Supervision and Consultation

In confronting an ethical dilemma, social workers should always consult experienced colleagues and supervisors to flesh out the conflicts of interest and to determine the potential courses of action and cost/benefits associated with each. In fact, the NASW Code of Ethics requires not only students but all social workers to “seek the advice and counsel of colleagues whenever such consultation is in the best interests of clients” (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 2.05a). Competent practice dictates that social workers routinely document their efforts to use supervision and note their efforts to carefully analyze the ethical dilemma and their relationship to it.

In addressing ethical dilemmas, social workers often fail to acknowledge and accept that personal values, life experiences, and unaccounted for influences (personal, cultural, religious beliefs and preferences) do affect professional decisions. Social workers must be willing to identify these influences and the role they play in selecting a choice of action. For example, Julia’s personal beliefs about marijuana use will influence her decision about reporting. Julia may equate marijuana use with alcohol consumption and may not consider there to be any special risk to the children caused by Carla’s use of it.

The social worker must also take into account any agency (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 3.09a) or legal mandates to which he or she might be held responsible. If the agency policy requires reporting the drug use to the child welfare authorities, are there occasions in which the social worker might justify a “wait and see” approach and delay reporting? How do individual states define neglect related to drug use? Does parental use of marijuana itself constitute neglect, or are other indicators that the parent is unable to properly care for the children required? What are the social worker’s legal obligations as a mandated reporter?

The social worker must consider the possible consequences of his or her actions for each person who may potentially be harmed or benefit by the action chosen. In this case, in addition to Julia’s concern over client issues related to confidentiality (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 1.07p) and self determination (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 1.02), what is Julia’s responsibility to her peer who unintentionally disclosed information that could possibly have long standing consequences for client/social worker relationships (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 2.02)? Is the intern working with Tatiana at the junior high school obligated to tell Tatiana that the information she shared in confidence in the group will be brought to the attention of her mother’s social worker (see NASW Code of Ethics, Standard 1.07d)? Is she obligated to disclose the details of how this occurred? How will this affect "Mary"/Tatiana’s treatment? Can Tatiana be expected to trust social workers in the future? Did the intern unwittingly encourage “Mary” to reveal more than she had intended to reveal regarding her mother’s drug use?