Gail Bieber, LCSW
Clinical Director
Counseling Recovery Services of OK
Language of Ethics Objectives:
1) Explain descriptive terms that are part of
the language of professional ethics
2) Determine individual values through
interactive techniques & recognize how these
personal values may impact our professional
values.
Root Causes of Ethical Dilemmas
An Ethical dilemma is defined as:
a difficult problem seemingly incapable of a satisfactory
solution or a situation involving a choice between two equally
unsatisfactory alternatives. Ethical dilemmas arise when moral
claims conflict with each other.

Competing Values - Confidentiality, Considerations of shrinking
budgets, outcome measurements, time restraints, efficiency

Competing Loyalties - e.g. individual versus family, agency

Different cultures, races, genders, histories and
religious/spirituality beliefs
CLIENT
CLINICIAN
HURRICANE KATRINA, THE GILLETE FAMILY, AND CHOICES*
For days, all one heard was that Hurricane Katrina was on its way. Social Worker Sharon
Gillette’s husband was in Seattle on business and unable to find a flight to return to New
Orleans. Sharon could not decide whether to try to leave or to stay because her house was on
higher ground. People in New Orleans and throughout the region were struggling with
preparations for the expected storm. Sharon’s child care provider, Mrs. Carlyle, called to say she
was frightened and would not come the next morning because she had found a ride out of town
with her son and family. With her husband still away, Sharon finally decided it would be best for
her and her children to leave New Orleans and stay with family in Texas until the storm passed.
Sharon phoned her supervisor to let him know she would be leaving New Orleans and would
return as soon as possible after the storm passed. However, her supervisor informed her that
she was being asked to report immediately to the Civil Emergency Center in the Louisiana
Superdome to assist the many people-both able-bodied and those with physical and other
challenges- who would be forced to stay in New Orleans because they did not have a way to
evacuate. People were confused and anxious; many were trying to contact loved ones.
What would Sharon do? Should she leave New Orleans for Texas as planned?
Should she stay in New Orleans to help those in need? If she did stay in New Orleans, should
she spend time trying to protect her home and children, or spend her time helping those in the
Superdome?
*R. Dolgoff, F. Lowenberg, D. Harrington: Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice, eighth edition, 2009, pg. 11-12
Questions?
 Are values, ethics & morality (virtues) the same
thing?
If not, what is the difference?
MORALITY:

Consists of principles or rules of conduct that define
standards for right behavior. They define the relationships
among members of the society. Goldstein: “a moral
sense…involves not only individual thoughts and actions
but relationships with others”

In the United States we have a broad consensus about some
issues, we have deep divisions regarding what is “moral and
what is not”? *

What are some of those issues & how does it impact our
practice?
* We’d like to have a set of general rules for society,
however, they do tend to vary. Morality for one is not
morality to another. There are deep divisions in this
society regarding morality.
– Serve as guides or criteria for
selecting good and desirable behaviors.
“a value is not just a preference but it is
a preference which is felt and/or
considered to be justified.”
(Kluckhohn, 1951)
 Values are a key element in the ethical
decision-making process.
 Values
Individual values
 Group values – held by subgroups within a
society (religious, ethnic groups)
 Societal Values – values that are recognized
by the majority portions of the entire social
system or, at least by the leading members or
spokespersons of that system.
 Professional Values – proclaimed by a
professional group
Generally these four value sets are
complementary or reciprocal although they
can be in conflict & differences can occur in
interpretation, prioritization and intensity.

Professional Values
 Clinical
practitioners take their basic
professional values from societal values;
often a reflection and expansion of our
personal values.
 Professional values are considered as
primary in practitioners’ decision making
and action.
 General consensus: Client participation,
self-determination, and confidentiality
Does Value Neutrality exist?
Can we achieve Value Neutrality with our
clientele?
Ethics – contemporary meaning focuses upon
what actions are morally right and with how
things ought to be. Human Conduct
 Branch of philosophy dealing with human conduct
 “Ethics is not primarily concerned with getting
people to do what they believe to be right, but
helping them decide what is right” – (Jones,
Sontag, Beckner, & Fogelin, 1977, pg. 8).
 Ethics are deduced from values (even though
we often use them interchangeably). Ethics
deals with what is right and correct.
C. Levy (1976b) called ethics “values in
action”
– defined as the application of
ethics to matters of life and death. Bio-ethics
implies that a judgment should be made about
the rightness or wrongness, goodness or
badness, of a given medical or scientific
practice.
 There are times when we, as clinicians, are
concerned with both ethics and bioethics
 Bioethics
What are some examples of Bioethical Dilemmas we may
encounter in our professional life?
Ethics – Clarifies the ethical
aspects of professional practice.
 Professional

