Human Services Professional Faces Many Opportunities Throughout

¶ … human services professional faces many opportunities throughout his or her professional career. Opportunities to be a resource to help others grow, help organizations succeed and to act as a catalyst for positive change in the life of another abound. Human services professionals make decisions that will change the lives of those individuals they serve. Working with people is both an art and a science. Success can sometimes be attributed more to "having a hunch" than going solely by the book. There are many instances where professionals must use good judgment to make the right decision. However, "good" and "right" are subjective; difficulty arises when the possible best course of action causes may test the ethical code.

In my example, I will provide an analysis and a course of action to resolve ethical conflicts surrounding domestic abuse. Sadly, domestic abuse is a prevalent issue in society. The issues in the life of someone being abused is magnified by the abuse or the can be abuse is a symptom of a larger issue. While the presenting issue may be domestic abuse, there could be a staggering amount of other issues also present. Dealing with domestic abuse cases can be very difficult for even the most experienced among us. The physical, mental and emotional toll can be enormous. For example, an exceptionally challenging issue that a human services worker may be faced with is a mother who is being abused by her live-in boyfriend and who refuses to leave him or seek long-term help. The mother indicated that her 3 young children are witness to the abuse she endures and that oldest child actually ran away because of the abuse at one time. Despite this, she contends that she doesn't want anyone to know about the abuse because she feels embarrassed and ashamed. Ethically, my obligation is to treat my clients with respect, acceptance and dignity, to ensure their privacy and confidentiality. But what if ensuring my clients privacy and request not to tell anyone about her abuse is putting helpless minors in an adverse situation? This is a great ethical conflict, to resolve this dilemma I would assess the needs, evaluate alternatives

Assess Needs

Determine who is important in this case, who will be negatively affected due to inaction or a poor plan of action? What about the needs of the client? What about the needs of the children? Children who witness domestic violence are likely to develop depression, anxiety and temperament issues. Repeated exposure to domestic abuse is often overlooked and too often falls through the cracks of the social service system. According to the American Psychological Association, abusers are psychologically maltreating children by exposing them to domestic violence

Evaluate Alternatives and their Consequences