Flinders University · FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK

SOAD3102 Chap.2 Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement

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Chapter 2 of 8 · SOAD3102

Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement

Define ethical dilemma

The course material gives this chapter a concrete anchor: The first-placement rubric expects ethical issues to be identified and handled with supervision.

That ethical dilemma anchor controls how dignity of risk is explained and how duty of care is tested in changed practice.

Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement asks how ethical dilemma, dignity of risk and duty of care change the interpretation of a text, case, institution or public problem.

The chapter's practical task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting; that requires an argument, not a list of themes.

Define ethical dilemma at the scale of the chosen case. Identify who uses the category, what it makes visible and what it may conceal.

This prevents the ethical dilemma definition from floating above the evidence as an interchangeable opening paragraph.

Trace dignity of risk

Use dignity of risk to explain the relationship between the case and the claim.

Quote, describe or compare only the evidence that advances dignity of risk, and make the inferential step visible instead of assuming the example speaks for itself.

Bring duty of care in as a second lens or consequence. The duty of care reading may deepen the first account, expose a conflict or show why another audience would interpret the same material differently.

The comparison should change the conclusion, not simply add another term.

To make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting, build each paragraph around one contested move: claim, specific evidence, explanation and qualification.

A duty of care counter-reading is strongest when it identifies exactly which premise or piece of evidence it changes.

Test with duty of care

Make an evidence table for ethical dilemma with four columns: passage, image, event or institutional fact; the concept it activates; the inference drawn; and a plausible competing reading. Place ethical dilemma and dignity of risk in separate rows before combining them.

This keeps dignity of risk interpretation anchored in specific material and shows where disagreement enters the argument.

Test the scale of every claim. A detail involving ethical dilemma may support an argument about one text, group or moment without supporting a claim about an entire culture or institution.

Use duty of care to decide whether the evidence should be widened, narrowed or compared with a counter-case before the paragraph reaches its conclusion.

For timed revision in soad3102, write a one-sentence thesis for the application — make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting — then list the minimum evidence needed to defend it.

Add one duty of care objection that would matter if true and revise the thesis so it survives.

The exercise trains duty of care argument selection and qualification rather than a memorised inventory of course terms.

Transfer to Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement

A complete response should make the task visible before the detail: identify what must be decided, define the relevant terms, connect the evidence to dignity of risk, and use duty of care to test the result.

The final sentence about duty of care should answer the question actually asked rather than merely repeat the topic.

The controlling limit is specific: A code principle does not mechanically settle contextual conflict.

Keep that duty of care limit beside the worked example, because it separates a careful soad3102 answer from one that sounds confident but claims more than the task or evidence supports.

For revision, retrieve ethical dilemma, dignity of risk and duty of care without notes, explain their relationship aloud, then complete a changed version of the application: make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.

Record the first failed dignity of risk reasoning move and repair it before attempting another case.

In this chapter

What this chapter covers

  • 01

    ethical dilemma

  • 02

    dignity of risk

  • 03

    duty of care

  • 04

    Applying ethical dilemma

  • 05

    Limits of dignity of risk and duty of care

Worked example · free

Balance autonomy and safety

Q. AskSia-authored practice. A service user declines a support that staff believe reduces harm. How should a student proceed?
  • 1Clarify decision, capacity and context.
  • 1Name rights, duties and power.
  • 1Explore less restrictive alternatives.
  • 1Supervise, document and review.
Do not override by instinct; support informed choice, assess foreseeable harm and capacity within policy, seek supervision and use the least restrictive justified response.
Sia tip — Ethical practice shows how competing principles were weighed.
Glossary

Key terms

ethical dilemma
Situation involving competing duties or values with material consequences. This chapter uses the concept when students make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting. Use this definition when the task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.
dignity of risk
Respect for a person's right to make choices involving reasonable risk. It helps explain the reasoning required to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting. Use this definition when the task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.
duty of care
Responsibility to take reasonable steps against foreseeable harm. Its limit matters because a code principle does not mechanically settle contextual conflict. Use this definition when the task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.
FAQ

Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement FAQ

How does ethical dilemma help a student make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting?

Make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting. The first-placement rubric expects ethical issues to be identified and handled with supervision. Situation involving competing duties or values with material consequences. This chapter uses the concept when students make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.

Use this definition when the task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.

Does a code principle mechanically settle contextual conflict?

A code principle does not mechanically settle contextual conflict. Respect for a person's right to make choices involving reasonable risk. It helps explain the reasoning required to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting. Use this definition when the task is to make competing values, power and possible harms explicit before acting.

If a student were to reverse who carries the risk, how should they inspect whether the preferred principle changes?

Do not override by instinct; support informed choice, assess foreseeable harm and capacity within policy, seek supervision and use the least restrictive justified response. A code principle does not mechanically settle contextual conflict.

Study strategy

Assessment move

Reconstruct the relationship among ethical dilemma, dignity of risk and duty of care; complete the chapter application without notes; then test the result against this limit: A code principle does not mechanically settle contextual conflict.

Working through Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement in SOAD3102? Sia is AskSia’s AI Social Work tutor — ask any SOAD3102 Ethics, Values and Accountable Judgement question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how SOAD3102 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.

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