Famous dilemmas. Moral dilemmas and the development of ethical theory according to V.A.

13.02.202427.05.2017

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We are in website We invite you to play the game. It consists of 11 simple, but at the same time complex questions with painful choices, or, more simply, with moral dilemmas. See what your answers mean at the end. Let's start the game!

You and your partner were convicted of robbery: you were put in different cells and both were asked to rat each other out. If you both remain silent, you will be given a year in prison. If you both betray each other, you will be jailed for two. But if one surrenders and the other remains silent, the silent one will go to prison for 3 years, and the one who surrendered will be released. You cannot know your partner's answer. What will you do?

The woman had a late miscarriage. Not daring to admit this to her husband, upon discharge from the maternity hospital, in a half-crazed state, she grabbed a random child from the room with newborns (when no one was there) and rushed home. By an incredible coincidence, this baby was not particularly welcome in a family of alcoholics. Now he is growing up in a loving family and does not need anything. Do you think this woman is a criminal?

You are a musician at heart and an economist by profession. You can’t imagine life without music, and you can’t make money without a profession. You somehow combine both this and that, without achieving much success in either area. But then your father finds you a highly paid, prestigious position. At the same time, your friend is trying to get a gig as an opening act on your favorite band’s tour and claims that this is your chance to become famous, even if it’s not paid. You need to choose one. What's your answer?

Your friend is getting married. You have never seen her so happy! The wedding is already in full swing, but then you find out that her newly-made husband cheated on her just the day before. Should I tell the bride about this or not?

You are the chief of the coast guard. A man disappeared in the ocean. The rescuer swam after him and also disappeared. Another rescuer swam after him and also disappeared. The third one met the same fate. Will you send more subordinates there?

You work in the HR department of a large company and are responsible for hiring new employees. And suddenly 2 applicants come to the next new position: your good friend, who has helped you out more than once, and a stranger, and the latter is more competent and cool in his profession. Who will you take?

You are a loving parent. You have a 16-year-old son who one day, returning from a family trip, tried to smuggle something prohibited through customs. Airport staff immediately detained your total luggage. It is clear to everyone that for this your son, even though he is a minor, will face a considerable sentence. Will you take the blame?

Your loved one is immortal. He invites you to drink from the fountain of youth to also become immortal. What will you choose: to live forever and at the same time always experience the death of people close to you, or mortal life on an equal basis with loved ones, but old age and the inevitable loss of a loved one?

Your ship collided with an iceberg. All passengers (100 people) successfully fit into 2 rescue boats, but due to bad weather and overload, it became clear that now they would both capsize or sink. There are two options: push half the people out of the boat, or just pray and hope for a 1% chance of a miraculous rescue. Which way out would you prefer?

You have a chance to save a 5-year-old boy - pull him out of a burning building, since he is in the room next to you. But at the same time, you know that in 30 years he will become the most dangerous criminal in the city. Will you take pity on the baby or will you act for the benefit of a future calm life?

You are a reputable doctor. There are 6 terminally ill patients in your department. Five of them require organ transplants. The sixth patient is already dying, moreover, his quick death would have saved those five who need organs. But then you get a medicine that will 100% cure the sixth patient. What will you do?

Target: familiarizing students with situations of moral choice and the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment as a basis for the analysis of moral dilemmas; organizing a discussion to identify solutions and arguments from the participants in the discussion.

Age: 11-15 years old.

Academic disciplines: humanitarian disciplines (literature, history, social studies, etc.).

Task completion form: group work of students.

Materials: the text of the moral dilemma, a list of questions that set the outline of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment, for students and teachers.

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Quest "Moral Dilemmas"

Target: familiarizing students with situations of moral choice and the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment as a basis for the analysis of moral dilemmas; organizing a discussion to identify solutions and arguments from the participants in the discussion.

Age: 11-15 years.

Academic disciplines:humanitarian disciplines (literature, history, social studies, etc.).

Task completion form:group work of students.

Materials: the text of the moral dilemma, a list of questions that set the outline of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment, for students and teachers.

