No Gain, No Pain: Ethics and the Genomic Revolution

2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin T. Hall ◽  
Anna Scheyett ◽  
Kimberly Strom-Gottfried
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Prevention And Treatment ◽  
Genetics Knowledge ◽  
Genetic Science ◽  
Genetic Contributions ◽  
Genomic Revolution

The mapping of the human genome and scientific discoveries regarding genetic contributions to disease hold great promise for the prevention and treatment of an array of conditions. Social workers and other professionals must keep abreast of these developments and the ethical dimensions of such progress. Familiar ethical provisions such as confidentiality, informed consent, self-determination, and social justice take on new meaning in light of innovations in genetic science. This article reviews ethical issues and practice implications emerging from advances in genetics knowledge, and it suggests mechanisms for continuing professional development and involvement in this important area.

scholarly journals Candidate Genes and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Study of Human Disease

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Chanock
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Complex Trait ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Common Variants ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphism ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Genetic Contributions ◽  
Genomic Revolution

The genomic revolution has generated an extraordinary resource, the catalog of variation within the human genome, for investigating biological, evolutionary and medical questions. Together with new, more efficient platforms for high-throughput genotyping, it is possible to begin to dissect genetic contributions to complex trait diseases, specifically examining common variants, such as the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). At the same time, these tools will make it possible to identify determinants of disease with the expectation of eventually, tailoring therapies based upon specific profiles. However, a number of methodological, practical and ethical issues must be addressed before the analysis of genetic variation becomes a standard of clinical medicine. The currents of variation in human biology are reviewed here, with a specific emphasis on future challenges and directions.

Purchasing Power and Self-Determination: Social Worker Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bailey ◽  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Alankaar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Management Approaches

Abstract The international policy trend towards personalised budgets, which is designed to offer people with disabilities purchasing power to choose services that suit them, is exemplified in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This article examines how the ‘purchasing power’ afforded to service users through individualised budgets impacts on social work practice and the choice and self-determination of NDIS service users. Social workers’ views were sought on the alignment between the NDIS principles of choice and control and social work principles of participation and self-determination and how their social work practice has changed in order to facilitate client access to supports through NDIS budgets and meaningful participation in decision-making. A survey was completed by forty-five social workers, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The findings identify how social workers have responded to the shortfalls of the NDIS by the following: interpreting information for clients; assisting service users to navigate complex service provision systems; supporting clients through goal setting, decision-making and implementation of action plans; and adopting case management approaches. The incorporation of social work services into the NDIS service model is proposed in order to facilitate meaningful choice and self-determination associated with purchasing power.

Social work responses to terrorism: Balancing ethics and responsibility

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 822-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Sweifach ◽  
Heidi Heft LaPorte ◽  
Norman Linzer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Terrorist Attack

This article presents a qualitative study that examined how Israeli social workers contend with ethical issues regarding confidentiality and disclosure in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Respondents of this study shared examples from their own experiences of how ethical issues emerged as a result of confidentiality obligations.

Preamble, Purpose, and Ethical Principles Sections of the NASW Code of Ethics: A Preliminary Analysis

2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 578-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Woodcock
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
National Association ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Standards ◽  
Fourth Section

The first three, brief sections of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (1999) display striking inconsistency of content and uncertainty of purpose. The decision to incorporate those sections into a single code document along with the lengthy fourth section (Ethical Standards) appears to have contributed to their imperfection. The mission statement and the ethical principles, in particular, may develop better if they are divided into separate documents, each with its own distinct purpose. Such a development might help reduce the extent to which social workers must rely upon individualistic rather than shared wisdom in responding to common ethical issues.

