Reflection Corner
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University of Kentucky *
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Course
SW 625
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
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10
Uploaded by MegaRainFalcon32
Ethical Fading
1.
Watch the videos.
2.
Reflect on your experiences with ethical fading on your ongoing Word or Google doc, including the following:
1.
Write about the four enablers of self-deception
1.
Language Euphemism
2.
Slippery Slope of Decision-Making
3.
Errors in Perceptual Causation
4.
Constrained Representation of Our Self.
2.
Provide examples of any or all of the four enablers of self-
deception that you saw in Jack Abramoff's story and/or in situations you have seen or experienced personally.
1.
Language Euphemisms
o
“Disguised stories” that we tell ourselves to cover up unethical words or actions
o
Creates a more positive view of the situation
Tobacco industry
Tried to redefine addiction to only include intoxicating effects rather than the whole definition “increased tolerance of a drug, withdrawal issues, brain mechanisms, and intoxicating qualities”
Tried to change the issue from a health issue to a civil rights issue
o
Used terms like “accommodation” in reference to smokers and non-smokers coexisting without government interference
Only dangerous when used to cover up the moral/ethical implications of our decisions
o
In Jack Abramoff’s story he used this to justify his unethical practices and decisions
Being employed by a big-shot law firm it seemed as though
he didn’t care about making unethical decisions
2.
Slippery Slope of Decision Making
o
The addition of many small unethical decisions or actions to a major unethical practice
o
Two separate psychological mechanisms
Psychological numbing that comes from repetition
Becomes more difficult to respond to what first brought serious reactions
Induction Mechanism
If what we previously did was okay and what we currently do is almost the same then it must also be okay
Uses past practices as a benchmark for new practices
Each small step away from ethical/acceptable practices it doesn’t seem like a big deal but they add
up over time
Reinforces that the behavior is acceptable with no boundaries of how far it can go
o
Jack’s story exemplified this idea through the white collar crimes
White collar crimes aren’t seen as bad as other criminal offenses
More socially acceptable
Didn’t actually hurt anyone, so it’s okay
o
I had a friend in high school that I watched fall deeper and deeper over ten years into a destructive and morally questionable life.
She drank and smoked marijuana as a teenager, slowly moving to harder and harder drugs until her boyfriend/father of their 3 children pimped her out as a source of money for their drugs
She lost custody of all 3 children, became homeless, and jobless
3.
Errors in Perceptual Causation
o
“Misconstrued judgements about moral responsibility”
Focus on individuals rather than systems
Self-interested motives when assigning blame
Blurred moral responsibility via omission
Biases and opinions that blind us to possible issues in
society
o
Abramoff liked to rationalize his decisions
Focused on winning cases
The ends justified the means, even when bribing legislators
4.
Constrained Representation of Ones Self
o
We don’t choose how we see the world using our own sensory organs
What we experience will always be different than it is to others
It is an act of self-deception to believe that one knows something about an “objective” truth
We are influenced by our own perception
o
Abramoff exemplified this idea the most, as he truly believed he was acting ethically because he highly valued his faith and family
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Where Do You Stand? Continuum of Beliefs & Examination of Bias
After you have finished, in your Reflection Corner, describe why you stand where you do on each of the continua. Then, describe how you think your views impact your current thinking and how they may impact your future professional work.
“
Some acts are just the right thing to do vs. the rightness of an act depends on the consequence”
I chose 2 as my rating, because I think there are some consequences that are acceptable if the act is the right thing to do by my own moral standards. For example, abortion is currently illegal in Kentucky in almost every circumstance, with the only exception being if the mother or fetus are at incredibly high risk of losing their lives and the medical provider has taken every imaginable step to prevent this. No exceptions for cases of rape or incest. I am a firm
believer that abortion is healthcare, as well as possessing
a strong belief that the right to a woman’s bodily autonomy is sacred and should only decided by her. My moral compass tells me that in the event that
someone I know needed that specific procedure, I would do anything in my power to assist them; from researching the closest facilities, scheduling appointments, and even drive out of state for the procedure if she felt as though she could not care for that child. I think my strong belief in what is morally right to me may make it difficult to empathize with people whose beliefs differ from mine. “
Free will vs. Determinism (fate)”
I chose 1 as my rating for this comparison because I simply do not believe in fate, we make our own luck in life. I am not a very religious person, but if there is a God, they gave us the power of free will and to become whoever we want to be. I would like to clarify, that inequity in socioeconomic situations are a completely different circumstance. I understand that what you experience as a child can heavily impact many aspects in the future such as poverty, education/intelligence, and exposure to
drugs and alcohol or violence. However my mother was born into extreme poverty and she was able to escape that cycle somehow. I think that dealing with clients that deeply believe in fate or determinism will be a bit difficult for me, because I have the mentality that life is all about choices, and those choices decide our fate rather than some predetermined destiny.
“Self-determinism (autonomy) vs. paternalism (doing what you think is best for another)”
I gave myself a 1 in this category as well, because I think that autonomy is one of the most important things a person has now. For centuries and even today marginalized groups such as women, persons of color, and members of the LGBTQ community have not experienced autonomy. Someone is always telling these groups of people that they are somehow worth less than a straight white male and historically that is what has happened. Only in recent years have these people gained the same rights and protection they deserve. I think my opinion on this topic
has two repercussions in the future; I will be more empathetic to marginalized populations who I view as deserving of my assistance, and less understanding of those that have not experienced some sort of discrimination due to who they are fundamentally as a human being. I will have to check myself when dealing with the latter as clients, as everyone deserves a social worker’s best practices and resources even if I don’t think that they have had a difficult enough life to be complaining. “Individual rights vs. social responsibility (community good)”
I rated myself in the middle, at a 5 for this category, I am truly torn. While I strongly believe in autonomy and individual rights, I do see the necessity for social responsibility. Humans are social creatures which is why we have societies to begin with. We need to be able to lean on each other in times of need, but without telling anyone what they have the right to do so long as it does not cause physical or financial harm to another’s person or property. I think that my centralized view of this category will help me understand my clients, as I can see both sides of the coin.
