A Delicate Balance: An Integrated Model for the Preparation of Ethically Competent Human Services Professionals.

Human services students are often faced with a variety of ethical challenges within their field placement sites. To effectively address these complex challenges, training program faculty must take into account and balance multiple perspectives and mandates, including the needs of students, agencies, clients, and the profession as a whole. This article describes an integrated model for the promotion and development of ethical behavior. Suggested strategies include: (a) an extensive screening and admissions process, (b) ongoing training and supervision, and (c) specific procedures for addressing ethical violations. Supporting evidence for the model is presented, including program level and individual case study data. Field study placements provide an ideal opportunity for human services students to learn and practice professional skills and behaviors (Haemmerlie & Matthews, 1988; Hanley, 1994; Kenyon, 1999; Kiser, 2000; Plante, 1998). But the complex ethical situations students may face in field study sites also create a unique set of concerns for human services educators. Although there are some excellent textbooks available that provide guidance on how to teach ethical skills (e.g., Corey, Corey, & Callahan, 2003; Kenyon; Kiser; Russell-Chapin & Ivey, 2004; Sweitzer & King, 2004), there has been comparatively little written for instructors and administrators describing programmatic, systemic approaches to ethical training. Furthermore, few programs have reported data on the efficacy of such approaches. This article is designed to address this gap in human services literature by describing a systemic model for promoting ethical behavior, based on the Family and Human Services program at the University of Oregon (Kerewsky, Forrest, & Lindstrom, 2002). The model offers a unique integration of ethical considerations across a range of levels, balancing different priorities and perspectives--thus echoing the systemic approach to ethical education suggested by Schoener (1999). Program and individual case study data are provided to support the efficacy of this model. Finally, a discussion of implications for practice and a call for future research in this arena is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]