Task description:The class is divided into groups of three, in which they are asked to discuss the hero’s behavior and justify their assessment. Next, having united in two groups, the guys exchange opinions and discuss all the arguments for and against. Then two groups are again combined until the class is divided into two large groups. At this final stage (using the board), a presentation of the arguments is made and a summary is made - which arguments are more convincing and why.

Option: holding a discussion. Students in groups are asked in advance to take a position of supporting or condemning the hero of the situation and discuss their arguments.

To structure the position of students, a diagram of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment for analyzing the situation is proposed (A. I. Podolsky, O. A. Karabanova, 2000). The diagram presents questions, the answers to which will help analyze the proposed situation:

1. What is happening in this situation?

2. Who are the participants in the situation?

3. What are the interests and goals of the participants in the situation? Do the goals and interests of the participants in the situation coincide or contradict each other?

4. Do the participants' actions violate a moral norm(s)? If yes, what exactly is the norm? (Name the norm.)

5. Who can be harmed by a violation of the norm? (If different norms are violated, then who will suffer from violating one norm, and who will suffer from violating another?)

6. Who is the norm violator? (If several norms are violated, then who is the violator of each of them?)

7. What can participants do in this situation? (Please list several behaviors.)

8. What consequences can this or that action (behavior) have for the participants?

9. What feelings (guilt, shame, pride, compassion, resentment, etc.) do the characters experience?

10. What should each of its participants do in this situation? What would you do in their place?

Instructions: The lesson is devoted to situations of moral choice. Such situations are called moral dilemmas. Their peculiarity is that students need to make a choice in a situation where there is not one uniquely correct decision, but there are different decisions that take into account different interests. The teacher reads the text and asks students to answer questions.

The teacher, if the students’ answers are presented in writing, needs to pay attention to the reasoning behind the action (i.e., answer the question “why?”). The answer should indicate the principle underlying the decision. The teacher should provoke students to voice different points of view on the situation with the obligatory argumentation of their position, and also focus students’ attention on the ambiguity of a particular solution to the problem.

Evaluation criteria:

correspondence of answers to the levels of development of moral consciousness;
the ability to listen to the arguments of other participants in the discussion and take them into account in one’s position;
analysis of students' arguments in accordance with the level of development of moral consciousness.

14 situations are presented - moral dilemmas, which are devoted to different contexts of interaction: 7 - situations of interaction "teenager - peer" and 6 - situations of interaction "teenager - adult", another situation is an example...

Examples of tasks

Peer"

1. Kolya and Petya worked in the garden in the summer - picking strawberries. Kolya wanted to use the money he earned to buy a sports watch, which he had been eyeing for a long time. Kolya comes from a low-income family, so his parents cannot buy him such a watch. Petya wants to use the money he earns to improve his computer.

Kolya is significantly inferior to Petya in strength and agility, and he rests more often, so Petya picked a lot more strawberries. In the evening the foreman came to pay the guys for the work done. I counted the boxes of strawberries collected by both guys. He counted out the amount they had earned and asked, turning to Petya: “Well, guys, should we pay equally, or did someone collect more, and is he entitled to more?”

Petya sees that if he says that he has collected more, then Kolya will not have enough money for a watch. Petya knows that Kolya dreamed of this watch and will be very upset if he cannot buy it.

What do you think Petya should answer and why? What should be a fair distribution of the money earned and why?

