Dysfunctional outcomes

Answer

1. Dysfunctional Outcomes and Value Conflict

   Dysfunctional outcomes are undesired in many settings as they make it challenging to realize goals. However, most dysfunctional outcomes occur because of variation in observed values and knowledge among people. According to Levy, often, society obverses values that are different from those which it professes. Therefore, there is constant variation in reading values which people believe in within a typical social setting, thereby resulting in value conflict (Ceva, 2016). On the other hand, according to Gordon, interchanging knowledge and values is a primary cause of dysfunctional outcomes. Primarily, values are beliefs in what is right or wrong while knowledge is the understanding of what is right. The close resemblance of these definitions often makes people to view values as knowledge and knowledge as values, which lead to the interchangeability of the two concepts.

   Social Work Case Scenario

   Dante, aged 15, became a drug addict at the age of 12 after he acquired new friends from their neighbourhood who were Heroin and Marijuana users. Often, he depicts violent behaviors when under the influence and has fought on many occasions with his classmates, friends, and even pushed his mother down the staircases when they argued about extra pocket money. However, the mother seems determined not to let him be taken for rehab and is always insisting that Dante should continue studying at the same school despite the principal’s directive that he should be taken into rehab and an approved school based on the recommendations of the social worker working with other children’s in the school. Dante’s parent insists that the child has a right to education, and the principal is wrong in recommending him for rehab.

   Substituting Values for Knowledge

   Taking values for knowledge leads to a conflict between the social worker together with the school principal against Dante and his parents. Ideally, the social work value in the scenario considers the wellbeing of all involved parties. As such, the recommendation to take Dante to a rehabilitation center with an approved school where his behaviors can be monitored is based on the value that it will keep other learners at Dante’s current school safe while also helping him recover from the drug issue. Moreover, the change will help protect Dante’s mother from any harm that Dante may propagate. However, the outcome could have been dysfunctional because Dante’s parents have insisted that their son has a right to education and proper parenthood. Therefore, the school is wrong to insist on rehab, as that will take away the privilege of proper education and parenthood from Dante. As per Gordon, the stand by the parents could result in dysfunctional outcomes as retaining Dante in the current school could cause harm to other learners, teachers, and even the parents themselves (Moed et al., 2015). Moreover, his drug addiction issue would turn for the worst.

   Substituting Knowledge for Values

   Taking knowledge for values will lead to a conflict between the social worker aligned with Dante’s parents against the school principal. Ideally, social work understands that education is vital to every child. Moreover, drug addiction issues in children can be managed using various programs in conjunction with medications (Wynn, 2016). Therefore, in Dante’s case, taking knowledge for values would lead Dante to remain in his current school while being put on drug management programs. The belief would be that he would change with time, as the programs are known to be effective. Therefore, the parents would remain safe as Dante would realize after learning that it is wrong to be violent against parents. Despite this, the outcome could become dysfunctional because Dante might not work appropriately to realize the full potential of drug addiction management programs. His beliefs that drugs are good could lead him to abuse the drugs in secret.