Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET | 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. CT
Location: Live Zoom Webinar
Presentation Title:
Forensic Social Work Ethics: A Struggle with Dual Loyalty in Solitary Confinement
Presenter:
Mary Buser, LCSW | Ali Winters, DSW, LCSW
Cost – $30
Logistics
Zoom information will be emailed to participants the afternoon before and morning of the event. Registration will close two hours before the event start time. This event is live and will not be recorded.
Discounts
To request a discount code, please follow the instructions below. One discount allowed per purchase.
- UTCSW Alumni: 25% – please email your graduation year and the program you completed to cswcep@utk.edu.
- UTCSW Field Instructors: 50% – please send an email using your agency email address to cswcep@utk.edu.
- UTCSW Faculty/Staff: 100% – you may have already received this info; please check your inbox before emailing cswcep@utk.edu to request the code.
- UTCSW Students: 100% – please contact your program staff member for access.
Course Description
Social workers may know the NASW Code of Ethics and use it to drive ethical behaviors in practice but may not be proficient in resolving more complex ethical conflicts or dilemmas that often present in the practice setting. This workshop is designed for social workers who are interested in learning more about how to navigate ethical dilemmas, in particular, that of dual loyalty – a conflict between competing loyalties of the workplace and the client. The presenters, Dr. Ali Winters and Mary Buser, will walk you through the dimensions of ethical practice highlighting the conflict between a social worker’s commitment to client versus their commitment to practice setting/employer. Through the combination of lecture, case example, guided questioning, and storytelling, the audience will be engaged in the resolution of this complex ethical dilemma and better understand the important nuances this type of ethical issue can raise.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will:
- Participants will be able to define an ethical dilemma, dual loyalty, and solitary confinement;
- Participants will be able to articulate the dangers of prolonged solitary confinement and how this type of confinement is antithetical to social work ethics; and
- Participants will develop an advanced understanding of how to use an ethical decision-making framework for resolving complex ethical conflicts and dilemmas.
Target Audience
Undergraduate & graduate social work students, forensic social work professionals in the field, administrators and leadership in (forensic) legal and human service organizations, and community-based activists.
CEUs
Participants are eligible to earn 2 continuing education units.
A link for the program evaluation will be emailed to participants after the event has concluded. To receive the CEU certificate, participants must complete the evaluation by the deadline indicated in that email. Certificates are not automatically generated and will be emailed out after the deadline to complete the evaluation has passed.
Accessibility
There is space on the event registration form to indicate accommodations required. We work with the university’s Office of Equity & Diversity and Office of Student Disability Services to make arrangements and ask that you allow us adequate time to communicate with them about any services needed.
It is a priority to make our events inclusive and accessible. For any questions or to notify us of a request, please email cswcep@utk.edu at least three business days prior to the event.
Refunds
To request a refund, please email cswcep@utk.edu. Full refunds will be granted up to 48 hours prior to the event. In the event this program is cancelled, full refunds will be issued to all registrants.
About the Presenter
Mary Buser, LCSW, is the director of Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement. She is the author of the award-winning book, Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York’s Notorious Jail, which is based on her work as an assistant mental health chief at Rikers Island. After leaving Rikers, she became an advocate for the incarcerated, especially the mentally ill and those held in solitary confinement. Her Op-ed, “Solitary’s Mockery of Human Rights” was published in The Washington Post. In 2019, she testified before a congressional subcommittee in support of reforms to solitary confinement. She received her MSW from Columbia University.
Dr. Ali Winters is an Associate Professor of Practice in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. She earned her DSW from the University of Tennessee in 2015, her MSW from the University of Alabama in 1996, and her BSSW from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1992. With over 30 years of direct social work practice experience, Dr. Winters’ primary areas of social work practice have been forensic social work in corrections and juvenile justice, direct trauma-based service delivery, program development and evaluation, and behavioral health in healthcare settings. Dr. Winters has also been active in providing clinical supervision and leadership since earning her LCSW in 2005. Her areas of research interest include mental health and solitary confinement, forensic social work ethics, trauma-informed care, and secondary traumatic stress.