One student accidentally hit a classmate who was an outcast in the class. Obviously, this was the last straw in the outcast's patience. He got angry and severely beat the unwitting offender. How can you evaluate the action of an outcast and why?
Yura broke the VCR. When the parents discovered this, only Yura's younger brother was at home. His parents thought he did it and punished him. Yura, returning home and realizing what had happened, remained silent. Did the older brother do the right thing and why? What should he have done?
Two classmates received different grades for the test (“3” and “4”), although their work was completely identical, and they did not copy one from the other. There is a very high risk that their strict teacher would rather lower a grade than a grade of three. However, the friend who received a C, without the other’s knowledge, approaches the teacher with both notebooks. Is the girl doing the right thing towards her friend and why?
Volodya dreamed of a real soccer ball, but his parents refused to buy one. One day he saw just such a ball from his classmate, who was not interested in football. He had a wealthy family, and his father wanted his son to start playing football. One day, after cleaning the classroom, Volodya saw a ball forgotten by a classmate, and since there was no one around, he could not resist and took it for himself. Did Volodya do the right thing and why?
Nikolai's close friend asks him to lend him money. Nikolai knows that his friend uses drugs and will most likely spend money on them. When asked why he needs money, his friend does not answer. Nikolai gives him money. Did Nikolai do the right thing and why? What should he have done?
The teacher fell ill, the students decided that they would be dismissed from the last lesson (as has happened more than once). They were about to leave, they were already in the locker room when someone brought the news that there would be a substitution and they couldn’t leave. Most of the class left, but two students remained because they had to correct their grades in this subject. Students who skipped class received bad grades. If everyone left, one would think that the class did not know about the replacement, and there would be no punishment. Did those guys who stayed in the class do the right thing, and why?

Dilemmas with the adolescent interaction context- adult"

8. The teacher urgently needed to leave the classroom during a test, and she asked Katya to watch the students so that no one cheated. Some guys, of course, cheated. When the teacher returned to class, she asked Katya if anyone had cheated (it is known that they will give a bad mark for this). The teacher trusts Katya. What should Katya do (what should she answer) and why?

9. The physics teacher was explaining a very complex topic. At the next lesson, before calling anyone to the board, he invited someone who had some knowledge of this topic to come out. Nobody came out. Then the teacher began to call himself. He had to give thirteen twos before a girl was called to the board and told everything. She was given an A. After class, her classmates attacked her and began to scold her for not immediately volunteering to answer at the blackboard and for letting the class down. What should the girl do in this situation and why?

The teacher promised the student to correct the C in the next quarter if he would take additional classes and work on those topics for which he had previously received bad grades. The student regularly attended extra classes because he really wanted to get a good grade. But at the end of the quarter, the teacher said that he could not correct the grade, since the student did not study well enough and simply did not deserve a B, and the teacher does not have the right to give grades undeservedly. Did the teacher do the right thing and why?
The class teacher asked an excellent student to study with a classmate who was lagging behind. An excellent student goes to preparatory courses for college, and she has no time. She wants to refuse, especially since the classmate with whom she has to study is not very pleasant to her. What should an excellent student do and why?

12. At the grocery store, the seller made a mistake and gave Petya too much change. Noticing this, Petya did not tell the seller about it, but decided to buy a gift for his mother with this money. Did Petya do the right thing and why?

13. Dima received a D in algebra and is deciding whether to tear out a page from his diary. After all, if his parents find out, they won’t let him go to the concert, but he really wants to go, since this is his favorite band and he’s been waiting for this concert for so long. What should Dima do and why?

14. A famous hockey player, brought up by a Russian hockey school, having improved his professional skills in Russian clubs, signed a lucrative contract and went to play in the NHL. He soon became one of the highest paid players in the league. He founded his own fund to help sick American children in the USA, especially since charitable activities in the USA can significantly reduce taxes, but this does not exist in Russia. How can you evaluate the behavior of this athlete?

Culture

You are a very experienced doctor, and you have five dying patients on your hands, each of whom needs different organ transplants in order to survive. Unfortunately, at the moment there is not a single organ available for transplantation.

It so happens that there is another 6 person who is dying from a fatal disease, and if he is not treated, he will die much earlier than the others. If the sixth patient dies, you can use his organs to save five others.

However, you have a medicine at your disposal that can save the life of the sixth patient. You:

Wait until the sixth patient dies and then use his organs for transplantation;

You will save the life of the sixth patient, while others will not receive the organs they need.

If you chose the second option, then, knowing that the medicine would only slightly delay the date of his death, would you still do the same? Why?

You witnessed a man rob a bank, but then he did something unusual and unexpected with the money. He handed them over to an orphanage that was very poorly run, dilapidated and lacking proper nutrition, proper care, water and amenities. This money greatly benefited the orphanage, and it went from poor to prosperous. You:

Call the police, although they will probably take the money from the orphanage;

You won't do anything if you leave both the robber and the orphanage alone.

