Ethical Model Paper: The Ethical Dilemma is “The Rights of the Child vs the Obligation of Society.”
The objective of this assignment is to provide a framework through which you can demonstrate your ability to utilize a process for structuring, defining, and making ethical decisions in social work. This model can be applied to an ethical dilemma at the macro, organizational or direct practice levels. An important emphasis in the paper is on the methodology, that is, how you arrived at your ethical choice–the ethical solution to the issue/problem selected. This includes logical analysis, self-awareness, and clarity of the reflective process. Each step is essential to the process, builds on the previous step, and moves toward a solution and implementation plan. The justification, or set of reasons/arguments for the ethical position taken, should be clearly stated.
The Ethical Model Paper is submitted in four parts, Ethical Dilemma, Literature Review and Research, Value/Bias Reflection, and Decision/Implementation as follows:
Part 1: This section describes the professional practice issue and agency setting and clarifies the ethical dilemma that is being processed. It provides the framework for the rest of the paper. While brief, it is an important part of the paper related to deciding what you are writing about and how you are framing the dilemma.
Part 2: This section covers includes a thorough review of the literature and looks at both sides of the issue. It addresses the literature, ethical theory, laws, policies, and NASW standards. It is the scholarly and theoretical section of the paper and involves extensive review of the literature related to your topic.
Part 3: This section allows for the opportunity to reflect on values, including personal, organizational, and client values. It also prompts for the reflection on your biases that could be influencing the decision-making process. It culminates in the development of a values hierarchy. It is the reflection section of the paper.
Part 4: This section requires the generation of a minimum of two possible alternative solutions to the dilemma. You then pick a solution and provide a justification of the decision using what you have previously written. This is the practical application section of the paper, where you apply theory and the literature to your explanation of how you would resolve the issue. It culminates with a discussion of how the decision would be implemented using generalist practice skills while also discussing risk management.
This discussion allows you to demonstrate how you would put your decision into action. Part 4 should be submitted as a whole paper, beginning with parts 1, 2, and 3.
