Social work students dealing with moral dilemmas in the care for children and young people: an evaluation of moral case deliberation as an educational tool

Abstract

Social work professionals face moral dilemmas. Evidence-based guidelines only partly help them to deal with these dilemmas. Recently, moral case deliberation (MCD) as a bottom-up aid has been successfully introduced into Dutch health care to help strengthen professional moral competence. This research investigates whether MCD can help future professionals caring for children and young people to deal with their dilemmas. Research questions are: (1) How do students evaluate two series of four MCD sessions related to moral dilemmas in cases they experienced in practice? and (2) Does MCD contribute to students’ ability to justify their decisions? Applying a mixed-method evaluation study, we found that students consider MCD highly important. They feel supported in their ability to justify decisions ethically. Most students value the challenge of thinking critically in MCD. However, some do not appreciate the uncertainties which come with this. One-third of the students prove able to justify their decisions ethically after attending MCD sessions. Robust conclusions about MCD as the cause of these results cannot be drawn on the basis of the study design. Suggestions are made for future research regarding the contribution of MCD to the development of competence in dealing better with moral dilemmas.