Your best friend or girlfriend is getting married. The ceremony will begin in one hour, however, on the eve of coming to the wedding, you found out that your friend’s chosen one (chosen one) had connections on the side. If your friend connects his life with this person, he is unlikely to be faithful, but on the other hand, if you tell him about this, you will upset the wedding. Can you tell your friend what you found out or not?

You are the head of the student council and are faced with making a difficult decision regarding one of the graduates. This girl has always been a worthy student. Throughout all her years of study, she received only high grades, she has many friends, and ideal behavior. However, towards the end of the school year, she fell ill and did not attend school for some time. She missed three weeks of classes, and when she returned, she was informed that in one of the subjects she was not enough to graduate with excellent marks. She was so desperate that, having found a report on the necessary topic on the Internet, she passed it off as her own. Her teacher caught her doing this and sent her to you. If you decide that it is plagiarism, then she will not receive a high grade, and therefore will not be able to qualify for budget education at the university of her dreams. What would you do?

Your loved one is immortal because he and his family drank from the fountain of youth, unsuspectingly. You love him very much and know that this is your destiny. However, the only way to stay with him is to also drink from the fountain of youth. But if you do this, all your family and friends, as well as all your acquaintances, will grow old and eventually die. On the other hand, if you do not drink from the spring, you will grow old and eventually die, and the person you are with will never see you again and will be condemned to eternal loneliness. Which would you choose?

You are a concentration camp prisoner. The sadistic guard is about to hang your son who tried to escape and tells you to push the stool out from under him. He tells you that if you don't do this, he will kill your other son, who is another innocent prisoner. You have no doubt that he will do exactly as he says. What will you do?

3. Son and granddaughter

Much to your horror, your son lies tied up on the tracks as the train approaches. It so happens that you have time to use the switch and direct the train in the other direction, thereby saving your son. However, on the other side lies the bound granddaughter, the daughter of this particular son of yours. Your son begs you not to kill his daughter or touch the switch. What will you do?

A very evil, psychologically unstable man tried to kill your son when he was very young, but then, having killed the child's uncle and aunt who were looking after him, he never got to the baby. After the murder, you fled into hiding, but now you have discovered that the prophecy has come true, and that part of the killer's soul has moved into your child. In order to overcome this evil and defeat this man, your son must go to him and allow himself to be killed. Otherwise, after some time, your son, with part of the soul of a villain, may himself become one. The son courageously accepts his fate and decides to go to the villain in order to bring peace. You as a parent:

Hold him because you feel you have to protect him;

Accept his choice.

Jim works for a large company and is responsible for hiring employees. His friend Paul has applied for a job, but there are several people who are more qualified than Paul and have a higher level of knowledge and skills. Jim wants to give this position to Paul, however, he feels guilty because he should be impartial. He tells himself that this is the essence of morality. However, he soon changed his mind and decided that friendship gave the moral right to be partial in some matters. So he gives the position to Paul. Was he right?

In modern economic conditions, doing business is often associated with tough behavior of enterprises and entrepreneurs, constant confrontation with competitors and other counterparties. Unfair competition, industrial espionage, unethical attitude of enterprise owners towards their employees, and the like are common. Ethics itself becomes an ambiguous concept. The question arises about the possibility and feasibility of using business ethics when making business decisions.

Sometimes business ethics is defined as an oxymoron, that is, contradictory in the very combination of words that are opposite in meaning. In addition, some scientists consider the possibility of using business ethics “in conditions of fierce competition, the struggle for survival, and pressure from power structures” to be questionable. Due to different perceptions of benefits, different goals and moral beliefs, each side may consider its own position to be correct. However, the use of universal moral values in the process of one's activities and when making business decisions contributes to the establishment of a positive image of the enterprise and reliable successful relationships with counterparties.

In management practice, rules prohibiting such acts of fraud have become widespread; extortion; giving gifts to an official; inciting conflicts based on clashes of interests; tax avoidance; sale of substandard products; disclosure of company secrets; illegal use of information obtained from a person who trusts the person who makes the business decision, etc. However, these norms are not always implemented in practice, especially when a person knows that he will not be held responsible for the business decisions made.

