Cultural Diversity: client vs organizational interests

Cultural Diversity: client vs organizational interests

            At times an organization’s policies may conflict with a particular client’s best interest, due to cultural differences.  Situations as such require the practitioner to choose between principle ethics and virtue ethics, causing them to consider justice, autonomy, beneficence, and fairness along with professional ethical standards and codes (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011).  A couple examples of these scenarios are as follows:

1. Within your client’s culture, it is customary to invite leaders, counselors, and elders into the home for dinner, fellowship, and blessings within the preliminary stages of the relationship or process.  Failure to accept the invitation is considered offensive and may impede establishing rapport.  However, the practitioner’s organizational policy clearly states that each meeting or face-to-face client-clinician interaction must take place exclusively on company premises.
2. As a student advisor at a high school Christian academy, a senior class student whom you have been advising since her freshman year becomes impregnated and desires to have an immediate abortion.  Although the school offers assistance, programs, and advising to students and families affected by teen pregnancy, they do not advocate pro-choice.  However this particular young lady is an honor-roll student athlete anticipating playing division one athletics in college next fall on full scholarship.

Both scenarios require the practitioner to consider their client’s interest versus organizational policy.  Yet choosing to support or cater to the client’s need directly causes them to abort the company’s or school’s code of ethics.  However, these types of situations may present themselves throughout the practitioner’s professional career.  Therefore the practitioner must regard these issues and act accordingly on a case-by-case basis.  In addition, it should be duly noted that an organization operating through the lens of cultural tunnel vision is bound to conflict with varying attitudes, customs, and beliefs of a culturally diverse society (Corey et al., 2011).

References:

Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011) Issues and ethics in the helping

professions (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.