The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 2013 | Page 6

Ethics Alive!
Whoops! Practice Errors and the Ethics of Follow-Up
by Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, Ph.D.
Editor’s Note: I am pleased to introduce our
new ethics columnist, Dr. Allan Barsky, who
currently serves as the chair of the National
Ethics Committee of the National Association
of Social Workers. Listen to a Social Work
Podcast interview with him at: http://socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/12/socialworkers-in-court-interview-with.html.

N

obody is perfect. And certainly,
it would be naïve to assume that
social workers are perfect
in their professional practice. Yes,
we strive to do the best we can
through the processes of self-awareness, deliberate use of self, and
critical thinking to integrate theory,
knowledge, values, and observations of the people we serve. Proper
education, training, supervision, and
other risk management strategies can be
used to promote the highest standards of
practice and reduce the r isks of errors.
But what happens when we make a
mistake—perhaps an error of judgment,
an unintentional imposition of biases or
assumptions, or providing people with
inaccurate information? Our first inclination might be to blame others or hide the
error (Wu, 2000). After all, who wants
to get into trouble? Perhaps if nobody
knows, the trouble will simply go away.
Perhaps not. Trying to conceal a mistake
may lead to greater client anger, and
perhaps more severe professional and
legal consequences. This article explores
the ethical issues for social workers who
have erred in practice and need to determine how to follow up.

To illustrate the importance of
follow-up when social workers have
erred in practice, consider the following
situation.

Chelsey is a child protection worker who
was called to investigate a case in which a
13-year-old girl named Gabriele kept running
away from her mother, Moira. Moira had
been divorced from Gabriele’s father, Fred,
for three conflict-ridden years. Moira advised
Chelsey that Gabriele was running away
because Fred always encouraged her to do so.
Chelsey believed Moira’s allegations and initi-

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The New Social Worker

ated proceedings to restrict Gabriele’s access to
her father. Gabriele became despondent and
started to engage in self-harmful behaviors,
including cutting her arms and pulling her
hair. Although Chelsey initially viewed Fred
as the primary cause of Gabriele’s distress,
Chelsey started to realize that Moira may have
had borderline personality disorder and falsely
accused Fred of causing a rift between Moira
and Gabriele. In reality, Gabriele had been
trying to extricate herself from an emotionally

abusive mother. Chelsey had made matters
worse by acting to cut Fred out of Gabriele’s
life.

Given this scenario, it seems clear
that Chelsey initially made an improper
assessment and needs to redress her
errors. If she does not take appropriate
action, Gabriele and Fred will continue
to suffer the consequences. As a professional social worker, Chelsey has a duty
to put the interests of the clients first
(NASW Code of Ethics, 2008, Standard
1.01; Reamer, 2008). She also has a duty
to act with honesty and integrity (Standard 4.04). Despite these ethical duties,
Chelsey may be reluctant to admit her
mistakes. She may fear the anger or
other reactions of her clients. What if
they lodge a complaint or initiate legal
proceedings against her? She may also
fear the response of her supervisor and
others at the agency. What if they discipline or fire her? Further, she may fear
the reactions of coworkers, friends, and
family members who may find out. How
can she face the potential embarrassment, not to mention the potential loss of
her job and livelihood?

To admit a significant practice error
takes moral fortitude. Chelsey needs the
strength of moral conviction to come
forth and take ownership of her mistakes
and commit to correcting them. This

Winter 2013

does not mean that she needs to become a martyr, surrendering herself for
undue punishment and suffering. There
are ways to proceed with integrity, but
also with support, strategy, and caution.
Whenever a social worker thinks she has
committed a significant practice error,
the worker should consider consulting
with the following sources of help:
• Attorney—Attorneys can provide
legal consultation and support with the
protection of privacy and privilege. This
means that the social worker can consult
with her own attorney with the assurance that the attorney cannot be called to
testify against her. The worker could also
consult with the agency’s attorney. However, the worker should understand that
this attorney works for the agency, not
for the individual worker. Although the
agency attorney may provide advice, the
worker should know that agency interests
and the worker’s personal interests might
not coincide (e.g., if the agency decides
to lay blame on an individual worker for
acting on her own, to protect the agency
as a whole from legal liability). Accordingly, consulting one’s own attorney may
be preferable. Attorneys can provide
advice about the best way to redress
errors, for instance, through confidential
mediation processes so that conflicts can
be resolved without the need for court.
An attorney can also advise the worker
about self-reporting errors to the NASW
and/or to a relevant social work licensing
board. The consequences for a self-reported error may be less severe than for
an error reported by others, given that
the worker has taken responsibility for
her actions.
• NASW Office of Ethics and Professional Review (OEPR)—NASW members
may call the OEPR for ethics consultation (800-638-8799). The OEPR does
not provide case-specific advice or tell
members what to do. The OEPR can
help members identify relevant ethical
standards and risks to manage. It can
also identify other resources for support.