Reasons for unethical activities may include competition; desire to have big profits; inept incentives for managers for ethical behavior; decreasing importance of ethics in society; the desire to achieve the goal and fulfill the mission of the enterprise at any cost; unethical behavior of partners (subcontractors, founders, suppliers, etc.); the occurrence of conflict, stress and other similar phenomena in the enterprise; unsuccessful selection and inept application of leadership styles at the enterprise; the enterprise development and decision-making system is too complex. Making unethical decisions can actually lead to profits and goals being achieved faster or at less cost than making ethical decisions. However, unethical behavior will eventually lead to distrust in such an enterprise and the loss of partners and possible income in the future.

Every person who makes business decisions, in the course of his work, sooner or later encounters situations in which there is no clearly correct decision - the so-called ethical dilemmas. In such situations, a contradiction arises between the interests and values of different individuals, which cannot always be resolved using ethical principles.

An example of an ethical dilemma would be a situation in which a person needs to make a decision between two alternatives, either of which may be "correct". For example, there is an enterprise in which one of the top managers is responsible for the work of individual employees and makes a decision about hiring or firing them from work in accordance with their productivity and work results. The enterprise employs a woman who, like other employees, is engaged in selling the product of the enterprise. She was a successful sales manager, she was respected by customers, often she was that employee who could exceed the plan and increase sales volumes and profits of the entire enterprise. Recently, this woman’s daughter fell ill, the duration of the illness is uncertain, so it is impossible to predict its duration and recovery. Due to the daughter’s serious illness, the woman’s performance became unsatisfactory, which affected overall performance of the enterprise.The management of the enterprise warned the top manager that the unsatisfactory performance of his department and subordinates would directly affect his career and compensation for the work performed. The top manager is faced with the need to make a decision. The alternatives for this solution are. The first alternative is to relieve the woman from her position and hire another employee who can perform the duties in accordance with the plans. The second alternative is to keep the woman in the position and persuade other workers to do her part of the work to ensure that the overall enterprise plan is carried out until the woman herself can perform her duties properly (that is, after her daughter has recovered after an indefinite period of time). This decision turned out to be an ethical dilemma for the top manager, since both alternatives can be defined as “correct” and “ethical”. On the one hand, freeing a woman means punishing her for unintentional actions and circumstances beyond her control. In addition, a woman's past history of successful performance, reliability, and productivity may warrant some degree of loyalty from management toward her. On the other hand, if a woman remains in the workplace, her employees will have to work longer hours and take on other people's responsibilities indefinitely without adequate compensation. This redistribution of responsibilities is unfair for other workers. Any decision that the top manager makes will turn out to be, on the one hand, ethical in relation to either the woman or her employees, and on the other hand, will affect some interests of either the employees or the woman (in accordance with what decision is made ).

So, an ethical dilemma is a situation in which a decision is made that increases the welfare of one person and at the same time reduces the welfare of another person. Moreover, a person can be understood as any person, group of people, or organization. Depending on the number of people affected by the decision, a simple (two people) or complex (three or more people or two or more problems) ethical dilemma is distinguished.

Several types of ethical dilemmas are also identified (Table 6.3.).