Without a community involved there would be no individual rights and vice a versa.
“
Voice: rights, privacy, non-interference (male) vs. relationships and connections to others (female)”
I gave myself a 5 in this continua as well due to the conflict I see in different situations. Everyone has the right to privacy and rights, but without relationships and some type of connection with other people most individuals would literally go crazy. For instance, privacy in ones own home is critical for “recharging”. However if
a child shows up to school in tattered clothing, has bruises, and/or says that they only eat when they are at school, non-interference is no longer an option as someone needs to have a conversation with the child’s parent(s) or caregiver. As a social worker I will highly value privacy, as this is essential to developing a rapport with the client. But if they disclose that they are going to harm themselves or another person it would be my responsibility to report that.
“
Always telling the truth regardless of consequences vs. it is better to lie if the truth
causes more harm than good”
While in professional settings I can’t think of a time where a lie is better than
the truth. The truth may be painful and difficult to accept sometimes but is necessary for growth and developing into an honest and decent human being. It is not necessary to be hurtful or rude when telling someone the truth, there is always a respectful and sincere way to disclose honest
thoughts and opinions as adults. However in my personal life I feel a bit different. My 8-year-old goddaughter’s father, Brian, died when she was 5 and it has been incredibly difficult. I did not like her father one bit, he was an
abusive drunk that only caused problems on the rare occasion that he was around. I will never tell her that. I don’t know what the afterlife holds for any of us, but I have told her on numerous occasions that I agree with her, Brian is looking down on her from heaven. I fully intend on lying to my children about Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and the Easter bunny so that they can have a spark of magic in their childhood as that was very important to me in my own childhood. When my friend dyed her hair for the 3
rd
time in one month and asked me what I thought of her green hair, I lied and told her that
I thought it looked good on her even though I absolutely did not like it at all. If it makes her happy, my opinion is irrelevant. As a social worker I never intend on lying to my clients, and I would never want someone to lie to me in
a professional setting. This will help generate trust with my clients so that they may feel more comfortable opening up to me about sensitive or embarrassing topics.
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Skepticism
Using what you have learned from this week’s assigned readings, the video lecture, and the Voices From the Field video, describe how you believe it will be helpful for you to have a skeptical point of view as you practice social work. Provide an example or two.
Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice
Consider the roles of universalism and cultural relativism in regard to cultural
competency in social work practice as you review:
Healy, L. M. (2007).
Universalism and cultural relativism in social work ethics
. International Social Work, 50 (1), 11-26.
Choose
one
of the NASW Cultural Competence standards for social work practice that are listed below.
1) Ethics & values
2) Self-awareness
3) Cross-cultural knowledge
4) Cross-cultural skills
5) Service delivery
6) Empowerment & advocacy
7) Diverse workforce
8) Professional education
9) Language & communication
10) Leadership to advance cultural competence
Apply the below questions to your chosen Cultural Competence standard
in the context of the case of Mrs. Nguyen:
1) Summarize what the standard is about.
2) What does the standard require of the social worker?
3) Evaluate the case of Mrs. Nguyen according to the requirement(s) of your standard.
4) Provide a summary of your assessment as to how well the social worker in
the case vignette followed the standard.
5) If you were to address Mrs. Nguyen’s case, what, if anything, would you do
differently to better follow the standard?
Paternalism and Autonomy (Self-
Determination)
Murdach (2011) makes several observations about self-determination as the focus of social work. One key factor she emphasizes is that the social worker’s duty to honor client self-determination is one factor that sets the social work profession apart from all others. In fact, it is a social worker’s duty to assist clients with finding resources that will enable them, as long as they are not endangering themselves or others, to actualize their autonomy. Murdach states that self-determination has been linked with power (i.e., control) and that self-determination and empowerment may be the same thing. She also asserts, based on evidence from the history of the social work
profession, that evidence-based practice (i.e., scientifically based, empirically driven practice) is ostensibly taking the place of self-
determination as the focus of the social work profession.
1. Decide which
one
of these big ideas you will tackle in this Module's Reflection Corner:
o
Self-determination is connected to power in social work practice
o
Self-determination and empowerment are equivalent in social work practice
o
Evidence-based practice is taking the place of self-determination as the focus of the social work profession
2. Then, using your access to the UK libraries, please
examine the scholarly literature
and locate at least one scholarly article that supports your chosen big idea.
3. Once you have located the article(s) in support of your chosen big idea, please carefully read it/them and extract the information that supports your chosen big idea. In your Reflection Corner for this Module, please include the below information:
Briefly summarize the information in the article(s).
Identify how the duty to honor self-determination/autonomy differentiates social work from other professions with which social workers often collaborate. These professions include, but are not limited to, medicine, nursing, law (i.e., attorneys), law enforcement, and parole and probation officers.
Evaluate the utility of self-determination in social work practice by addressing this question, based on your informed opinion: Why has the
social work profession adopted the duty to promote autonomy/self-
determination as a cornerstone of professional practice instead of assuming a paternalistic orientation?
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o
Please provide correct, full APA references for any articles you address within your Reflection Corner entry.