Approved June 6, 2002

VALUE CONFLICTS IN PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

Level II

RATIONALE:  Values lie at the heart of public and community service.  The work itself—whether that of a client advocate, paralegal, community organizer, or probation officer—involves commitment to values, such as social and economic justice, personal liberty, equality, well-being.  In practice, these abstract values are not always easy to define or apply. In addition, in doing public and community service, inevitably one will face conflicts among values. These conflicts may take many different forms; for example, a worker may find that her commitment to her client’s health may conflict with agency guidelines restricting that help. Another worker, in a school setting, may feel conflicted within himself about respecting a student’s privacy vs. getting help for that student.  Other workers may find themselves arguing over whether agency rules on housing allotments should be interpreted to favor existing clients or expand the pool of clients.

In encountering these conflicts, in order to make an informed decision, a worker must be able to identify the values at stake and analyze the rationales for and implications of different courses of action.  A worker must also understand how power differences contribute to the ethical conflicts they experience and how political and ethical aspects of problematical situations intersect, so as to assess situations accurately and act responsibly.

This competency should enable students to identify ethical conflicts in their work more readily and to reason through different courses of action, with an understanding of the relevant underlying ethical concepts, in order to come to an informed, and ethical decision. The skills build on those of Understanding Arguments at Level One and   will be helpful for several other competencies at Levels Two and Three, including Making Arguments, Debating Policy Issues, Influencing Decision-Making, and Social Difference.

COMPETENCY:  Can identify and analyze in depth different sorts of ethical conflicts encountered in public and community service in order to find a resolution.

CRITERIA:

1.      Identify and describe three problematic work situations involving ethical conflict in public and community service and describe what makes each problematic.

2.      For each of the conflicts identified in Criterion 1, describe the ethical values you personally hold that are relevant to it and how they are reinforced and/or violated in the conflict.

3.      For each conflict, describe basic ethical concepts relevant to understanding and resolving the conflict.

4.      For at least one of the conflicts, describe and evaluate the way at least two different authors understand one or more of the concepts and how each author would apply it to the conflict.

5.      For each conflict, describe different possible resolutions and the reasons each resolution might be considered a good one. 

6.      For each conflict, describe the resolution you think best and explain why. 

7.      For each conflict, make recommendations for how the conflict might be best handled in the future.

8.      For each conflict, explain how the resolution you propose fits with values you hold.

PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by this competency. Papers written for this competency may be considered for submission to the Writing Portfolio.

STANDARDS:

1.      For Criterion 1, description should include context of the job (sort of public and community service, kind of work within the setting, etc.), description of  the problematical situation and what makes it a conflict, and  description of political pressures and/or power differences relevant to understanding the conflict. You may refer to your experience in public and community service work, to case studies, or to more general conflicts presented by the work, such as conflicts between agencies or professions, or conflicts between different social agendas. Your descriptions should include description of the job and its context, who is involved, and their roles. In discussing power differences, you should particularly note differences in race and class.

2.      The description of the values should include (when relevant)  the different or competing values at play. This may include ethical obligations that are in conflict because of relationships to different constituencies (public, client, co-workers, manager, agency, funding sources, board, community).

3.      The following are some examples of  basic ethical concepts:  personal liberty, privacy, social justice, wellbeing.

4.      For Criterion 4, the authors must have substantial discussion of the concept in question and be noted authorities on the topic. The student’s discussion should be substantial.

5.      For Criterion 5, at least two, and preferably more,  different  resolutions must be considered.

6.      For Criterion 6, the justification should include reference to the values supported by the decision.  If you do not believe there is a good resolution, explain why you believe there is none.

7.       For criterion 7, the recommendations might include changes in policy, law,  training or other means.

8.      For Criterion 8, your description must include reasons why you believe the values identified to be worthwhile ones and (in the case of several values identified) how they connect to or can be made compatible with each other.  Examples should be included to illustrate the specificity of the values in practice.

EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:

1.      Prior Learning: The manager of a homeless shelter, who provides ethics training to incoming workers, uses what she has learned in her position to respond to the competency’s criteria and standards, emphasizing the ethical problem of providing adequate services to clients, no matter how well trained the workers may be, given the limitations in government and community support and lack of affordable housing.

2.      Independent Learning: A group of students who work in different residences for the disabled meet once a month with an instructor and weekly with each other to discuss the problems of protecting the human rights of residents.  They present a group report orally to a class and individually write papers on different human rights violations, including undue restrictions of residents’ privacy and autonomy.

3.      Course: Student takes a CPCS course.

4.      Field Project: A group of students interested in the implications of welfare reform work with an instructor investigating human rights violations experienced by those receiving welfare. The students conduct interviews with women on welfare and with human service workers and  attempt to create public support for changes in the welfare regulations. On the basis of their work and readings, they compile a report of violations, develop a brochure on human rights and organize a speak-out at U. Mass./Boston.