Table 6.3

Types of Ethical Dilemmas

Dilemma type	essence	Possible solution
distribution conflict	An enterprise distributes a positive or negative benefit between two or more counterparties. For example, an enterprise decides in which region to locate hazardous production, which employees to fire due to staff reductions, which suppliers to enter into a contract with, and the like. The peculiarity of this situation is that the enterprise itself does not care which of the counterparties will be affected by this decision (for example, both applicants for concluding a contract or for exemption are equally valuable for the enterprise)	The dilemma is easily resolved if the benefit can be shared: in this case, the ethical solution is to provide the benefit to all claimants equally or in proportion to some merit. Resolving a dilemma becomes difficult if the good cannot be shared
Conflict between two dissimilar contracts	The decision maker is faced with the need to take an action that leads to compliance with the terms of the contract with one of the interested parties and to a violation of the terms of the second contract with another of the interested parties. An example of this situation is the problem of informing a colleague about his upcoming dismissal, etc.	The situation can be solved quite easily using the idea of redistribution - the manager must fulfill a contract that provides greater value and then use this value to compensate for the losses of the counterparty with whom the contract was violated
High-cost application of ethical standards	An enterprise in accordance with universal market ethics brings excessive losses to one of the interested parties. For example, according to the ethical solution to the “termination of contract” dilemma, an enterprise has the moral right to fire a worker when market demand or productivity declines, but it may turn out that the life or health of the worker depends entirely on maintaining this job. Another example of such a situation is the strike of air traffic controllers, which is aimed at increasing wages, but leads to delays or cancellations of flights of many airlines and, as a result, disruption of the personal and business plans of tens of thousands of passengers	The application of ready-made conclusions and recommendations of normative business ethics based on the analysis of standard economic dilemmas is impossible in this case. The decision maker must independently apply the principles of normative ethics to analyze the particular complex ethical dilemma she is faced with

Any way to solve an ethical dilemma cannot be considered uniquely correct. Often, when making a certain decision, the person responsible for this decision is forced to determine priorities: their own moral beliefs, the requirements of society or the standards of professional ethics and management requirements. There are often cases when the correctness of a particular decision is not clearly stated in any professional standards, and then the person must act at his own discretion.

Thus, ethics plays a significant role in the activities of the enterprise and individual workers, its principles can be used when making business decisions. Compliance with the principles of business ethics when making decisions helps an enterprise improve relations with employees and external contractors. Sometimes situations arise that do not have a clearly correct solution, since they affect the values and interests of various individuals and lead to losses when choosing any alternative to their solution. Such situations are called ethical dilemmas, and their resolution often depends on the person who must make the decision.

Higher professional education

"Altai State University"

Faculty of Sociology

Department of Social Work

Topic: Ethical dilemma in social work practice.

Performed:

Shitova L.A.

2nd year student d.o.gr.1012

Scientific adviser:

Chukanova T.V.

Candidate of Social Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department

social work

__________________________

(signature)

Grade___________________

Barnaul 2013

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3

Chapter 1. The place and role of the ethical dilemma in the activities of a social worker…………………………………………………………………. ...............................4

1.1.The concept of moral and ethical dilemma in social work…………4

1.2.Main types of ethical dilemmas in social work………………..9

Chapter 2. Ways to solve ethical dilemmas…………………………….14

2.1. Principles of social work as a mechanism for solving ethical dilemmas………………………………………………………………………………………..14

2.2. Ways to overcome psychological problems by a social work specialist when solving ethical dilemmas………………………22

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….27

List of references…………………………………………………………….28

Introduction

Social work, as a special type of professional activity, has a specific, unique set of ideals and values that developed in the process of developing the principles and norms of behavior of specialists. Being a specialized activity, social work contains unique situations and contradictions that must be resolved in the process of activity itself and which are often the subject of this activity. This circumstance makes it necessary to adhere to special, stricter moral principles and norms in activities.

Social work specialists are called upon to help people in difficult life situations, but when a specialist is faced with an ethical dilemma in the course of his work, the quality of his services may decrease or even harm the client, which should not be allowed, so it is important to study such ethical categories of social work like a dilemma.

The effectiveness of social work largely depends on the social worker, his knowledge, experience, and personal qualities. However, the professional responsibility of a specialist is determined not by himself, but by the values and ethical principles adopted by professional organizations - Associations of Social Workers. The values and ethical principles of social work are reflected in the ethical code of the profession, which serves not only as a guide for practical activities, but in a complex situation of moral and ethical choice or contradiction.

Chapter 1. The concept and role of an ethical dilemma in the activities of a social worker.

In the course of his activities, a social work specialist is forced to meet and work with different people, their problems and individual situations. Every person living in society usually adheres to certain norms instilled in him by society and social institutions in the process of socialization. However, each individual has different ideas about morality and ethics, their boundaries and manifestations. In view of this, social workers, in the process of professional communication with various categories of people, may encounter problems of a professional nature. Such problems include moral and ethical problems of social work.

When we say “there is a dilemma in life,” we mean a situation where a person faces a necessary choice between two identical possibilities.

