Ethics and Values:
Values are not demonstrated by what someone claims to value, but rather how someone decides to live. If a government, community, organization or individual claims to value an idea or action but does not live as though it is something they deem significant, then it cannot be something they truly value. In Reflection #3 for HSP 440, Internship and Seminar II, I wrote, “In the United States we claim to value hard work and self-sufficiency and yet our systems are structured to reward complacency and keep individuals from striving towards independence. Our values do not align with our systems.” As I participate and join organizations and programs throughout my career, it is my goal to never participate in an agency that does not have systems and activities that support their values. This is an idea that influences my understanding of how systems should function and also my commitment to critical thinking and never falling into an idea or activity just because it is accepted. As I begin my journey as a human service professional this is something that I must remember. I can say one thing about how I might value social supports, or self-determination or loving even the hardest to love, but if I don’t actually live those values then they aren’t real and I should probably stop claiming them.
In my second quarter of the program in HSP 345, Case Management and Intervention, I began to ask several questions about how to reconcile my personal ethics and values with those required of a human service professional; at that time I didn’t think they totally aligned. I said this in my Reflection #1, “Since our discussion about ethics and values last week, I have been thinking a lot about how to reconcile my values with my future career as a human service professional. How do I act professionally in regards to ethics without allowing my personal value system to deteriorate? How do I allow the things that I stand for to maintain their value?” These questions were causing a lot of inner conflict before I realized that my core values and the core values of a human service professional are rooted in the same things: love. I also had this to say in Reflection #1, “[Summer (2009)] mentions that when human service professionals practice within the parameters of ethical principles, then the public can feel confident that their interests will be respected and protected. Becoming a human service professional is about so much more than my personal values. Behaving ethically is about the human service profession as a whole and how it is represented to the public, everyone else.” I was able to come to a place where I realized the value and purpose of human services ethics. They aim to look out for the good of the public. Isn’t that my aim also? Through this process of trying to, what felt to me at the time as, reconcile my values and ethics and those of a human service professional I demonstrated an understanding of The Council for Standards in Human Service Education (2009) National Standard #20 which states that, “the program shall provide experiences and support to enable students to develop awareness of their own values, personalities, reaction patterns, interpersonal styles, and limitations” (p. 9). In HSP 301, Personal Systems, I created a Who Am I PowerPoint that outlines my values. I hope to live out faith, relationships with my family and friends, enjoying life, optimism, hope and a positive attitude as characteristics that I truly value.
While I no longer see my personal values conflicting with human service values, I do have different personal values that I hold for my life than characteristics that I value for clients. As expressed in my Reflection Paper for HSP 345, Case Management and Interventions, I value empowerment and holding clients to expectations. Rather than giving a client a fix, empowerment equips the client to have the skills and resources necessary to create their own fix and solutions. An empowerment approach is more sustainable and more beneficial to the client, at least in the long run, even if it isn’t the easiest approach. CSHSE (2009) National Standard #19 states that, “the curriculum shall incorporate human services values and attitudes and promote understanding of human services ethics and their application in practice” (p. 9). Valuing empowerment for a client works alongside valuing self-determination for a client, that is, encouraging a client to determine for themselves what their needs and wants are. Empowerment enables clients to create their own solutions to these self-determined needs. I also value having expectations for clients. In my Reflection Paper for HSP 345, Case Management and Intervention, I expressed, “Expecting change and new behavior from people is one way of showing them that there is hope and that you believe in them.”
Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals are outlined. There are 37 outlined standards for ethics that address the human service professional’s responsibility to clients, the community and society, colleagues, the profession, employers and their self. In HSP 340, Practicum & Seminar I, we role-played and discussed various scenarios and what the most appropriate ethical response would be. Again, this addresses CSHSE (2009) National Standard #19 states that, “the curriculum shall incorporate human services values and attitudes and promote understanding of human services ethics and their application in practice” (p. 9). In HSP 345, Case Management and Interventions, for my Reflection Paper I wrote, “Human Services ethics are such that they should not interfere with personal morals or values. … ethical behavior is based on respecting ourselves and our clients.” In HSP 385, Applied Research Methods, I completed The National Institute of Health’s web-based training course, “Protecting Human Research Participants,” as demonstrated in Figure 1.1. This course highlights the proper ethical behaviors for conducting research involving human participants. Such content includes a timeline of events in the history of human research participants covering the syphilis study at Tuskegee, Nazi war crimes, and other human experiments. The three ethical principles include respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Another ethical responsibility of human service professionals that is not outlined in the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals is that of mandated reporting and being, as a human service professional, a mandated reporter. More than just being an ethical practice, it is required by law for human service professionals to report suspected issues of child abuse or neglect. Another significant ethical issue which is outlined in the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals is confidentiality. Confidentiality in regards to sharing client information with people who are not privy to such information, but also confidentiality in not sharing client information with others who may be connected to the client such as family members, case workers, or other service agencies. This is an ethical issue that arose several times during my internship with Love INC. Several times I spoke with women on the phone who emphasized their need for confidentiality because of domestic violence situations. It becomes my ethical responsibility to ensure not just their, but all clients, right to confidentiality for their own safety and their own rights. We took precautions at Love INC in regards to leaving messages and even in regards to sharing information with other social service providers. It is an ethical area, like most, where you cannot be too careful.
