The Impact of Values-Clarification on Ethics in the Helping Profession
America is faced with an overwhelming abundance of moral and social problems which seem to consume the fragilely woven fibers of our nation. What has happened to America? What can be done to rescue the innocents in society from those who seem to prey upon them? Can one person make a difference? Those in the human service profession have felt a calling, have been affected by the seeming hopeless perils of the weaker members of society and have stood to make a difference one step, one person one life at a time.
How can one person make a difference in a world so big and so full of problems? America is a society that is morally starving. Values clarification, which is taught in public schools today teaches "since there are no eternal truths which are valid for this generation and succeeding generations, everybody has to find his own values in his own time. There is nothing which is right and wrong for everyone, thus there are no absolutes" (Ed. DeMoss, 1986).
Ethical issues lead to ethical decisions. These decisions quite often place the social worker in an ethical dilemma. The concept of values-clarification is reinforced by Marianne and Gerald Corey, authors of "Becoming A Helper". In their book they say "Reasonable differences of opinion can and do exist among social workers with respect to the ways in which values, ethical principles, and ethical standards should be rank ordered when they conflict" (1994). Deciding what is morally right or morally wrong has been placed in the hands of the individual. This lack of moral absolutes has produced a generation miserably lacking solid direction for life.
Society is filled with men, women, teenagers, and children of all races, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds seeking or requiring counseling for a myriad of reasons. Many are victims of abuse, many are the abusers, but all are victims of society's demon of moral disintegration. Sexual and physical abuse on children are painful realities of these demons that exist in society. The practitioner assigned to the father who is the perpetrator in the abuse case is faced with an ethical dilemma when facing him in a helping relationship. Is it possible to be nonjudgmental toward this man?
"Recognizing that all human beings have strengths and weakness...
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...ook beyond the small cuts and look into
the soul of a person and offer help and hope for healing and change. The burden is great and society's declining value system makes the challenge sometimes seemingly unbearable but change can come. Help is available. There is hope. The famous editor, humanitarian and writer of the book "Man without a Country", Everett Hale, gives those in the social service profession a candle in the darkness with these words, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do and, with the help of God, I will do" (ed. DeMoss, 1986).
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In Bryan Stevenson book Just Mercy, Stevenson exposed many things about the justice system. He explain to his audience that the justice system are treated minorities wrong. Bryan Stevenson influences on the readers’ thoughts about the justice system. He makes the readers question if we are being treated right. Stevenson does this by using logos effectively by providing the readers with the cases he dealt with. There are four cases that stuck out to readers are the Walter, Charlie, Horace, and Joe.
The primary issue that was addressed in the Journal article, “Moral Reasoning of MSW Social Workers and the Influence of Education” written by Laura Kaplan, was that social workers make critical decisions on a daily basis that effect others. They influence their clients’ lives through giving timely and appropriate funding to them and their families, through deciding should a family stay together or should they have a better life with another family, or connecting the client with appropriate resources that can enhance their lives. The article addresses data from an array of students from various universities. The researcher posed these questions; “Would social workers use moral reasoning (what is right and what is wrong) more prevalent if it was taught through an individual class during your MSW graduate studies, or if you obtain any other undergraduate degree, or if the ethic course was integrated in the curriculum?”
Walter McMillian, a young African American man from Monroeville, Alabama was convicted and sentenced to death row after a vigorous murder of a white woman occurred in his town. Multiple witnesses testified against McMillian while the jury ignored many witnesses, who were also African American, who testified where Walter was during the time of the convicted crime. The judge of the trial overrode the verdict for life by the jury and instead sentenced Walter to death. In the novel, “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption”, Bryan writes mainly about the case of McMillian along with several other wrongly convicted prisoners on death row.
Zeferelli’s is the older and more classical version of Romeo and Juliet. Zeferelli uses the setting of Verona, and the costumes that were appropriate to Elizabethan England. He does take liberties with the dialogue, in that he shortens many of the monologues made by the characters. This is the version that is most commonly shown in high school classrooms, because while some of the sexual puns are included they are in no way stressed. Another thing that is not brought out in Zeferelli's version is the common assessment of Mercutio's sexual preference. It is commonly believed that Mercutio was interested in Romeo in sexual way, and that he possessed very homosexual qualities. Zeferelli simply portrays Mercutio as Romeos friend. One thing that set Zeferelli’s film apart from other films of its time was the fact that...
Ethical Issues in Social Work I will provide practical help for new social workers to help them understand and deal with ethical issues and dilemmas which they will face. There are many ethical issues which are important to social work, but I feel that these are all covered by the care value base. The care value base Was devised by the care sector consortium in 1992, this was so that the workers in health and social care had a common set of values and principles which they would all adhere to. It is important because for the first time the social care sector had a clear set of guidelines from which ethical judgements could be made. The care value base is divided into 5 elements - The care value base covers - Equality and Diversity - Rights and responsibilities - Confidentiality - Promoting anti Discrimination - Effective communication Equality and Diversity Carers must value diversity themselves before they can effectively care for the different races, religions and differently abled people they will come across in their caring profession.
Throughout the play, Mercutio portrays an immature and ignorant mindset. Although he makes the audience laugh with sexual jokes, he is continually thinking wrongly about love. Many people approach him for
The narrator is extremely judgmental towards the blind and this creates negative preconceived notions about Robert. First, his idea of a blind man comes from movies he has watched and describes that the blind, “moved slowly and never laughed” (Par. 1). The narrator has a horrible attitude towards the blind and because of this he sees himself higher than any blind person. Second, he believes that when Robert’s wife was alive they both had no capability of loving each other solely because of Robert’s blindness. He thinks Robert cannot love because he had never “seen what the goddamned woman looked like” (Par. 16). The narrator then thinks Robert’s wife could not love him because she could “never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one” (Par. 16). This kind of harsh thinking that the narrator has towards Robert is detrimental to himself as well as those surrounding him. The narrator is trapped with judgmental thinking, making him hard to be around and cooperate with.
Mercutio’s character first appearance in the film leaves mouths gaping and the audience does not get a breather between the drag queen’s dreadful introduction and the frenzied guests of an erratic costume party. A shrill sound, leaving viewers wanting to cover their ears, comes from Mercutio as he performs "Young Hearts Run Free" by Kym Mazelle, a disco song. This upbeat song accompanied by the atrocious dancing fails to tastefully precede the slower paced "Kissing You" by British singer Des 'ree. The ballad is set in the key of A minor and the record uses a simple instrumentation consisting only of piano and string instruments. The melody according to the music critic, Ann Powers from The New York Times, “overdoes the melodrama”(Powers 4). Said atmosphere in no way suits the visuals Luhrmann constructs. Lamentably, “Kissing You” is on the other end of the musical spectrum in comparison to Mazelle’s "Young Hearts Run Free", thus, both collide in disharmony. Given these points, when the young lovers meet at the party and the emotional melody is performed, heads struggle to assimilate the abrupt shift. Now, the scene where the lover’s affection stems loses the beauty of the sentiment and belittles the attributes Shakespeare’s script is notorious for. All in all, Baz Luhrmann leaves much to be desired as his lack of sophistication when shifting setting is painfully
The construction site was in a downtown area of a large southeastern city, criss-crossed with city streets, utilities, and immediately adjacent to mid-rise and high rise buildings. Nearly all of the work was required to be constructed within temporary piling structures to limit settlement of adjacent structures. The construction contract called for seven phase releases of work areas and nine completion milestones, each milestone has its own liquidated damages penalty. The construction contract was valued at $10 million, and the duration was 545 calendar days. Following the completion of the work, the contractor filed a claim for $5.5 million and 1.1 million in interest. The authority subsequently denied the claim and the contractor, in accordance with the contract, filed an arbitration demand with the American Arbitration Association. Following the contractor’s issuance of the demand letter, the parties agreed to resolve the dispute through negotiation” (Ray,
The story unfolds while a church choir sings music that is seemingly immaculate and full of hope. During the subsequent scenes at Capulet’s party, “Kissing You” by Des’ree, a power ballad, plays in the background signifying the love between Romeo and Juliet that is to come. The lyrics “Where are you now?” play as Juliet dances and Romeo looks on, reflecting his love and his longing for her. Although some of these moments do not appear in chronological order, like the wedding scene, they serve to fit the tone of the music more than actually tell the story. This tale of love, along with its music, is quickly cut short by Benvolio screaming, much like how the tale of Romeo and Juliet meets a premature end. The music stops just as Benvolio screams and a more upbeat song takes its
There is a lot of violence going on in the world along with hatred. Some people fail to realize that everyone in the world is equal. We all should be treated the same no matter what our sex, religion, or race is. There are people who have plentiful of money but will not give back to their own community they grew up in. Most people who have made it have come from a place where they didn’t have a pot to piss in. They should know how it feels to have struggles or to be poor. People like this should be happy and anxious to give back because they know how it felt to have little food to eat and not enough clothes to last throughout the week. We should be ready to open our mouth and express our feelings and thoughts to the world, not just through social media but actually going out and starting organizations to focus on a problem that we face as people in the world. There are a lot of homeless people in the world with no food, shelter, or clothes. People around the world should be willing to help out their community, just like Winthrop University does for the Rock Hill Community with Pack the
Chenoweth, L & McAuliffe, D 2012, The road to social work and human service practice, 3rd edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne.
Ethics consists of factors such as culture, religion, and these continuously affect a person’s beliefs and ethics. As individuals continue to develop and adapt to different values and ethics. This is through past experiences and the expectations as our life pattern changes. Core values in social work practice are the code of ethics, informing our understanding of the difference and diversity. The social work profession is evaluated by a whole set of guidelines, measures put in place by regulatory bodies, allowing the movement to put in place new governmental laws and guides within this field.
The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43). In addition, ethical decision-making is a process that
It only takes one rotten egg to stink up the fridge and a deep clean to make it fresh again. Just like that rotten egg smell, it only takes a few inconsiderate people with irrational and hateful thoughts to stink up societal thinking. As a group of human beings controlling one society it is the job of every one of us to encourage social responsibility. Only the responsible thoughts of many can deep clean the hate, violence and irrational thinking of those who don’t care to contribute positively and constructively. The ones who will make the most difference in the world are the ones who have open minds and good intentions; who act for the good of the whole and not for only themselves.