Overview
Ethics in Human Services
Position Paper #1 Human Service Workers are often faced with the task of ethical decision-making. When making these decisions, they must be able to adequately support the decision that has been made. As we discussed in class this may require them to refer to their code of ethics, ethical principles, their agency’s policies and procedure manual, and the law. For this assignment, you will be given a case study, and you will need to respond to the questions that follow the case. When responding to the questions, you will need to reference the textbook, the code of ethics, and at least two scholarly journal articles (beyond our course materials) to help you make your decision and demonstrate support for your arguments. Your paper should be 2-3 pages, not including the title page and the reference page. You are also required to follow APA format for this assignment, double space, and utilize Times New Roman 12 point font. Your paper should contain a brief introduction and conclusion. Do not provide a lengthy overview of the case study in your paper. Instead refer to the more relevant parts to frame the ethical dilemma and support your arguments. Case Study: Laura Taylor is a psychologist at a local Community Counseling Center. She also teaches an Introduction to Psychology class at a nearby University. Dr. Taylor has been treating 20 year-old Jenny for the past year. Jenny began seeing Dr. Taylor after her parents were both killed in a car crash last year. Jenny has worked through many layers of grief and loss, but continues to battle with depression. Feelings of abandonment and loneliness are the biggest triggers of depression for Jenny and have, at times, caused suicidal ideation in her. She has recently begun to articulate these feelings of abandonment to Dr. Taylor, but they are a constant struggle for her. On several occasions, Jenny has mentioned to Dr. Taylor that she would not have been able to get through this horrific ordeal without her help. She advised that she has begun to think of Dr. Taylor as a surrogate mother of sorts, knowing that she is the one person who is a stable source of support for her as she struggles in school, sorts out relationships with friends and boyfriends, and forges ahead with no parents and no other family members. This semester, Dr. Taylor noticed that Jenny has enrolled in her Introduction to Psychology class. Dr. Taylor initially decided that she should drop Jenny from the class, fearing that she would not be able to differentiate between her role as Jenny’s Therapist and her role as Jenny’s Professor. Dr. Taylor decided that Jenny has already experienced too much loss and she began to worry about how dropping Jenny from her class would affect Jenny’s emotionally stability – and impact all of the hard work they have already done together. Dr. Taylor decided to keep Jenny in her class, but brought up the issues of confidentiality and dual relationships with Jenny in a session just before classes began. Jenny reported that she understood the difference between Dr.Taylor’s roles and she stated that she would not discuss class in her treatment sessions and vice versa.
One month passed. In treatment, Jenny had done exceptionally well. It was nearing the time in treatment when Dr. Taylor and Jenny would revisit their treatment plan and decide how, if at all, to proceed. Jenny had already accomplished 5 out of 6 of her treatment goals; Dr. Taylor and Jenny had bumped the number of sessions back from weekly to monthly; and Jenny started to speak with her distant Aunt on a more regular basis, allowing her to form a connection with the only family she had left.
In class, Jenny sat in the back row, never participated, and occasionally fell asleep. When it came time to grade the first set of papers, Dr. Taylor found herself trying to add more points to various parts of Jenny’s paper – even when Jenny did not deserve them. Dr. Taylor knew Jenny’s history and her struggles and she wanted to make at least one part of Jenny’s life easier. Dr. Taylor grappled with whether or not to discuss these feelings with Jenny in her treatment session. She did not know if honesty with Jenny would impact Jenny’s role as a student or Jenny’s progress in treatment, and she began to believe that honesty would actually create even more issues within their relationship. Dr. Taylor began to question her decision to keep Jenny in her class…..the drop/add period was quickly coming to an end....but Jenny’s treatment was likely coming to an end, as well…what should she do?
Questions: 1. How ethical do you consider Dr. Taylor’s behavior based upon principles established in the Code of Ethics and ranked in the Ethical Principles Screen? Do you believe that Dr. Taylor should continue to see Jenny as a client and/or keep Jenny in her class? Why or why not?
2. How could another provider oppose your view and chose a different course of action using the Ethical Principles Screen and Code of Ethics?
3. Can Dr. Taylor remain objective in her work with Jenny when she also sees her in class? Why or why not? How might this dual relationship impact her counseling work with Jenny? How might it impact her ability to objectively teach Jenny in this class