Human services workers must make difficult decisions, sometimes quickly, and sometimes without support or resources. It is helpful to have a model of decision making that you practice many times so that you can feel more confident about making decisions on your own.

The ETHICS decision-making model includes the following steps:

E: Evaluate and define the problem. Examine relevant personal, societal, agency, client, and professional values. Gather information from all possible sources.

T: Think about which ethical standard applies, as well as relevant laws and agency rules. Brainstorm possible actions and decisions.

H: Hypothesize about the possible consequences of different actions.

I: Identify who will benefit and who will be harmed.

C: Consult with supervisor and colleagues about the most ethical choice.

S: Select an action. Implement the action. (Ling & Hauck, 2016)

After the action has been implemented, an important final step is to evaluate the action. Who has been harmed? Who has benefitted? Did you gain any additional information that you wish you had known earlier? All of these questions will help you to evaluate the decision and inform your practice for the next time that you face a dilemma.

Activity: Ethical Dilemmas

As a human services worker, you are likely to face an ethical dilemma, a situation where there is not a clear answer right away, or when you are forced to choose between two or more decisions. Each choice might bring undesirable outcomes for one or more persons (Dolgoff et al., 2009).

For each dilemma outlined below:

1. Identify the standards that you would consider using to solve this dilemma.
2. Select the primary standard(s) from that group that speak most directly to this dilemma.
3. Make a note of all groups, both those you considered and those you ended up selecting.
4. Follow the steps of ETHICS and describe what you would do at each step and why.
5. What questions do you still have about the ethical dilemma?
6. What systemic barriers impact the ethical dilemma? How would your intersectional identities in the world influence how you relate to the experience of the clients described in the dilemmas?

Dilemma One: Fundraising

You work for an agency that serves middle school- and high school-aged youth. About one-third of the youth identify somewhere in the LGBTQAI+ community, and the agency hosts a regular support group for these youth.

It’s time for the annual fundraiser, and your employer asks you to downplay any mention of the LGBTQAI+ support because some of the big funders are opposed to supporting people with this social identity. Another important factor is that you share an identity with the students you serve, so some of your own personal feelings are coming up as well.

Dilemma Two: Pediatric Surgery

You work as a peer support provider at a children’s hospital, and you are present to help parents during complicated medical decisions. A surgeon at the children’s hospital strongly recommends that a child have life-saving surgery. The parents of the child refuse to consent to the surgery due to their fears of the medical system, as they do not understand the medical system in this country. The surgeon asks you to convince the parents to agree to let her operate regardless of the parent’s concerns, saying it is your job to “explain it so they will say yes.”

Another factor to consider is that the parents’ first language is not English. You are the only one who has been able to give them information in their language, as it is challenging to find interpreters for the language they speak. (Reminder: an interpreter mediates language using oral means, while translators use written means.) It would be helpful if you were better versed in medical terminology, as you have been in this position for only four months, come from law-focused interpretation training, and are still learning about the medical system.

Dilemma Three: Work Expectations

You are a volunteer youth appointment court advocate. A teen on your caseload calls you for help at a scheduled court hearing that has unexpectedly been moved up an hour. You had promised your employer that you would stay in the office to answer phones while the administrative assistant is at lunch.

This court hearing is essential, as the youth you are supporting has been making significant gains toward independence since the last court hearing. You are the only person with all the reports and updates from her therapist, teachers, and supervisor at work, which you are supposed to submit to the judge. The judge has made it clear that she needs to show responsibility, as emancipation would be the best option, rather than reunification with her parents.

You are unsure how to navigate your responsibilities with both your paid work and the commitment you made to your client as a court appointment advocate. Your supervisor is not very supportive of your volunteer time as an advocate for youth, but they cannot stop you as long as it does not interfere with your paid work duties.

Licenses and Attributions

“Which Code of Ethics Will You Use?” by Elizabeth B. Pearce is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Revised by Martha Ochoa-Leyva.