Ethical Decision Making

Ethical Decision-Making
Ethical decision-making is a process that involves the evaluation as well as making choices among various alternatives based on ethical principles. The process entails selecting an alternative that is deemed ethically best through eliminating the options that are unethical. Ethical decision-making requires three basic concepts such as commitment, competence, and consciousness. The first concept of commitment entails having the desire of doing what is right irrespective of the cost. Consciousness entails having the awareness of acting in a consistent manner by exercising moral convictions. On the other hand, Competency entails being able to collect and evaluate the information with the aim of coming up with the best decision as far as the ethics are concerned (Corey et al, 2015). This paper will address confidentiality as one of the ethical issues related to working within a family system with the help of the feminist ethical decision-making models. Moreover, the paper will also cover the NOHS standards to clarify the dilemma.
Confidentiality as an ethical issue
Confidentiality is one of the most violated ethical issues at the workplace, including working within the family system. In most of the cases, working within the family system requires some level of confidentiality that some members are not ready to observe. Some information is always reserved for those in the management position, but mostly all the family members tend to think otherwise. Members of the family also argue that by the virtue of being the family members, they have the rights of accessing the information.

As a result, there always exists a dilemma in regards to the extent of keeping confidentiality in a family working environment. Some aspects of the privacies that exists in the family working set up include computer passwords, confidential business documents, and other business records that are always kept under lock and key (Corey et al 2015). According to the NOHS standards, the confidentiality issue is indeed an ethical issue because it disregards the standard 34 of the responsibility to self. Standard 34 states that should be aware of their cultural backgrounds, biases, values and beliefs (Blevins, 2015).
Solving the confidential ethical issue using the feminist ethical decision-making models.
Feminist as one of the ethical decision-making framework that depends on the understanding not only the power within the relationship but also the power in regards to the diverse contexts within the same relationship. One important aspect of the model is that it creates an environment where the client can experience the feeling of empowerment. Moreover, feminist ethical decision model is associated with the creation of the emotional intuitive responses in the social context of all the concerned parties such as the client, therapist, and the consultant. The feminist model depends on the beliefs, values, and other factors that are related to class, gender, and race (Houser et al, 2004).
The first step of using the feminist model in making the ethical decision as far as the confidentiality ethical issue is concerned is the problem identification. This step is important because it assists in determining whether the issue is truly ethical. The step involves gathering of the relevant information that can be helpful in the understanding of the situation. In this situation of the confidentiality issue, this step entails gathering the information on the instances of its occurrence in the family working setup. For instance, the majority of the family members takes advantage of being family members to demand the information that is not intended for them. They disregard the virtue of the confidentiality in an organization to access the information that is only reserved for those in the management positions (Corey et al, 2015).
The second step is the identification of the potential issues that are involved. In this case, the potential issue is the failure of the family members to distinguish between the information that they should know and those they should not as far as the family business is concerned (Corey et al, 2015). The third step is reviewing of the ethical codes that are relevant to the situation at hand. For instance, the NOHS standards can be used to review the confidentiality issue. Particularly, standard 34 of the responsibility of self can be used to review the confidentiality ethical issue (Blevins, 2015).
The third step is getting to know and understand the relevant laws and regulations of the federal or even the states. One of such regulations is the ASHA Code of Ethics where it is specified in both Rules M and N. The fifth step is seeking consultation from the relevant consultants. Since it is an ethical issue, it is important to seek expert advice from an individual who is working with people from various cultural backgrounds. This step is important because it promotes accurate decision-making. The sixth step is the considering probable and a course of action. It involves brainstorming sessions on the possible course of actions to the issue at hand. In this situation, the best course of action is to remain firm by reminding the family members the aspect of the business that they can access and those that are off limit based on their position in the business (Corey et al, 2015).
The seventh step is the enumeration of the possible consequences of the decision made. Like in this case, the main consequence of the decision is the disappointing of the family members. However, what matters is the wellbeing of the company. The last step is deciding on what seems to be the best course of action. In this case limiting the family members in accessing the vital business information based on the position in the business is the best course of action (Corey et al, 2015).
References
Houser, Wilczenski, F., & Ham, M. (2004). Feminine and Feminist Ethics and Counselor
Decision-Making. Culturally Relevant Ethical Decision-Making in Counseling Culturally
relevant ethical decision-making in counseling, 39-46.
Blevins, H. (2015). Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals. Retrieved December 31,
2016, from http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., Corey, C., & Callanan, P. (2015). Issues and ethics in the helping
professions (9th Ed.). Stamford, CT: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning.