Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership

Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership, Social workers may experience situations in which the “right” and “wrong” behavior is not always clear. For this reason, the social work profession has a code of ethics that guides social workers on how to engage in professional behavior that is ethical. When reading the code of ethics it may seem easy to identify unethical behavior, but it can be more challenging to apply the code when addressing ethical conflicts in social work practice.

Students will:

• Apply strategies for addressing ethical conflicts in social work practice
• Analyze ethical leadership

Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.

• Chapter 12, “Addressing Ethics in Leadership” (pp. 308- 335)

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications via the Copyright Clearance Center.

• Chapter 16, “Leadership Ethics” (pp. 423–449)

Stephenson, M. O., Jr. (2011). Considering the relationships among social conflict, social imaginaries, resilience, and community-based organization leadership. Ecology and Society, 16(1). Retrieved from http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art34/

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.aspx

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Sessions: Bradley (Episode 5 of 42) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Optional Resources

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014a). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing [Vital Source e-reader].

Walden University. (2014). Master of Social Work home page. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Visit the Master of Social Work interactive home page to explore resources available to students in the program.

Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership

Discussion 1: Ethics and the Law

When working with clients, it is important to maintain professional boundaries to safeguard both you and your clients. Legislation such as HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics are specific in how you as a social worker should protect client information and safeguard confidentiality. Responding ethically in a professional situation may be clear in most situations, but not necessarily in all situations. Even though you have established laws and code of ethics to guide your decision-making process, you may still face ethical conflicts.

For this Discussion, review the media of the Bradley case and consider how the case relates to social work professional ethics.

By Day 3

Post the strategy you would use to address the Teen First director’s request if you were the social worker in the Bradley case. Then, describe a hypothetical situation in which an organization’s decision conflicts with your personal/professional ethics but remains within the law. Explain how you would respond to this situation, and why.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:

• Expand upon your colleague’s response to the Bradley case.
• Critique your colleague’s strategy for addressing the ethical dilemma he or she has described.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 6 Discussion 1 Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 6 Discussion 1

Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership

Discussion 2: Reflections on Ethical Leadership

What does it mean to be an ethical leader? How is ethical leadership demonstrated in social work practice? As a leader in the social work profession, you have to achieve a balance between your professional and personal ethics. At times, these may be aligned with each other, but there may be situations in which they conflict. Because leadership includes value and moral dimensions, your character, actions, and goals as a social work administrator should reflect ethical leadership.

For this Discussion, consider the characteristics of ethical leadership and the challenges associated with practicing ethical leadership.

By Day 4

Post your definition of ethical leadership as it relates to the social work profession. Explain what it means to be an ethical leader and describe the challenges of being an ethical leader.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

To complete your Discussion, click on Discussions on the course navigation menu, and select “Week 6 Forum” to begin.

By Day 6

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in at least one of the following ways:

• Provide an example of an individual who exhibited an ethical leadership characteristic your colleague has described.
• Provide an example of a leader who effectively faced one of the challenges to ethical leadership that your colleague has described.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 6 Discussion 2 Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 6 Discussion 2

Week 6:Ethics, Organizations, and Leadership

Week in Review

This week you analyzed ethical leadership and applied strategies for addressing ethical conflicts in social work practice.

Next week you will focus on agency supervision and conflict resolution from different perspectives and examine ideas that contribute to better solutions.

To go to the next week:

Week 7