Ethical Delima Analysis

Nessa Behie

SOWK 483

College of Social Work, University of South Carolina

Michael Ottone

12 November 2023
 Part 1: Delima Description

Susy is a BSW social work intern at an elementary school where she works directly with
students, faculty, staff, and parents. Susy was going to give a teacher some resources for a 3 rd
grade student with behavior issues, Johnny, and check in on him. As Susy walked into the room,
she noticed the kids were eating snacks. Susy said, “Oh are you all eating snack?” to create
conversation with the students.

This is when the teacher stated, “yeah but I am not rewarding bad behavior”. At this moment is
when Susy noticed Johnny was the only one who did not have a snack. Susy gave the teacher the
resources she had and then immediately left. In the hallway on the way back to the social
worker’s office Susy reflected on what she had just witnessed. Susy has previously worked in a
school setting and knows snacks/food is in a student’s schedule should not be taken away as
punishment; when snacks are given, they are to be given to all the students.

It was the first couple weeks into Susy’s internship, and she feared burning bridges. She had
never discussed how to respond to a teacher with her field instructor. Further, Susy had never
met this teacher, but understood she would continue working with students in this class.
 Part 2: Guidelines That Cause the Delima

Dignity and Worth of the Person

One of the biggest issues in this case, I noticed, was the teacher deciding to purposefully

embarrass Johnny in front of his peers by not giving him snack and then announcing loudly to

the social work student he was not having a snack due to his behavior. This could make Johnny

feel less than his peers and lower his dignity and make him feel less worthy for basic necessities,

such as snack time for young children. If the teacher is punishing Johnny through snacks, she

may be taking away other “privileges” such as the bathroom for not listening, this happened at

my high school when there were too many fights in one day.

Importance of Human Relations

Since the teacher decided to take away Johnny’s snack as punishment, it damages his

relationship with her as a trusted adult. Her actions show him he may not be able to trust her in

the future to meet his needs to the full extent. Her actions could also damage his relationship

with the other students as they may pick on him for not receiving a snack and being the teacher’s

least favorite. Another relationship with could be harmed is Johnny’s relationship with Susy

because she, in his mind, allowed the teacher to not give him a snack.

Integrity

Because Susy stated the teacher is not supposed to take snacks away from children as a

punishment, it harms the teacher’s integrity. In addition, Susy became complicit when she saw

the teacher’s actions and walked away but is trying to remedy the situation.
 Part 3: General Decision-Making Model

1. Identify

a. The problem:

i. The current dilemma is the teacher is punishing Johnny by taking away

snacks and Susy is unsure what to do as she knows it is wrong to withhold

food from the students as punishment.

b. The persons:

i. Johnny is a student Susy is working with.

ii. Susy is the social work student and intern for this elementary school.

iii. Johnny’s teacher is part of the problem.

iv. School Social Worker can be considered part of the problem as they are

responsible for Susy.

c. Institutions:

i. The Elementary School is the institution the event took place at.

ii. Susy’s college also has a role as how she responds could directly affect her

field placement.

d. Clients:

i. Susy’s main client is Johnny but there are other students, parents, faculty,

and staff.

e. Professional(s):

i. The main professionals are Johnny’s teacher and Susy’s field instructor.

f. Support systems:
 i. Susy’s main support systems would be her field instructor and her college

field liaison.

g. Others:

i. Others who could be considered involved would-be Johnny’s classmates.

2. Determine who should be involved in decision making

a. Who should be involved in the decision making out of the above?

i. The main person who could be involved in the decision-making would be

Susy.

b. Who can make the decision

i. Susy is the only one who can make the decision as she is the one who is

faced with the dilemma.

c. Who has the authority and scope of power to make the decision?

i. Susy is the person with the scope and power to make the decision.

3. Identify the relevant values held by those identified in step 1, including the client

and worker

a. The persons:

i. Worker: Susy’s main values would be maintaining her integrity and

honoring her code of ethics.

ii. Client: Johnny’s main value would be his friends and education as he is a

young child.

b. Institutions

i. The school’s main value would be ensuring the health and safety of its

students.
 c. Clients

i. The parents, faculty, staff, and students’ values are primarily the same as

the school with the exception of the students and parents are valuing the

student’s education and social sphere.

d. Proffessionals

i.

e. Support systems

i.

f. Others

i.

4. Identify the goals and objectives whose attainment you believe may reduce or

resolve the problem

a. Client goals?

i. Johnny’s goals would be improved behavior.

b. Worker goals?

i. To assist Johnny and keep her integrity intact.

c. What do others want accomplished?

i. The teacher is trying to

5. Identify alternate intervention strategies (at least 3) and assess the effectiveness and

efficacy and pros and cons of each alternative in terms of the identified goals

a. Solution A: Susy confronts the teacher about the situation.

i. Pros: This follows the NASW Code of Ethics guidelines and allows Susy

to try to sort the issue out herself.

 ii. Cons: The teacher could rebuff Susy because she is young and, in the

teacher’s eyes, inexperienced.

b. Solution B: Susy could bring Johnny a snack instead.

i. Pros: Johnny gets a proper snack.

ii. Cons: The teacher could see this as Susy undermining her authority and

report her for insubordination, as well as Susy may not be allowed to give

the students gifts as it shows favoritism.

c. Solution C: Susy could let her supervisor/the principle know.

i. Pros: The teacher could be handled, and Johnny would hopefully get his

required snack.

ii. Cons: Susy would completely surpass the teacher and the issue could be

ignored completely.

6. Select and implement the appropriate strategy stating why it is the BEST one and a

rationale for this

a. Which of the above possible interventions/solutions did you select and why?

i. Solution A

b. Why is it better than the other two proposed strategies?

i. This solution allows Susy to confront the problem head on and ensures the

teacher is still in the conversation.

c. How does it best address the problems set forth?

i. Since the teacher is included in the conversation, it allows her and Susy to

collaborate on a solution.

d. How does it advance or not advance the client’s needs and goals?
 i. This allows for Susy, the teacher, and Johnny to work towards the goal of

his behavior improving without taking away food.

e. How does it advance or not advance the social workers’ needs and goals?

i. This allows Susy to grow in her practice and learn further collaboration

through interdisciplinary work to serve clients.

f. Which takes precedence and why? Based on which ethical standards?

i. Johnny’s needs take ethical precedence due to his intake of food being

affected, which draws on the ethical principle of service.

g. What theories and research are informing your selection?

i. The biggest piece of research for this paper was the National Association

of Social Worker’s Code of Ethics.

7. Monitor the implementation, paying attention to unanticipated consequences;

evaluate results.

a. How will you know the chosen intervention solution is working?

i. Because I chose to talk with the teacher, I could continue to check in

around snack time if she seemed adverse to my reasoning.

b. What will you pay attention to?

i. I would pay attention to the amount of times the child is seen without

snacks or if I see him without a snack.

c. What could you possibly measure?

i. The amount of times I either see or don’t see Johnny with a snack

d. What are some success and unanticipated consequences?

 i. A success would be Johnny receiving snacks and a consequence could be a

reprimanding from my boss for not reporting it to them.

e. How will you evaluate or know when you reach success? How will you know

that?

i. I will know I reached success when Johnny receives snacks with all of the

other children and is not barred from snack time.

 Concluding Thoughts

I like this method of thinking due to the fact it makes me think of why I choose solutions.

I do not always weigh further pros and cons and go with my gut so to speak, so it is nice to see

some of the effects my actions can have. I would have still picked the same answer as above, but

I like knowing why I am choosing a solution and not just “it’s a gut instinct”.
 References

1. National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National

Association of Social Workers. Washington, DC: Author.
https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English