Social Science homework help. HSM Discussion Board and examples
Briefly summarize the five human services values presented in this week’s readings. Then describe a situation in which you would have difficulty using one of those values as a guiding principle for your actions. Why is the human services value you selected difficult to practice? Propose solutions that address these difficulties.
Example 1:
Class,
In our textbook Woodside and McClam (2019) describe the 5 values important to the practice of human services. They are:
- Acceptance: the ability of the helper to be receptive regardless of behavior or dress.
- Tolerance: ability of the helper to be fair and patient toward each client, and not to judge, blame, or punish for prior behaviors.
- Individuality: Recognizing and treating each person individually and not based off of stereotypes such as lifestyle, problems, assets, and previous life experiences.
- Self-determination: Allows the client to make up their own mind when it comes to decision-making and actions to be taken.
- Confidentiality: Helper will not discuss client’s cases with others, nor will they use what they discuss with clients as conversation fodder with friends and family.
I would have a hard time exercising tolerance if my client was a repeat offender for domestic and/ or child abuse. It would be very difficult not to judge that behavior or to want to help that client. I would feel torn between wanting to get them the help they needed in order to hopefully stop the cycle of violence, but in my heart I would want to be helping ensure the child or domestic partner was out of that situation and never had to see my client again, unless they chose to. On the flip side, if my client was the abuse victim and continuously kept an abuser in their life, and those of their children, it would be equally difficult to be tolerant of that behavior. I would definitely feel the urge to throw the value of self-determination out the window as well and make decisions for my client…which I know is not an option.
Tolerance can be hard to practice when other’s actions go against your own moral and ethical values. You pretty much need to shut your own emotions up in a box and try and connect people to services no matter what. I think with proper training and confidence in the services you are providing, one can practice the 5 values. If I come to believe in a program that I think may help an abuser learn to reverse their behavior in future, maybe I would have more tolerance when working with them.
Woodside, M., & McClam, T. (2019). An introduction to human services (9th ed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage.
Example 2:
Hi everyone,
The follow are the top five human service values discussed in our book, Introduction to Human Services (Woodside & McClam, 2019)
- Acceptance is the ability of the helper to be receptive to another person regardless of dress or behavior
- Tolerance is the helper’s ability to be patient and fair toward each client rather than judging, blaming, or punishing the client for prior behavior.
- Individuality is expressed in the qualities or characteristics that make each person unique, distinctive from all other people.
- Self-determination is allowing the client to decide for themselves on a course of action or resolution to a problem.
- Confidentiality is the helper’s assurance to clients that helper will not discuss their case with another person and that what they discuss between them will not be subject of conversation with helper’s friends, family, or other clients.
Personally, I find self-determination to be an area where I feel that I would struggle the most. Just by looking introspectively at my role as a mom, I always want to help solve my children’s issues. When dealing with my teenager, there are times I find myself solving issues for her, when in reality it is my job to help guide her to solve her issues. I have even found myself doing the same with my toddler – his concerns are much less complex of course, but nonetheless; I find myself not allowing him to figure things our for himself. The book best summarized my dilemma when it comes to helping “human service professionals must remember that clients are responsible for themselves and make their own decisions. Giving advice or telling someone what do does not encourage responsibility or promote self-help…” (Woodside & McClam, 2019) Solution? I need to learn to step back. Promoting self help is an opportunity to allow people to grow and see what they capable of doing. By taking over other peoples problems (my children in this case) I am stunting their growth and ability to learn.
References
Woodside, M., & McClam, T. (2019). Introduction To Human Services. Boston MA: Cenagage Learning.
Example 3:
Hi Class,
According to the text, Woodside & McClam (2019), confidentiality, acceptance, individualism, self-determination and tolerance are the five human services values. Confidentiality refers to maintaining respect with our clients and their privacy. Acceptance refers to accepting them for human beings, without judgement or discrimination. Individualism, along the same lines, allows the human services professional to view each client as an individual with individual scenarios, without being compared to another. Self-determination offers the guidance to help the client help themselves and work toward a client who can self-maintain eventually. And tolerance is the ability to remain patient and allow the client to progress in their own way in their own time.
