The Use of Ethical Decision-Making Model - Case Study Example

?Case Study: Practice Case Involving the Model of Ethical Decision Making The biggest challenge that presents itself in ethical professionalpractice is resolving a conflict that arises when professionals like counsellors are supposed to choose between ethical principles that are competing. In this case, the ability to reason ethically becomes a very important aspect of such professionals as counsellors. There are some models of ethical reasoning that help professionals at such dilemmatic moments to come up with a final decision. Examples of thee models include Utilitarianism, Kant's-Formalist-Theory and Wallace’s Ethical Contextualism. These theories vary in their values and items of consideration for example Unitarianism places much weight on the final consequence and the overall good of the society. This means they do not place much importance on the means of achieving something, whether evil or good. Other models like Kant's-Formalist-Theory places much weight on the moral structure of a moral judgment. This means it focuses on what ‘we ought to do’, in other words, that we are morally obliged to do for others. This theory considers that even if the consequences of something are good, it is considered unethical of the means of arriving at it is evil or unethical. That is, if something is wrong/bad, it is wrong/bad all the time. Introduction Sometimes, counselors are faced with a great challenge of making decisions on matters whose consequences could greatly on the relationships, marriage, reputation or even the safety of the parties involved. At such times, counselors have two or more options each having different consequences. In such cases, counselors have to maximize their ability to think ethically so as to arrive at the best solutions and normally, the best way to do this is to apply the various models of ethical reasoning. In order to come up with the best decision, counsellors have to weigh between the benefits or burdens and risks of the competing models of ethical reasoning. This paper discusses two models of ethical reasoning and applies them to come up with the best course of action that the e-therapist should take in this specific case study/scenario. Model of Ethical Decision Making and Models of ethical reasoning The process of arriving at a most appropriate decision involves the use of ethical decision-making model. According to Josephson Institute of Ethics (1999), the ethical decision making model consist of five main steps namely clarify, evaluate, decide, implement, and monitor and modify. The first step is to clarify. In this stage, the counselor should precisely determine what must be decided and come up with alternatives. In this case, what is to be decided is whether to terminate the e-counseling based on the revelations mail send accidentally to her by the wife, then inform the husband on the contents of the mail. Alternatively, she could maintain confidentiality and continue with the e-counseling despite knowing the evil intentions of the wife. The counselor should eliminate any illegal, impractical or improper alternatives if any. For the chosen options, the counselor should determine the values and ethical principles involved. One of the theories that can be applied by the counselor to select the right alternatives and finally, the best course of action is utilitarianism. According to this theory, the proper course of action in any situation is one that capitalizes/maximizes on the overall good of the society. This theory is consequential in nature meaning that the moral worth of an action or a decision is determined by its resulting outcome (Wallace, 1988). (Shaw (1999) explains that Act utilitarianism insists on the selection of an option that will generate the most pleasure. The second theory is Kant's-Formalist-Theory. This theory places much weight on the moral structure of a moral judgment. That is, moral judgments are defined in terms of their logical forms for example universal prescriptions or laws instead of their content, that is, decisions that will best promote human well-being. This means that even if an action will best promote human well-being yet it is not considered as being morally ethical, then the action should not be taken. According to this theory, if something is good, it is good all the time and if it is bad, it is bad all the time (Kant, 1948). The second step is to evaluation. The counselor should evaluate if any of the options chosen calls for the sacrifice of any ethical principle. The option of terminating the counseling and informing the husband of the contents of the mail involves the sacrifice of confidentiality with one of the client, the wife. For each of the chosen alternatives, the counselor should proceed to make a careful consideration of the benefits, risks and burdens to each stakeholder. The third step in the ethical decision-making model is deciding. In this stage, the counselor makes judgment of what is true and what is false and the consequences that are most likely to occur for each option. The counselor should determine who among clients will be helped the most and harmed the least. In this case, the wife is very happy in her extra-marital affair and therefore, the husband should be helped the most. The counsellor should also apply ethics guides to ensure the treatment is fair, and most ethical and professional. If the counsellor is to base their decisions on utilitarianism, the they will select the option of keeping confidentiality and continuing with the counselling. This is because informing the husband of the contents of the mail could make him react with rage and kill or even kill his wife or her long-time lover and this could ruin his career since he is so prominent. At the same time, it will be most psychologically traumatizing to him and could kill his career by making him shy from performing in public. Therefore, it is better that the wife applies her strategy to make it look like their marriage could not be saved. In this case, he will be free to let go of the wife and he will take his wife’s new husband as a new-found lover. They will also undergo a smooth process of sharing their property. If the counsellor is to base their decisions on Kant's-Formalist-Theory, they will terminate the e-counseling and breach the confidentiality by informing the husband of the contents of the mail. This is because what the wife is doing to her husband is bad and nothing will change it into good. First, she is the cause of their marriage not working out because she is getting satisfaction and pleasure somewhere else yet she does not apply the same to her marriage. Ironically, she intends to make her husband feel liable for the failure of the whole thing. Secondly, continuing with this counseling is a waste of time for the husband and the counselor. This is because the wife is already determined to quit the marriage hence the counseling will never change anything. The counselor will have acted unprofessional to continue after knowing that one of the clients is not genuine and in fact is using it to accomplish their evil plans. They will also have encouraged adultery instead of condemning it. Basing on the present scenario it would be best for the counselor to maintain confidentiality and continue with the counseling. At this stage, nothing will stop the wife from leaving her husband. In fact, she is taking an option that will be less painful for him. It will also avoid any violence or deaths, and ruining the public images of the wife, husband and lover. From here, the counselor should move to the implementation stage where they come up with a plan on how to implement their decision. The fifth and final stage is monitoring and modification. The counselor should monitor the actions of their decisions and be prepared to revise the plan or change their course of action. Conclusion Ethical decision-making is a real challenge for counsellors and this calls for greatest wisdom. This can be achieved by making a thorough evaluation and application of the various models of ethical reasoning while following the steps of the Model of Ethical Decision Making. This is most important because in many cases, the available alternatives present a dilemma due to the varied values and considerations associated with them. Counsellor should also apply guides of ethics to ensure their judgments are fair, and most ethical and professional. References Josephson Institute of Ethics (1999). Five Steps of Principled Reasoning. Online: http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/rb_5step.html. Viewed on 29th August, 2011. Kant, I. (1948). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. London. tr. H.J. Paton. Shaw, W. (1999). Contemporary Ethics: taking account of utilitarianism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Wallace, J. (1988). Moral Relevance and Moral Conflict. Ithaca. Cornell University Press. Read More