As a social worker, we are held in great esteem by the society, it is important that we try to follow the rules of ethical responsibility when dealing with our clients. However, it is una-voidable and unintentional, but the fact is, as a social worker our duties are to protect the clients from harm and not cause them more harm. A dual relationship can cause great harm to the client and also to the profession. That is why the NASW code of ethics stipulates that social workers should avoid this kind of relationship.
Definition of dual relationship and what is entails. Dual relationship is when a social worker or a therapist or any specialist plays multiple roles or act as a separate entity to their cli-ents at the same time. This type of relationship …show more content…
In tolerating ambiguity in dual relationship is very complex because some of the dual or multiple relationship cannot be avoided whereas, others can. Nevertheless, is meeting my client in a mar-ket place unethical? I will say no! However, this particular situation is unavoidable. Also, another scenario was when my uncle’s wife found out at our thanksgiving celebration that her client is my cousin’s fiancé, which I will categorize as unintentional. A third scenario, is a rural social worker living in a small community and could not afford a car, but either walks to the bus stop or enter a taxi. What if the taxi driver is her client? I have entered a taxi before and not looking up to see who was driving. Once the driver spoke, I knew him immediately from school. This situa-tion is very appropriate and could not be avoided. It is better for a social worker to avoid multi-ple relationships as this might impair his judgement. Kirst-Ashman (2001) suggested that “be-cause of the complexity and inevitability of dual and multiple relationships in rural settings, social workers must often tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical …show more content…
This is important because it helps defines the quality of what the NASW and CSWE stands for, and also help protect the client and the worker in a compromising situation. However, in accepting the vagueness in dual or multiple relation-ships, it is very imperative that the worker focus on whether or not the situation is conflicting with the social work “values, ethnical duties and obligations; the individuals, groups and organi-zations that are likely affected; possible courses of action; relevant ethical theories, personal val-ues and the need to evaluate, monitor and document decisions” (Reamer, 2012). This will help to streamline what take precedence in the social worker’s duties by assisting the worker when faced with such conflicts in ethical decision making and also help to shape the mission of NASW code of
Definition of dual relationship and what is entails. Dual relationship is when a social worker or a therapist or any specialist plays multiple roles or act as a separate entity to their cli-ents at the same time. This type of relationship …show more content…
In tolerating ambiguity in dual relationship is very complex because some of the dual or multiple relationship cannot be avoided whereas, others can. Nevertheless, is meeting my client in a mar-ket place unethical? I will say no! However, this particular situation is unavoidable. Also, another scenario was when my uncle’s wife found out at our thanksgiving celebration that her client is my cousin’s fiancé, which I will categorize as unintentional. A third scenario, is a rural social worker living in a small community and could not afford a car, but either walks to the bus stop or enter a taxi. What if the taxi driver is her client? I have entered a taxi before and not looking up to see who was driving. Once the driver spoke, I knew him immediately from school. This situa-tion is very appropriate and could not be avoided. It is better for a social worker to avoid multi-ple relationships as this might impair his judgement. Kirst-Ashman (2001) suggested that “be-cause of the complexity and inevitability of dual and multiple relationships in rural settings, social workers must often tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical …show more content…
This is important because it helps defines the quality of what the NASW and CSWE stands for, and also help protect the client and the worker in a compromising situation. However, in accepting the vagueness in dual or multiple relation-ships, it is very imperative that the worker focus on whether or not the situation is conflicting with the social work “values, ethnical duties and obligations; the individuals, groups and organi-zations that are likely affected; possible courses of action; relevant ethical theories, personal val-ues and the need to evaluate, monitor and document decisions” (Reamer, 2012). This will help to streamline what take precedence in the social worker’s duties by assisting the worker when faced with such conflicts in ethical decision making and also help to shape the mission of NASW code of