In: Psychology
The family services agency where you counsel survivors of domestic violence is undergoing significant budget cuts. The agency's administration has indicated that it will need to eliminate some services in order to stay afloat. Programs that may be targeted include day-care for working parents, sex education and contraception counseling for teens, or the thriving but expensive foreign adoptions program. The agency’s other alternatives include elimination of the domestic violence counseling program, decreasing staff for all programs, or significantly cutting workers’ salaries across the board. The community has depended on your agency and its various services for many years, as adequate alternate services do not exist elsewhere in the community.
Which principles from the Dolgoff, Loewenberg and Harrington's "Ethical Principles Screen" would apply here? Explain your answer.
Although Dolgoff, Loewenberg and Harrington's "Ethical Principles Screen" provides seven principles as ethical such as Protection of life, Equality and Inequality, Autonomy and Freedom, Least Harm, Quality of Life, Privacy and Confidentiality and Truthfulness and Full Disclosure, I find Least Harm, Quality of Life and Privacy and Confidentiality as the most important principles that would be affected by this decision.
If the program is withdrawn or limited, it would definitely affect more number of people who receive the services already and those who are waiting to receive the services. These services have improved the quality of life for many people by listening to them, helping them overcome their issues of day care, counselling on sex etc. They also keep the data confidential and protect the privacy of the people who come to them for help. So, scrapping the program, limiting the functioning or reducing the salary of the employees etc. are only going to affect many who are involved. Certain social services programs that are part of the government’s efforts to help the disadvantaged citizens should go on and the government should look for enough funds to continue the program.