For the position papers, students will be given a case study, and will respond to the questions that follow the case. When responding to the questions, students are expected to:
- refer to course materials (could be the textbook or a relevant, assigned article),
- use the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics,
- use scholarly journal articles beyond our course materials to back up statements made within the paper.
- use APA format for this assignment. There is an APA resource link located on the class blackboard site. Students unfamiliar with APA format are strongly encouraged to make an appointment at the Writing Center to review APA format expectations prior to submitting the paper.
The body of the paper should be 3 pages with a maximum of 5 pages. Papers should also include a title page and the reference page, per APA format. The title and reference pages do not count towards the page length requirements for the body of the paper. Students are required to follow APA format for this assignment, double space, and utilize Times New Roman 12 point font. Papers should utilize proper grammar and should flow smoothly. Introductory paragraphs and concluding paragraphs are expected. Headings are encouraged.
Antonio is a 25 year old client who has been receiving counseling support for the past 6 months for anxiety. He has been making very good progress and has been feeling positive about the support and guidance he has been receiving from his counselor, Mr. Marcus Rodriguez, who is a licensed social worker. In a recent appointment, Antonio disclosed to Mr. Rodriguez that his wife is pregnant. Antonio explains that his wife is in graduate school and that he is the only financial contributor to the relationship. He shares that he and his wife are concerned about the financial strain that a baby will put on their finances at this time and the impact a child will have on his wifes ability to complete her graduate training. He also shares that they have made an appointment to access an abortion next month. At the end of the appointment, Mr. Rodriguez commends Antonio for making good progress on his goals for coping with his anxiety. Mr. Rodriguez goes on to explain that he is devoted to his religious practice and because his religion objects to abortion he is no longer able to provide counseling to Antonio. As the session ends Antonio is upset and asks if there is anything that they can do to continue with the counseling. Mr. Rodriguez is firm and says that there is nothing he can do because of this conflict in values and wishes Antonio good luck as he escorts him out of the office.
- Prompt: Mr. Rodriguez’s supervisor becomes aware of this situation and believes that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions are unethical. Explain this position and use evidence from the code of ethics to support this claim. Then, offer a solution that would be ethical and can be supported by different evidence from the code of ethics
- Use the NASW Code of Ethics, course materials, and at least one scholarly article from outside our course materials to support your paper.
- Dont forget this is a position paper and not an opinion paper. Do not use I statements and back up statements with sources, otherwise statements are just opinion. Excellent papers will use a variety of sources course materials, evidence from the code of ethics, and several scholarly articles or books that are not part of the course materials. If you have questions about scholarly sources,
