administrative Practice: Care, Justice, and the Responsible
Administrator. Administration in Social Work, 20(4), 89-107
Hines, S. M., & Jos, P. H. (1993). Care, Justice, and Public Administration. Administration and Society,
25(3), 373-392.
Long, D. D., Morrison, J. D., & Tice, C. J. (2005). Macro Social Work Practice: A Strengths Perspective
(with InfoTrac®) (1 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.