Three years
ago, I was in Virginia, USA, working at a shelter for abused women and children as a
shelter manager. The job seems pretty simple and easy; however, it has a lot to
do with confidentiality and professional boundary. I worked so hard and kept myself
updated with the latest information at the shelter and in town of course. Every
day was a learning experience.
One day, I was
told that one of our clients had to go home, but didn’t want to ask permission
to leave the shelter. It was only because she won’t be able to come back
without any domestic or sexual violence incident. She told the other clients in
the shelter and asked them if they could talk to me on behalf of her. So one of
the clients came and explained to me what happened. I simply thanked her and
reminded her that I could not discuss with a third party. She went back and
told the client. The client came to the office and told me all about what
happened to her mother that day. Her mother was arrested for drug use and her
little 7-year-old brother was left alone at home. She said that the neighbors
watched him and if no one in the family came before a certain hour, the law
enforcement would take him away. Not to mention, this client was abused by her
step father and was afraid to go home to get her little brother. She didn’t
seem to have any other choice. She didn’t know if her step father was around or
not. She asked if I could give her permission to leave the shelter and of
course I let her go. As a shelter manager, I was not supposed to give any
clients permission to stay overnight; however, after hearing her incident
report at home, I couldn’t remember what the rules of the shelter and the
policies for the organization were. It was my honest mistake. I sat there and
realized that I was doing what I was not ought to do. And so I called my
supervisor and explained her all about it. I didn’t recognize that I had broken
the confidential between me and the client by sharing her personal information.
I also realized that I put her in danger where she was before. Moreover, I felt
guilty and unfair to other clients since I broke the rule as I let one client
go in and out. I also made them think they could go out anytime they want. We
spent time re-educating the other women to reinforce what the rules of the
shelter are.
I learned that
I could have asked the client to talk to her neighbor in front of me to see if
her step father was home, but I didn’t. I should not have told her that she
could go home and come back in front of other clients. She could have been in a
better place if I had transferred her to other agency, but I didn’t. One thing
that I still feel regret is that I did not ask her if she really wanted to go
home to get her half brother. She had the pressure on her by her neighbors and
other clients who were there with her saying that she must take care of this 7
year old boy. Under the circumstance, she could not make any decision
whatsoever, but I made a decision for her and sent her home. As a social
worker, I could not make the same mistake twice. In our daily basis, it is very
easy to use the power and the ability we have in order to force the client to make
decision and to do the way we want them to. However, it is not a healthy way to
resolve the problems for a good social worker to take an advantage of her/his
power over the client. We must make decision carefully. We must think clearly
before we handle the problem.
When a difficult, new
or overwhelming situation arises, my advice is to always seek supervision if
the opportunity is present. In this
situation I could have told my client to wait 5 minutes for me to return with
options. We must always be aware that
making a decision for a client violates social work ethics; however, I don’t
think I should feel regret about this scenario.
She had pressure from every side and in crisis situations, people are
forced to act promptly.
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