Chapter 3 Developing Ethical Competence

Since I began my internship the most important aspect of the center is how it is funded. The context is the centers sustainability is based upon the population it serves and its demographic area in the city. The center is still struggling with funding and relies heavenly on grants, community donations, and funds from local councilmen in the city of Wilmington. Developing ethical competence for me was being able to be visible at all times by more than one person. I was never alone with one person at a time and if I was talking with an individual, I always made sure that the door was open or there was more than one person in the room. This way if a situation developed there was always a witness to confirm what took place. Even when talking with parents, the door was open or I would talk with the regarding the program in a general area where individuals would pass through. I did witness one situation with two little girls plying tug a war with a cell phone of one of the employees. The two little girls looked to be about 7 or 8 years of age and one of them was the granddaughter of the employee which the cell phone belong to. The two girls began to fight and all of the children in the area began to root them on. Finally the employee got up and pulled the two apart, but she never talked to them or the parents when they arrived to pick up their children. I was heated about this situation and talked with the site supervisor the next time I was at the center. Whether he talked with the employee or not that was not for me to know. The fact that I witnessed this situation I had to blow the whistle as this was an ethical situation and this really developed my ethical competence regarding my internship.