Running head: Moral Reasoning Values Paper

Moral Values Reasoning Paper

Katie Brogan
Wayne State University, SW 3410

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

Moral reasoning is what an individual thinks is the morally correct action in a

given context. Moral decisions are affected by biological, psychological, social and spiritual
factors. Moral decision are not necessarily ethical or legal, they are what the person views as
morally correct. A biological factor that affects a moral decision is a womans ability to have a
baby. Morally she could view that her need, desire and inability to have a baby could make it
morally correct to kidnap a baby that is being abused by the babys biological mother, raising the
baby as her own. Ethically it is wrong to kidnap a baby, morally the woman sees what she is
doing is correct, fulfilling her need to be a mother along with rescuing a baby from abuse. A
psychological factor that affects a moral decision is suicidal thoughts caused by depression.
Morally a person that is depressed could morally justify committing suicide and taking another
persons life at the same time. The depressed person could view that life is so terrible that it
would be better to die than live and think that they are doing the other person a favor. Ethically
it is wrong to kill another person, but the psychological state of a person could morally justify the
action in their own mind. A social factor that can effect moral decision is a family that the oldest
child in a family is responsible for punishing younger siblings for misbehaving. The oldest child
has learned that it is his responsibility to ensure that his siblings behave and to use physical
punishment to ensure compliance. He has learned this from the community he lives in where
this is done in every household he knows. Ethically it is wrong for the oldest child of a family to
use physical punishment to inflict pain upon siblings for misbehaving, but morally the boy
justifies his actions by the acceptance of his actions within the community he lives in. A spiritual
factor that can effect a persons moral decisions is the believing in God, a person can believe that
God will protect them so much that they refuse to give their diabetic child the insulin they

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

desperately need. The family believes that the child will be fine, that their faith will prevent
harm from happening to their child. Ethically it is unacceptable to put a childs life in danger by
not providing the needed medical intervention that would keep the child alive. By not providing
the needed insulin the child is being put in danger.
Moral decisions change over time as a person progresses from childhood throughout
adulthood. According to Kohlberg individuals will progress through three levels of moral
development. (Barsky, 2010) The first stage that an individual will enter is preconventional
reasoning stage. The preconventional reasoning stage is when individuals are egocentric and
focus on obedience and consequences. This first stage is most commonly found in children as
they make decisions based on authority and the consequences associated with a decision. This
stage an individual will view dilemmas strictly by the consequences associated with no
exceptions to the rules. The second stage is conventional reasoning; this stage is when people
make choices based on how other view them, or what society thinks they should do. This stage
in generally reached by adolescence and is the stage that most people will remain in for the rest
of their life. In this stage individuals continue to follow societys rules but not just because
society says to. People in this stage understand the reasons behind the making of rules and laws
and what to conform to those laws to ensure social order. The final stage, stage three is
postconventional reasoning. Postconventional reasoning is marked by individuals thinking of
others and society in their decision making. This final stage individuals do just not accept laws
or rules but critique these laws, and how these laws effect themselves, others, and society.
Individuals in this stage that do disagree with laws that they view do not promote goodwill will
stand up to legislatures and work for better and improved laws.

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

In social work practice it is essential for a social worker to know the difference of their
ethical obligations to clients along with how and why clients make moral decisions. Social
workers on bound to a professional code of ethics this professional code guides social workers in
ethical decision making. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) focuses on 6 core
values; these values are service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of
human relationships, integrity, and competence. (Workers, 2014) Social workers must follow the
NASW code of ethics when helping clients making moral decisions. According to standard 1.01
a social workers primary responsibility is to promote clients well-being making in general the
clients interests primary. This standard helps guide a social worker focusing on the client and
what the client wants to focus on, but also states that a social worker must also be concerned
with the larger society. When working with a client it is important to remember that the client is
the expert on their life. A social workers goal is to help the client with their clients moral
decision making as it fits into the context of the clients life. It is important for a social worker to
know what their moral reasoning in a situation is to avoid transference of the social workers
moral reasoning onto the client. Standard 1.02 focuses on self-determination, allowing the
clients to decide their own goals. Moral decisions will impact what goals a client wants to work
for. For example a 5 year old might want to focus on making a friend while a 50 year old wants
to focus on meeting a mate, retirement, church, and equal gender roles in her community. The
stage of their moral development has effected what the two want to work on. A social worker
needs to use the code of ethics to promote the clients self-determination without imposing the
social workers views. Standard 1.05 focuses on cultural competence and social diversity. In
order to understand an individuals moral decision it is imperative for a social worker to be
culturally competent and socially diverse. Moral decisions are learned through out a persons life