Dilemma - 1). A combination of judgments, inferences with two

opposite positions, excluding the possibility of a third. 2). A situation in which choosing one of two opposing solutions is equally difficult.

In other words, a dilemma is a situation in which the choice of one of two opposing possibilities, sometimes of equal value, is equally difficult.

The National Encyclopedia of Psychology defines an ethical dilemma as follows:

Ethical dilemma - the problem of a person’s choice between two equally possible ways of social behavior. Preference for any of them leads to a person’s violation of any moral or ethical standards .

An ethical dilemma is a situation of moral choice when the implementation of one moral value destroys another, no less important one. Such problems are faced by social sector specialists such as doctors, journalists, teachers and, of course, social workers.

The ethical dilemmas that arise in social work are different from those that exist outside the profession. The nature of the ethical dilemma may depend on the social, cultural, and political conditions of the country in which social work is carried out.

In his book “The Forbidden Raft” P. Kurtz identifies the following features that constitute an ethical dilemma:

First, a moral dilemma represents some problem or issue that needs to be resolved. It may be fraught with conflicts between values, norms, rules or principles. In a situation of ethical dilemma, we may face some difficulty or obstacle, our behavior may be questioned by others who do not agree with our way of acting or understanding of true and false. Secondly, an ethical dilemma involves the reflective person himself, who feels the need to make a choice or a series of acts of choice. But this presupposes that we can choose, that we have some degree of freedom to do exactly this or that way. The third feature of an ethical dilemma is the possibility of considering alternative courses of action. If we do not have a clear choice, and we are faced with only one possibility, then the concept of choice has no meaning. Such hopeless situations happen in real life, for example, when a person is in prison and is deprived of all freedom of movement, or when a person dies and his death cannot be prevented. An ethical dilemma must have two or more possible solutions. These alternatives may arise due to social or natural circumstances or be the result of the creative ingenuity of the ethical researcher, i.e. subject of a moral dilemma. Fourth, when we approach an ethical dilemma intelligently and maturely, we are always able to reflectively identify and evaluate alternative courses of action. This indicates the presence of a specific kind of cognitive process of ethical questioning, reflection, and research. The fifth element of the ethical dilemma is that our choices affect reality and thus have certain consequences. Sixth, to the extent that an action follows from a choice that the individual has made consciously (whether accompanied by deliberation or not), and to the extent that the consequences in turn follow from that action, the individual may incur responsibility for your actions. This means that we can praise him if we approve of his actions, or blame him if we do not approve. This is where the phenomenon of responsibility arises

In practice, social workers have to face a variety of ethical issues and dilemmas as a result of their obligations to clients, colleagues, their own profession, and society as a whole. These problems are often vague, uncertain and give rise to uncertainty, the desire to ignore and evade them. It is easy to adhere verbally and abstractly to the majestic values set forth in monographs and textbooks, and thus demonstrate one’s responsibility. But to apply such abstract values as self-determination or the sovereignty of the client’s personality for guidance in everyday work is not only difficult, but sometimes dangerous if they cause a false sense of complacency in the social worker, while the client is not able to adequately implement them .

Most of the social worker's difficulties arise from the need to choose between two or more conflicting obligations. For example, many national codes of ethics and social work statutes require social workers not to engage in activities that violate or diminish the civil or legal rights of clients. At the same time, they must respect their obligations to the employing organization. It is quite possible that these two principles will conflict with each other if the policy of the institution to which the rights are transferred leads to a violation of the civil rights of clients, for example, due to financial interests or self-interest in the case of the “distribution” of humanitarian assistance.

Problem areas and ethical dilemmas are not always common across countries due to differences in culture and governance. Each national association of social workers should encourage debate to clarify the most important issues and problems specific to the country. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify a group of ethical dilemmas that sooner or later arise in practical social work in any society and to overcome which, due to preventive responsibility, one should be prepared.

So, we can conclude that a moral dilemma represents some problem or issue that needs to be resolved. It can be fraught with conflicts between values, norms, rules or principles, which every social work professional faces. Problem areas and ethical dilemmas are not always common across countries due to differences in culture and government.