HDuncan_EthicalDilemma_102223
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Dec 6, 2023
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Ethical Dilemma
Harley Duncan
Rasmussen University
HUS1001: Intro to Human Services
Amy Harms Hoad
Oct 22, 2023
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Ethical Dilemma
Ethics are “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviors or the conducting of an activity”
(Oxford University Press, 1989).
An Ethical Dilemma is “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be
made between two courses of actions, either of which transgressing a moral principle” (Oxford
University Press, 1989).
You may face a lot of ethical dilemmas in the Human Services field. In the field
of Human Services there is the Ethical Standards of Human Services or NOHS to make sure everyone is
treated fairly and gets the help they need. Human Service professionals deal with emotional issues daily
and need to know how to handle them ethically. When working in this field it can be hard to put your
personal belief aside and make the right choice, but they are consequences for actions taken against the
NOHS.
Making the right choices no matter what your personal beliefs are can be hard. Making the
wrong ethical decision can harm your career in many ways.
Marvin had biases about Christina and her
case, and he made a wrong choice. Marvin made a few wrong choices but the one that sticks out most
was inputting the wrong information for Christina, based on a personal belief. Marvin believed that
Christina being atheist and was 26 and had never voted, was causing her to not meet her needs. He was
letting his personal beliefs and biases into his work and letting them make the decision for him causing
Christina to not receive the help she qualified for. Christina trusted Marvin with her personal problems
and Marvin used his biases against her. Marvin had no proof that was the cause of Christina’s problems,
but he used it against her anyway.
Based on NOHS standard 7, “Human service professionals ensure that their values or biases are
not imposed upon their clients” (
Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals National
Organization of Human Services (NOHS)
, n.d.) Marvin should have put his biases aside and put the right
information in getting Christina the proper help she needed and qualified for. Christina qualified for
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assistance, but he made it look like she didn’t. Putting his biases in his work harmed Christina by
preventing her from receiving the assistance she qualified for.
When someone found out what Marvin did there would be a conversation and maybe an
investigation. The worst consequence for this situation could be Marvin could get suspended or fired. He
may experience some guilt for stopping Christina from getting the help she qualified for. He may have to
deal the community he works for will stop trusting him. If he doesn’t get fired any future clients will have
trouble telling him what is going on and talking about the things they need to.
If Marvin is allowed, fixing his mistake may make things a little better. Being honest with
Christina about what he did would be a great step to take to try and get her trust back. Showing the
community that he is willing to own up to his mistakes may be a step to gain their trust back. It can be
hard to put your personal beliefs and biases aside from your work but ethically it is right and make things
better and easier for everyone. When we put our personal beliefs and biases in our work, we hurt people
and loose the trust of the community. The NOHS are in place to help us with the ethical dilemmas we
face, they are to try and prevent them and make our jobs a little easier.
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References
Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals National Organization of Human Services
(NOHS)
. (n.d.). https://guides.rasmussen.edu/ld.php?content_id=41341391
Oxford University Press. (1989).
The Oxford English dictionary
(2nd ed.). Clarendon Press;
Oxford.