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

and the culture and society they live in will affect their moral reasoning. A social worker needs
to remember that no 2 lives are identical, just like a finger print everyone has a different life that
effects their moral decision making.
When working with clients that want to make decisions that go against my moral decision
making I would ensure that I knew that their decision is against my morals not my code of ethics.
My code of ethics supersedes my morals in my professional career. While working with clients
it is important to separate the morals of my personal life with the ethics of my professional
career. According to standard 1.01 social workers must have a commitment to their clients, this
commitment includes promoting the well-being of a client within their life, promoting an
individual to live a healthy life within their community.
Social workers must adhere to standard 1.07 of privacy and confidentiality in order to not
only follow the social work code of ethics but to also foster an environment that allows clients to
trust the social worker, disclosing information that helps that client but would be detrimental to
the client and the social workers profession career if it were disclosed inappropriately. When a
client comes to a social worker to discuss their life they deserve respect. When clients are
disclosing information they may feel vulnerable, making the establishment of clear boundaries
very important. Standard 1.06 conflicts of interest, standard 1.09 sexual relationships, standard
1.10 physical contact, and standard 1.11 sexual harassment all involve boundaries with clients.
Social workers need to always be cognizant of boundaries with clients; it is up to the social
worker not client to ensure boundaries are not crossed. When clients disclose person information
they may become attached to the social worker who they are confiding in. Clients will be more
likely to view their social worker as someone in power and might try to cross boundaries; the

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

social worker must know this and keep a professional relationship during and after the
professional relationship.
A social worker must also respect that some clients are receiving services involuntary. It
is important to recognize the situation with the client, explaining the rights along with privacy
and confidentiality standard 1.07. Involuntary clients have a different degree of privacy and
confidentiality as the social worker will be required to report certain information to the legal
system.
While working within as a professional social worker it is essential to follow standard
3.01, supervision and consultation with fellow colleagues. Colleagues and supervisors should
work together to promote each other to continuously improve and see things in a different way.
Along with supervision and consultation a social worker must remain competent though standard
3.02, education and training. Social workers must stay abreast to new research and policies that
impact their practice, and be willing to change as new methods come out that will benefit the
client more. When an agency promotes what is not best for the client it is up to the social worker
to stand up against a colleague, agency, or even policy. A social worker working within a field
can have firsthand knowledge that should be used to alter policies that are detrimental to clients.
When a social worker believes that one of their colleagues is not acting with integrity of the
profession standard 5.01, the social worker should act. A social worker that does nothing is just
as guilty of violating ethical standards that the colleague that is committing the ethical violations.
A social worker should respect their colleague following standard 2.01 and talk with their
colleague about the indiscretion, if nothing changes the social worker is obligated to talk to a
supervisor. Depending on the indiscretion the social worker might need to go straight to the
supervisor with the findings. If a colleague was practicing impaired they would be violating

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

standard 4.05 involving impairment. For a social worker to be able to service clients to the best
of their ability they need to be psychologically adjusted and be suffering with a drug or alcohol
abuse problem. When a social worker is practicing impaired a colleague or supervisor needs to
step in and help the social worker not only with their addiction but also with their case load to
ensure not only the social worker improves but also clients are not affected from the impairment.
When working it is essential for a social worker have a commitment to the employer they
are working for, standard 3.09. When deciding to leave an agency the social worker must
explain to the new employer that a notice must be given to the current agency to be able to
transition the social workers clients to a new worker. The new employer should respect the
decision to delay new employment to ensure the current agency can make arrangements for the
social workers case load. It would be unethical to leave without ensuring the current caseload
was transferred to a new worker successfully.
When a social worker enters an agency they have to be willing to put their personal moral
values a side to be able to work with clients from different stages in life, from different back
grounds, and with different morals. Boundaries need to be set that allow the client to talk
without feeling ashamed, embarrassed, or threatened because they have different morals. Having
different morals is not a bad thing, one persons morals are not better than another. When
working with clients a social worker needs to know what their moral view is to be able to not let
it interfere with their ethical responsibility to the client.

Moral Reasoning Values Paper

Bibliography
Barsky, A. E. (2010). Ethics and Values in Social Work. Oxford University Press.
Workers, N. A. (2014). National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from
http://socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp