7.3 Common Ethical Challenges for Interns
Ethical challenges in Human Services work are part of the territory as we are working with vulnerable and at-risk populations. To prevent mistakes as much as we can, we need to acquaint ourselves with the most common situations that have the potential for ethical risks and develop risk management protocols to address these issues should they come up. In the following sections, we address some of the most common ethical dilemmas you might encounter in your field placement. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but merely some areas to be particularly aware of.
Dual Relationships
Dual or multiple relationships occur when a service provider is acting in a professional capacity with a client but is also acting in a different professional, social, or sexual capacity with the same person. Some professions’ ethical standards do recognize that not all dual relationships are avoidable. The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Code of Ethics believes that multiple relationships that do not impair the psychologist’s objectivity, competence, or effectiveness while performing their work and do not endanger the patient are not unethical (APA, 2016). However, the National Organization of Human Services does not support dual or multiple relationships due to the potential for harm or exploitation of the client.
Many dual relationships start with the best of intentions. You live in the same area as the client, so you begin to offer them rides home from their appointments, saving them an hour bus ride with three children in tow. Another client, recently released from prison, is starting their own lawn care company and asks to take care of your yard. Knowing how challenging many people may find their history, you agree to help them get the business on its feet. There is another client who shares your sense of humor, and you begin spending time with him after sessions, talking and joking around.
Any time you stray from your role as a human service provider, you begin to muddy the ethical waters. Again, your intentions may not be to take advantage or exploit your client, but once you are outside the bounds of the professional relationship, it is easy for actions to be misinterpreted, both by the client and by others. The fastest way to find yourself in a very difficult situation is to not tell anyone about either your plan to engage in the behavior or reveal that you did engage in the behavior. We talk further about dealing with ethical dilemmas later in the chapter, but getting professional input is critical when it comes to dual relationships. It will not be surprising if you come across this in your internship.
Sometimes, it is difficult to avoid a dual relationship. If you reside in a small town in which you also intern, you will likely work with people you have seen at the grocery store or with whom you went to school. You may live in a larger city but are interning at the only agency that provides a partic