Summer, N. (2009). Fundamentals of case management practice: Skills for the human services
(3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson, Brooks/Cole.
In my second quarter of the program in HSP 345, Case Management and Intervention, I began to ask several questions about how to reconcile my personal ethics and values with those required of a human service professional; at that time I didn’t think they totally aligned. I said this in my Reflection #1, “Since our discussion about ethics and values last week, I have been thinking a lot about how to reconcile my values with my future career as a human service professional. How do I act professionally in regards to ethics without allowing my personal value system to deteriorate? How do I allow the things that I stand for to maintain their value?” These questions were causing a lot of inner conflict before I realized that my core values and the core values of a human service professional are rooted in the same things: love. I also had this to say in Reflection #1, “[Summer (2009)] mentions that when human service professionals practice within the parameters of ethical principles, then the public can feel confident that their interests will be respected and protected. Becoming a human service professional is about so much more than my personal values. Behaving ethically is about the human service profession as a whole and how it is represented to the public, everyone else.” I was able to come to a place where I realized the value and purpose of human services ethics. They aim to look out for the good of the public. Isn’t that my aim also? Through this process of trying to, what felt to me at the time as, reconcile my values and ethics and those of a human service professional I demonstrated an understanding of The Council for Standards in Human Service Education (2009) National Standard #20 which states that, “the program shall provide experiences and support to enable students to develop awareness of their own values, personalities, reaction patterns, interpersonal styles, and limitations” (p. 9). In HSP 301, Personal Systems, I created a Who Am I PowerPoint that outlines my values. I hope to live out faith, relationships with my family and friends, enjoying life, optimism, hope and a positive attitude as characteristics that I truly value.
While I no longer see my personal values conflicting with human service values, I do have different personal values that I hold for my life than characteristics that I value for clients. As expressed in my Reflection Paper for HSP 345, Case Management and Interventions, I value empowerment and holding clients to expectations. Rather than giving a client a fix, empowerment equips the client to have the skills and resources necessary to create their own fix and solutions. An empowerment approach is more sustainable and more beneficial to the client, at least in the long run, even if it isn’t the easiest approach. CSHSE (2009) National Standard #19 states that, “the curriculum shall incorporate human services values and attitudes and promote understanding of human services ethics and their application in practice” (p. 9). Valuing empowerment for a client works alongside valuing self-determination for a client, that is, encouraging a client to determine for themselves what their needs and wants are. Empowerment enables clients to create their own solutions to these self-determined needs. I also value having expectations for clients. In my Reflection Paper for HSP 345, Case Management and Intervention, I expressed, “Expecting change and new behavior from people is one way of showing them that there is hope and that you believe in them.”
Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals are outlined. There are 37 outlined standards for ethics that address the human service professional’s responsibility to clients, the community and society, colleagues, the profession, employers and their self. In HSP 340, Practicum & Seminar I, we role-played and discussed various scenarios and what the most appropriate ethical response would be. Again, this addresses CSHSE (2009) National Standard #19 states that, “the curriculum shall incorporate human services values and attitudes and promote understanding of human services ethics and their application in practice” (p. 9). In HSP 345, Case Management and Interventions, for my Reflection Paper I wrote, “Human Services ethics are such that they should not interfere with personal morals or values. … ethical behavior is based on respecting ourselves and our clients.” In HSP 385, Applied Research Methods, I completed The National Institute of Health’s web-based training course, “Protecting Human Research Participants,” as demonstrated in Figure 1.1. This course highlights the proper ethical behaviors for conducting research involving human participants. Such content includes a timeline of events in the history of human research participants covering the syphilis study at Tuskegee, Nazi war crimes, and other human experiments. The three ethical principles include respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Another ethical responsibility of human service professionals that is not outlined in the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals is that of mandated reporting and being, as a human service professional, a mandated reporter. More than just being an ethical practice, it is required by law for human service professionals to report suspected issues of child abuse or neglect. Another significant ethical issue which is outlined in the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals is confidentiality. Confidentiality in regards to sharing client information with people who are not privy to such information, but also confidentiality in not sharing client information with others who may be connected to the client such as family members, case workers, or other service agencies. This is an ethical issue that arose several times during my internship with Love INC. Several times I spoke with women on the phone who emphasized their need for confidentiality because of domestic violence situations. It becomes my ethical responsibility to ensure not just their, but all clients, right to confidentiality for their own safety and their own rights. We took precautions at Love INC in regards to leaving messages and even in regards to sharing information with other social service providers. It is an ethical area, like most, where you cannot be too careful.
Summer, N. (2009). Fundamentals of case management practice: Skills for the human services
(3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson, Brooks/Cole.
Figure 1.1 Certificate of Completion: "Protecting Human Subject Research Participants"
