Question of the week

Ethical dilemmas

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities

An ethical dilemma exists when:

Option A. Incorrect answer. a course of action is clearly right but hard to carry out
Option B. Correct answer. two ethical duties apply and honouring one breaches anotherCorrect
Option C. Incorrect answer. a client's choice sits uncomfortably with the worker's values

Why

The defining feature is that both paths have genuine ethical support, so you cannot satisfy one duty without failing the other. A is the situation people most often mislabel: knowing the right answer and dreading it is a test of moral courage, and the response is to do the thing. C is worth taking to supervision and is not by itself a conflict between two professional duties. Getting this distinction right matters before anything else, because a real dilemma calls for a process, while a merely difficult decision usually just calls for acting.