Catalog Course Search Details

 Department:    HSERV

 Course #:    245

 Credits:    3

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    3

 CIP:    511508

 EPC:    424

 REV:    2018

 Course Description  

Presentation and discussion of ethical principles and codes of professional behavior for those working in chemical dependency treatment, mental health services, developmental disability rehabilitation and other human service settings.

 Prerequisite  

None

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 33

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0

Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Vocational Preparatory Required for ATA degree  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

1. Explore a value-based approach to professional ethics in the helping professions.
2. Understand professional values as related to ethics and leadership in human service.
3. Be familiar with the NASW Code of Ethics and the Ethical Standards of Human Service Professionals.
4. Utilize a decision-making model for examining ethical problems and dilemmas.
5. Review and discuss a number of specific ethical problem areas in human service.
6. Develop an appreciation for confidentiality and other ethical principles in the practice of human services.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

0. Application and Integration

Definition: Applying information from one or more disciplines and/or field experiences in new contexts (Outcome 0.1); developing integrated approaches or responses to personal, academic, professional, and social issues (Outcomes 0.2-0.5).

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
0.3 Identify and evaluate the relationships among different perspectives within a field of study and among different fields of study.

1. Information Literacy

Definition: Recognizing when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
1.4 Evaluate issues (for example economic, legal, historic, social) surrounding the use of information.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.4 Evaluate decisions by analyzing outcomes and the impact of actions.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
6.4 Use self-reflection to recognize and define a sense of self-identity in personal, social/gender, and/or cultural/global terms and in relationship to others.

Course Contents

1. Ethics by choice and agreement.
   • Codes of Ethics (NASW, HSP and NAADAC).
   • Discrimination and bias: a. Gender, age, class, race, personal orientations; b. Diversity and discrimination.
   • Confidentiality.
   • Clients' rights and responsibilities.
2. Value conflicts and dilemmas as unavoidable aspects of helping.
   • Professional relationships and boundaries.
   • Conflict of interest.
   • Responsibility to client, employer, community, self.
   • Attitude and values, knowledge, skills and honesty, truth, proof.
3. One's personal values.
4. Review and understand ethical decision-making process.