Social Workers and Self-Determination

Social Work ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-287
Author(s):  
Corrine Muldoon McKinney
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Self Determination

scholarly journals What Social Workers Should Know About Ethics: Understanding and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

10.18060/124 ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine P. Congress
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Sexual Relationships ◽  
Dual Relationships ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

Recognizing ethical issues and dilemmas that arise in professional practice is crucial for social work practitioners, educators, and students. After a discussion about the limited, although growing, literature on social work ethics, the ten main tenets form the most current NASW Code of Ethics are presented. These topics include limits to confidentiality, confidentiality and technology, confidentiality in family and group work, managed care, cultural competence, dual relationships, sexual relationships, impairment and incompetence of colleagues, application to administrators and relevance to social work educators. In addition to understanding the Code of Ethics, social workers can use the ETHIC model of decision making for resolving ethical dilemmas. This easy to use five step process includes examining personal, agency, client, and professional values, thinking about ethical standards and relevant laws, hypothesizing about consequences, identifying the most vulnerable, and consulting with supervisors and colleagues. A case example involving confidentiality, HIV/AIDS and family therapy demonstrates how social workers can use the ETHIC model.

Around ethical dilemmas in the work of a family assistant

2021 ◽  
Vol 597 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-17
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Ciczkowska-Giedziun
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Right ◽  
Voluntary Cooperation

The purpose of the article is to describe selected ethical dilemmas in the work of a family assistant, based on the typology of ethical dilemmas of Frederic Reamer. In accordance with the typology adopted in the article, in the area of cooperation with families, ethical dilemmas regarding direct work with families, implementation of social assistance programs and relationship between representatives of the profession arise. The information presented in the text is based on publications, studies and reports on family assistantship. The first group of ethical dilemmas is revealed when constructing supportive and helping relationship between assistants and families. It refers to such areas as: voluntary cooperation, limits of cooperation, the right to self-determination or limits of responsibility. The second group of ethical dilemmas is related to the planning and implementation of various solutions in the field of social policy and also support and assistance programs offered to the family. The last group of ethical dilemmas results from a different understanding of family assistantship in the structures of the social assistance system. They are also revealed in the construction of relationships with social workers. The text also includes solutions how to cope with these dilemmas.

scholarly journals Relational Autonomy and Service Choices in Social Worker–Client Conversations in an Outpatient Clinic for People Using Drugs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsi Juhila ◽  
Johanna Ranta ◽  
Suvi Raitakari ◽  
Sarah Banks
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Outpatient Clinic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Relational Autonomy ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Ethical Point ◽  
Interactional Analysis

Abstract This article focuses on how clients’ self-determination is accomplished in social worker–client conversations when discussing choices of clients’ future services in a low-threshold outpatient clinic in Finland targeted at people who use drugs. Self-determination is approached from the point of view of relational autonomy, meaning that choices are never made completely independently but within certain societal and interactional contexts. The article applies interactional analysis to data from ten social worker–client conversations, which include forty-eight instances of ‘choice talk’. The results demonstrate how social workers work hard to promote clients’ self-determination, and how this is carried out with different emphases within the frame of relational autonomy. Social workers do not perform ethically questionable manipulation practices. Quite the reverse, their contributions in the conversations can be interpreted as endeavours to increase clients’ self-confidence and autonomy competencies. However, a concern from an ethical point of view is that real service options are rather scarce for the clinic’s clients. This considerably reduces the clients’ capacity for self-determination. Furthermore, it also reduces the autonomy of social workers, who have limited opportunities to organise the services their clients desire and that the social workers themselves consider are the best options.

scholarly journals Evolving Ethical Issues in Health and Mental Health

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (03) ◽  
pp. 121-130
Author(s):  
Shridhar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Health Care Institution ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Care Institution ◽  
Human Conduct ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACTEthics is the Science of morals in human conduct. However, ethics and morals are not same. The ethics is based on certain principles, which include 'Respect for Person and Justice'. This principle is not in total conformity with Hippocratic tradition, where Physician is given a 'Position of Paternalism'. The basic idea of 'justice' is that all human beings are equally valuable. Similarly, the principle of liberty is the right to self determination but what is the use of this right that can not be fulfilled. These basic principles are evolving and are constantly posing problems in every health care institution and are a challenge to every Physician.

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