S W 334 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ethical Decision, Relativism, Decision-Making
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What is an ethical dilemma: a problematic situation for which there is no perfect solution. Ethical absolutism: decision making is not necessary because the answer should be clear to you, the assumption is that there is only one correct way of doing things. Weigh the pros and cons of each alternative. Ranking ethical principles: determine that an ethical dilemma actually exists, clarify scope and magnitude of problem, determine ethical principles in conflict. Identify ways to resolve the dilemma: assess the impact of each alternative on resolving the dilemma. Identify which alternative is most likely to succeed in resolving the dilemma: take the most appropriate course of action, rea(cid:373)er"s guide to ethi(cid:272)al de(cid:272)isio(cid:374) (cid:373)aki(cid:374)g, dolgoff, harri(cid:374)gto(cid:374), a(cid:374)d lo(cid:449)e(cid:374)(cid:271)erg"s (cid:862)ethi(cid:272)al pri(cid:374)(cid:272)iples (cid:272)ree(cid:374)(cid:863) Ethical dilemmas in macro contexts: distributed of limited resources, community support (or lack thereof) for service provision, relationships with colleagues, conforming to agency policy, breaching confidentiality in a macro context, (cid:862)(cid:272)ultural e(cid:374)(cid:272)apsulatio(cid:374)(cid:863)
