Case Study: Class-Based Conflict In The Workplace

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This ethical study will define a particular class-based conflict that I have experienced in the workplace as a caseworker for a foster care service in Harlem. In one particular case, I had a conflict of interest with a particular client that felt that I did not thoroughly understand their circumstances in terms of class status. The client assumed that I was too “well-off” to understand the life of poverty tht had created so many problems in her life. However, the client was unaware that I had also grown up being “poor” as an African American. More so, I had been fortunate enough to get a good education at a prestigious university and raise myself out of poverty. This case certainly defines an example of a class-based conflict of interest, which the NASW code of ethics resolves by identifying the class conflict with the client. I was able to remove myself from the case due to this perceived class bias, since the client was unable to find trust in our relationship. In essence, I will define an example of a class-based conflict as a caseworker in Harlem within the context of the Conflict of Interest rules of the NASW code of ethics. Last year, I worked with a female client that was extremely intelligent and was fully aware of class issues related to living in poverty. During one session, she made negative comments about my clothing being “fancy” and “expensive”, which was, in my mind, a comment about my class standing in relation to hers. Of course, I never behaved in a way that would suggest that I was biased toward her own clothing or class status, which is why I began to see the limitations of my work with this client. More so, I was also raised in a lower class environment, so the client had no idea that I felt empathy for her circumstances. However, the client was too hostile to my current class status, so I had re-evaluate my relationship with the client through the NAWS code of ethics. I became aware that the client must have thought that I was raised in a middle-upper class or upper class environment, which made me feel uncomfortable as person raised as an African American in a lower class household. Certainly, I would have to begin the process of reassigning this client to another social worker, which is meant to provide a more trusting environment for the client’s well being. The NAWS code of ethics provided a good starting point for me to understand the conflict of interest that was occurring between the client and myself. …show more content…
At the core of this problem was the issue that tht client felt that I could not serve her best interests because she did not trust my class background. In my mind, I had learned about these conflicts in social work sessions, which is always intended to bring about “the empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty” (Reamer p.19). Of course, I felt that the client was too biased in their view of my appearance, which allowed me to utilize the NASW as a way to provide the most un-biased form of social work for this particular individual. In the NASW Code of Ethics, the rules on Conflict of Interest define this difficult position I was put in when dealing with this particular client: Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment. Social workers should inform clients when a real or potential conflict of interest arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes the clients’ interests primary and protects clients’ interests to the greatest extent possible (NASW 1.06a). These rules on Conflict of Interest inspired me to begin the process of reassigning the client to a more suitable social worker, which allowed the client to feel more comfortable during counseling sessions. This how I made the “client’s interests primary”, instead of continuing with conflict-based sessions that might have discouraged the client from utilizing our services. Foster care involves building a deeper trust with the clients, which I knew could not be resolved with this particular client. The NASW helped me to see a conflict of interest based on class values, which provided me with the ethical knowledge to release the client to

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