Bshs 335 Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas

Case Study: Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas

Kristi Warner

BSHS/335

Tracy Mallett

8/15/2016

As a human service professional there are times one will have to deal with someone claiming that they have seen or heard about a child being abused. This can be a hard subject to get used to talking about, but it is very important to a counselor and a social worker as this subject comes up way to often. It is an even harder subject to talk about when the parents are divorced and something happens to the child under the care of the other parent and the one who does not have the child at the time claims the other parent was abusing the child. This is a here say argument and needs some proof to it. The child might feel torn between parents when this is going on and the parents do not get along. In the following paper I will explain a case study, answer the questions at the end of the study, explain the therapeutic approach I think would be best, and why I think that. I will also describe any ethical issues one might come across dealing with this situation, and the best way to deal with them.

Case study

        I chose to look at case study #14 named: A Minor Confidentiality issue. This is about a six-year-old boy by the name of Tavion Robinson. Tavion was taken to a local hospital by his father while he was under his father’s care. The little boy had a broken arm and abrasions. Tavion’s father did not want to leave his side and seemed hesitant about leaving Tavion alone with any of the hospital staff. He even went along to the x-ray with them, but the staff would not let him in the room. When the staff at the emergency room asked what happened the father answered and said he fell off the jungle gym. Later when Tavion was in x-ray they asked the same question, and he answered the same way as his dad did. They asked Tavion many times if he was afraid of abuse or being at home and he continually told them no. They put this in his file.

        As they were leaving the emergency room the father asked for a notice to be put in the account that he wanted to be alerted anytime anyone requested to get Tavion’s medical records. He explained that him and Tavion’s mother were divorced and she was the non-custodial parent. He did not want her to be able to have access to Tavion’s records without his consent. Not long after, Tavion’s mother went to the emergency room asking to see the medical records. She stated that she was afraid that his father was abusing him. She wanted access to the records to see if there was anything in the report about any abuse.

Ethical Issues

There are a few ethical issues one might be faced with when dealing with this case. The records department staff really does not know if this mother has any rights to this child, so they do not know if the mother can see the records. To overcome this, it might be a good idea to ask someone in charge on what to do. The person in charge might explain to the mother that the dad has asked to be contacted if anyone is requesting to see the records. They might try to contact the father and let him know. Also they could have the mother bring in documentation proving that she has at least visitation with the child and make sure nothing states that she is not allowed to see his medical records. I would still contact the father just to let him know that there is nothing legally stopping the mother from seeing the records, and because of that you wanted to let him know that they are being given to the mother. Another ethical issue that might come up is if the mother is worried about abuse, but the records state that the mother cannot have access to them then may direct the mother to human services to explain that she is worried about abuse when the child is with the father. She can state that he will not let her have access to his medical records and she is worried about him. The human services department can open a case and alert the child’s school as well to make sure they look out for other unexplained bruises or marks. They can investigate and if there is abuse give the child to the mother or to foster care depending. Another issue I could think would be confidentiality. The boy is six-years-old and since he is a minor then say so about his records would go to the parents. If the father has full custody, then it might be breaking confidentiality if the records are given to the mother without any kind of consent or ruling for the mother. According to the National Association of Social Workers, or (NASW), states that both parents whether custodial or not have the same rights to medical records (National Association of Social Workers, 2016). That is unless a judge has decided differently. This would be documented in court paperwork if the mother was unable to see the child’s medical records. A records department staff member would not know that though. It would be a hard call to make not knowing the rules and laws.