More on my evolution as a Social Woker in developing and practicing ethics and values in my commuity

The education process, though a great personal challenge for me, expanded my thought process to cross boundaries of exploration never before ventured to by members of my family and some of my colleagues. In the world of academia, I found inspiration to step beyond the limits of family obligations into an acceptance of social responsibility to improve and contribute to systems affecting the future of our children. In most of years of my education, I lacked a vital confidence that would support true autonomy. By enlisting in the National Guard I found parental type guidance, an extended family network, and financial support that allowed me to break from the reliance on individual intimate relationships for my sense of security.
While this institutional structure was fortifying the formation of my ethical roots and overall served to boaster my confidence and self esteem, there were certain influences and structures that could have altered my present ethical outlook had I not been able to identify and filter through their effects. One example is that the structure teaches you to work as a team, and that above all else that you must rely on this team to protect and defend each other in times of danger. Built into this team are leaders who lead by example so that they prepare you to step in as a leader if the need be. At some point in my military experience I found myself under the leadership of an individual that I later realized to be immoral, corrupt, and racist. At the time I was blinded to this because of the false sense of security that harnessed my vulnerability. My connection to this person crossed beyond acceptable, and I was enlisted under his charge for his own agenda. The betrayal was in his use of this system that I had come to trust being used to camouflage his true agenda of selfish intent. While I look at this experience as potentially detrimental, I believe that my resiliency enabled me to process it as a life lesson which ,in turn, lead me to the conviction that I would never allow myself to be controlled in this way again. This experience inspired my passion for the ethical principle of assisting vulnerable persons in finding their own voice in self advocacy. Another negative influence that my husband and I both realized once we had completed our obligation to the military was that we as some point found ourselves absorbed into a flock mentality. This was apparent in our habit of “not wanting to stir the pot”, when something was said or done that did not mesh with our own beliefs or convictions. There were even times when we found ourselves saying and doing things that we knew to be wrong, but were more focused on be part of the accepted group rather then our on senses of morality. While this morality issue was more on the level of our personal lives I believe it could have carried over into the decisions we made as professional soldiers. The end of this military experience has probably led to the most focused mutual ethical principle that my husband and I wish to practice: Standing up and speaking out when we feel that unethical and immoral acts are being demonstrated in our home, work, community, and world. The broader concern for community and world have been a more recent developments in our personal ethics that has come as a result of acting on our ideals rather then just philosophizing about them.
Probably my most significant work related ethical dilemma that encompasses several of my ethical believes and values was the situation which has led me to bring home an emancipated foster youth as a member of my family. I had known this young man since age six, but was disconnected for about ten years. We were reconnected because he was served by my program. I was never the direct Social Worker, but provided intense case management when needed. Through this process we began to bond. I also helped discover and reconnect this youth to biological family whom he is connected to, but does not desire to return home to them. In the process of helping this youth discover permanent connections which he felt he could turn to for support after emancipation; he identified me as someone he would want to adopt him. The ethical dilemma came in finding a way to honor this youth’s choice for permanency, something I had been preaching to him, without compromising agency protocol and boundaries. At the time I was considered the expert on finding permanency for youth transitioning from the system, because I had been to the trainings and bought the sales pitch that this was the future paradigm shift for the way were going to serve youth in care.
The other ethical dilemma being challenged was my belief that if we are talking the talk we should be able to walk the walk, and that this was most likely going to jeopardize my job. I handled the situation by approaching my administrators early on with scenarios of the potential outcomes, requests for guidance, and suggestions of how to make it feasible. The result was that the department was amenable and supported the long term plan. The flaw was that they did not include their chain of command, and agency liability took precedence to preserve appearances rather then taking steps to acknowledge the possibility that policy change could warrant actual desired outcome goals of target system changes and set in motion the actual paradigm shift. The positive is that I walked the talk, made sacrifices to do it, and have made a difference in at least one life and will continue to advocate for the change! The negative is that I no longer have my dream job, and that it is clear the system will take longer to change. The one thing that I might have done differently would be to ensure that information and necessary evidence met the approval of all appropriate parties of power. My mission is to ensure that the event is not forgotten and continue to remind my coworkers as individuals we can be facilitators of change. Hold the agency responsible to back its claims and actually acknowledge and advocate for the vulnerable individuals to have a voice in their choices is walking the walk.
As I come to a close in reviewing my continuously evolving ethics and values I would like to reflect on one of my principal ethical practices; this is my conviction to ensure that I advocated for others to be allowed a sense of dignity and understanding regardless of their functional abilities in society. I know that this practice has stemmed from years of living with a mother with mental health issues. Most of my family has been unable to accept her for her differences and I admit that it has taken time for me to do so too. However, as I have grown into a professional social Worker, my experiences in working with similar clients has given me the insight that I can be of the most assistance when I am able to treat my clients and my mother with the dignity and respect that I would want for my self. This has crossed over into my practice of professional social work in that I strive to acknowledge my clients have their own needs for respectful, humane, and dignified treatment and that I am charged with discovering away to show them that I honor this.