Role Play In Social Work

On tuesday morning, I participated in a role play in my early morning class, The Practice of Generalist Social Work. The class role played to help practice certain ethical dilemmas that may occur during our social work career. Not only did these role plays concentrate on ethical dilemmas but it focused on the difference between personal and professional values. My role play situation also looked at the boundaries that a social worker must put up in their professional role with both clients and co-workers. And it focused on the ethical issues and moral dilemmas surrounding confidentiality and the problems a social work may face regarding confidentiality with a client. Role playing is a very useful way to prepare for future situations, contemplate
And I say process because it is truly never ending, John may have come out to his mother and his social worker but that is just the tip of the iceberg, John will constantly face the risk of not being accepted by his peers, teachers, and family. There will be anxiety that he will surely face when coming out to someone, just as I am anxious coming out to the reader of this paper. All of these factors are important to realize when determining to give the principal the information about John that he desires. The social worker does not know how the principal feels about different sexual orientations. If he was to get this information about John and react in a homophobic way, John could be traumatized for a very long time. And John would never trust his social worker again. These are some of the personal values that my role play situation brought up for
Using the Final Proposal for New IFSW Ethical Document 2004 in Chapter two of The Practice of Generalist Social Work, it is seen that a responsibility of a social worker is to challenge negative discrimination, this includes discrimination on basis of sexual orientation (Birkenmaier, 2014). If in the role play, the school social worker had decided that because the principal was part of her agency she could give him John's information without consent from John's mother than the social worker would need to evaluate the principals reaction before allowing him to speak to John. If he felt that his sexual orientation was wrong or sinful, the social worker has a duty to advocate for John and challenge the principals negative views. The social worker also has the responsibility of recognizing this diversity and trying to get her co-worker, the principal, to accept this diversity (Birkenmaier,