What is the purpose of professional
ethics?
Professional Ethics are:
 intended to help practitioners to recognize
morally correct practice and learn how to
decide and act ethically in any
professional situation.
 for the Protection of the public
 may also be enforced and provide
sanctions through the license bureau
Values Common to All of the Helping Professions
 Autonomy – client’s right to choose their own
course of action, commonly known as selfdetermination (Western tradition).
Some people think the next two are the same
concept;
they are closely related but differ in an important
way
 Nonmaleficence – “above all else, do no harm”
 Beneficence – “avoiding” doing harm; stated in the
positive: the value (or duty) of promoting good for
and enhancing the well-being of others.s
 Justice – Corey, Corey and Callahan define justice
simply as “providing equal treatment to all people”
Values Common to Helping Professionals,
cont.
Fidelity – Honoring commitments made to
clients. Implication is that of creating a trusting
relationship that allows the client space and
opportunity to make whatever changes are
necessary in his/her life
 Veracity – Being truthful; if the worker doesn’t
know the answer or can’t provide the answer
(confidentiality, court order, etc), it’s far better
to tell the client than to lie. Acknowledging
errors rather than deceiving

Good decisions are supported by sound
reasoning. You are probably acting in an
ethically responsible way concerning a client if
you:*
 Maintain personal & professional honesty*,
coupled with
 The best interests of the client*
 Without malice or personal gain* and
 Can justify your actions as the best
judgment of what should be done based
on the current state of the profession.*
* Van Hoose and Paradise (1979)
The following exercise (handout) was
produced by the New England Regional
Leadership Program. It is posted by the
Center for Rural Studies for Public Use.
The Center for Rural Studies assumes no
responsibility for the contents.
Interpreting the Results:
Question 1: the areas of life that you do well or that seem
naturally right to you are also possible sources of your
most basic values, but try to discriminate between
physical talent and what ‘feels right’ about it for clues
about values.
Question 2: Moments of inspiration that cause a change
are moments that affect you deeply and shape values
related to what you value in life.
Questions 3 & 5: These are directly related to what you
value in life!
Question 4: Areas of growing or changing awareness
about your life, so they are especially important to
understand.
How do you express these values in your work?
*Lois M. Frey, UVM Extension, contributed to this material

Deontology?

Utilitarianism? –
This philosophy is linked
to Plato, Immanuel Kant;
rightness by rules rather
than the outcomes.
“Follow only the principle
that you want everyone to
follow”. Fixed moral rules
which should hold under
all circumstances. Ethical
rules are right because
they comply with such an
imperative, or because the
principle that supports the
decision is sound.
Rightness based upon
outcomes (John Stuart Mill
& Jeremy Bentham)
“Which choice creates the
greatest good for the
greatest number?
Ethical Absolutism
Ethical relativists
No fixed rules, and further,
the way to judge an action
is to examine the
‘goodness’ or ‘badness’ of
it’s consequences
1.
2.
3.
Who is Helpful?
What are my
choices?
When have I
faced a similar
dilemma?
*Strom-Gottfried, K. (2007).
Straight Talk about
Professional Ethics. Lyceum
Books, Inc., pgs. 27-51
Helpful, Choices, History of
Dilemmas
4.
Where do ethical
and clinical
guidelines lead
me?
5. Why am I selecting
a particular
course of action?
6. How should I enact
my decision?
Professional guidelines, course of
action, how to act on the decision
Does it pass the decision-making tests?*
1. Publicity – Can it withstand the light of day?
2. Reversibility – presents a version of the Golden Rule; would
your choice of options be the same if you were in the client’s
shoes or if your child, parent, friend, spouse were subject to
the same decision.
3. Smell – Does the choice we’re making live up the community
standards, legal standards, or our own gut instincts about right
and wrong.
4. Mom or Mentor – Consider an individual whose integrity we
trust, who holds us in high regard. How might that person solve
this dilemma? How would they view us in light of the course of
action we’re choosing?
*Strom-Gottfried, K. (2007). Straight Talk about Professional Ethics. Lyceum Books, Inc.
 Rank
in order from (1) highest importance
of priority to (7) lowest importance or
priority for the following ethical principles:
a. Autonomy and freedom
b. Equality and inequality
c. Least harm
d. Privacy and confidentiality
e. Protection of life
f. Quality of life
g. Truthfulness and full disclosure
THANKS FOR BEING HERE TODAY!!!
MY HOPE IS YOU LEARNED MORE ABOUT
YOURSELF AS YOU APPROACH ETHICAL
DILEMMA IN YOUR ROLE AS A PROFESSIONAL
Gail Bieber, LCSW, Clinical Director
Counseling & Recovery Services of Oklahoma
7010 S. Yale #215
Tulsa, OK 74136
TELEPHONE: 918.492.2554
E-MAIL: gbieber@crsok.org