Ethical Reasoning - Using Ethical Guidelines

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Create realistic scenarios that provide ethical challenges to case managers.
  • Apply the ACA Code of Ethics guidelines to formulate a response to the ethical dilemma.

Group Work

This assignment will entail working in small groups to explore decision making related to the ACA Code of Ethics.

Here is the process:

  1. Each of you will be assigned into a small group.
  2. Each group will be assigned ONE of the Sections in the ACA Code of Conduct.
  3. Group members will use the group discussion board to select THREE specific standard within their Section.
  4. Working together the group will select ONE of these Standards and create a "case study" that exemplifies a situation in which this standard could be applied. ("Case Manager Bob made an appointment with his first client of the day, Helen...and so on)
  5. The group will post a final document with the case study, the Standard that applies to the case study, and a short list of the other two Standards the group considered.

For example

Let's say your group has been assigned Section B: Confidentiality and Privacy. Your group decides that Standards "B.1.b: Respect for Privacy", "B.2.b.: Confidentiality Regarding End of Life Decisions" and "B.5.b.: Responsibility to Parents and Legal Guardians" are the most interesting.

Your group decides to write a case study on B.5.b. You final product would include:

  • Title page with all your names and the name of the assignment, date, class, etc.
  • The complete title and description of B.5.b.
  • The Case Study
  • The complete title and description of both B.1.b. and B.2.b. (the two other Standards that you did not select)

(Note: When you write out the title and descriptions of the Standards, write them word for word from the Code of Conduct document.)

Click here to download the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics

The group will be graded on this assignment based on the finished product.

Individual Work - Ethical Reasoning Quiz

Once all of the Group Work is done, your Professor will construct a quiz based on each of these case studies. The quiz will include each Case Study from each group and identify the Section in which the group was working. For each case study you will all need to identify the specific Section in the ACA Code (you will copy the entire Section word-for-word in your answer) and then a brief description (in a separate paragraph) as to what you would do in this situation.

Each of you must complete this task for EACH case study, including the one your group completed.

These questions will be posted in the Ethical Reasoning Quiz

Ethical Reasoning - Reporting Out

At the conclusion of the grading of the quiz, your Professor will construct a document that lists each response to each Case Study based on the original document submitted by each group and based on the answers that were provided by your fellow students. This document will be made available in the Ethical Reasoning Discussion Board.

Each group should review and comment on the diversity of the responses to their own case study.

Participation in this Online (or classroom) discussion has the same expectations as regular graded discussions.