1.
What was Alex' responsibility to the hospital, himself, and Zoe when the admission call
was initiated?
Alex’s responsibility to himself is his emotional bias that will influence his decisions.
Alex needs to ask himself; can he handle and avoid any past emotions that may trigger
ethical dilemmas during his and Zoe’s sessions. Alex’s reasonability to the hospital is to
fill his role and provide/fulfill, all duties that are in his job description. Also to inform the
hospital about his past relationship and how it may effect the sessions with Zoe. Since
Alex had past relationships with Zoe it is his responsibility to provide her with non-bias
counseling sessions. Alex will provide the best possible sessions that will drive Zoe to
have a successful session and not hinder their professional relationship.
2.
Are there any dual-role relationships in the vignette? If so, how many and between
whom?
Dual relationships is when the social worker interacts with a client in a role in addition to
that of the social worker’s professional role (Dolgoff, R., Harrington & Loewenberg,
2012). The dual relationship in this vignette is between Alex and Zoe. Alex had previous
sexual relations with Zoe and still has emotional ties to their past relationship. Also the
relationship between Alex and his best fiend/clinical director.
3.
What was the responsibility of the prison guard who discovered Alex and Zoe engaging
in intercourse?
The responsibility of the prison guard to chose one of the six options. Option A: not to
report, option B: an informal approach, option C: use agency procedures, option D:
NASW and professional review or option E: report to the state licensing board (Dolgoff,
R., Harrington & Loewenberg, 2012). The responsibility of the prison guard is to choose
one of these options but upon choosing one options he will want to determine what
outcome he wants from his actions taken.
4.
What was the responsibility of the hospital's clinical director?
The responsibility of the hospital director is to speak with Alex about his actions that
have been taken. The director is to also follow any policies or procedures that the hospital
enforces with dual sexual relationships that their employees have with clients. Even
though Alex is the directors best friend they are in a professional setting and professional
actions are to be taken in order to keep the integrity of the company and profession.
5.
Are there any ethical standards from your professional organization, i.e. Human Services
Code of Ethics that would be applicable to this vignette? If yes, give the code number and
explain how that code fits this vignette.
In this vignette there are multiple ethical standards that Ethical Decisions for Social Work
Practice goes over. Code 2.11 “social works should take adequate measures to
discourage, prevent, expose, and correct the unethical conduct of colleagues. Code 3.09a
“Social workers generally should adhere to commitments made to employers and
employing organizations. Most importantly code 1.09a “ social workers should under no
circumstances engage in sexual activities or sexual contact with current clients, whether
such contact is consensual or forced (Dolgoff, R., Harrington & Loewenberg, 2012).
Reference:
Dolgoff, R., Harrington, D., & Loewenberg, F. (2012). Ethical decisions for social work
practice. (9th ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.