For me, tolerance would be the most difficult thing. I have no problem accepting people for who they are, what they’ve done, each individuals scenario or how they perceived what happened to them and how it’s affecting them. What has been hard in my life is allowing others to find their own path in their own time. I want everyone to listen to the way I did it, or what I learned from my experience. And, while this may offer some guidance, it will not help most people because it was how I helped myself with my own particular situation. Even I won’t listen to anyone’s advice, I always have to find things out on my own so I should know better. For example, I was 4 years old and there was a hot iron on the table and my mom told me not to touch it, but I didn’t want to take her word, I had to touch it and find out for myself. Tolerance might be the most difficult because once we find out what helps someone, we want that solution to help everyone and with human services this can’t always be true.
Woodside, M.R., and McClam, T. (2019). An introduction to human services. (9th ed). Boston MA: Cengage Learning.
Example 4:
Hi everyone,
Five widely recognized human services values include acceptance, tolerance, individuality, self-determination, and confidentiality.
Acceptance is the ability of the helper to be receptive of clients regardless of behavior, dress, or characteristics and appreciating their culture and family background.
Tolerance is the helpers ability to be fair towards clients, taking a non-judgmental stance, and not blaming or punishing the client for prior behavior.
Individuality is the helpers ability to recognize differences between everyone and honor the fact that everyone experiences life differently and comes from different circumstances, it is treating clients personally and not generalizing treatment or opinions.
Self-determination is allowing clients to make their own decisions about their treatment, goals, and overall life direction, even if it differs from what the helper would choose.
Confidentiality is not sharing personal information about a client without permission. This includes family and friends. The only exceptions would be to discuss the case with a supervisor in circumstances of absolute necessity for the best interest of the client, or if the client reports plan to hurt themselves or others, or in circumstances of child abuse.
(Woodside & McClam, 2019)
Most of these values are also core values for me personally, though in certain circumstances a few of the values would be difficult to uphold. For example, in the case of domestic abuse if the client is reluctant to leave abuse, it would make the values of self-determination and confidentiality challenging. I would not want to see the client continue to be hurt or see them return to dangerous situations. However, I do understand that everyone facing abuse also faces immense obstacles that must be overcome to escape safely. I also understand if a client does not fully comprehend or accept that abuse is taking place themselves, even if they leave, they are likely to return; so, it would not be in the clients best interest to break confidentiality and/or self-determination values to attempt to force the client away from the abuser. This could also cause the client to lose trust in the helper and prevent the ability to offer further support. A dissertation by Jennifer F. Wiech of Smith College completed a study on social worker’s feelings when faced with the challenge of domestic violence, the study found ” the social work value of upholding a client’s right to self-determination can be challenged in a variety of ways while working with women and families experiencing domestic violence” (Wiech, 2009, p. 53).
Potential solutions to address these difficulties include providing resources and information about abuse and services available to the client then simply asking them to consider what is presented. Also, creating a safety plan with the client that fits their emotional and physical needs will give the client control while also stimulating insight and safety. The dissertation by Jennifer Wiech concluded with multiple social services groups arguing for social workers to encourage their clients to make the call to authorities with the support of the clinician, and mentioned research that noted how this process of intervening is paramount to empowering clients and addressing the tensions between honoring self-determination and adhering to ethics and laws (Wiech, 2009). Including the client in plans regarding domestic abuse is necessary not only to maintain an active relationship with the client, but also for the overall safety of the client.
References
Wiech, J.F. (2009). How social workers resolve the ethical dilemmas that arise when working with women experiencing domestic violence. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.smith.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2236&context=theses (Links to an external site.)
Woodside, M.R., and McClam, T. (2019). An introduction to human services. (9th ed). Boston MA: Cengage Learning.
