Introduction
The problem of addiction is one of the major social problems on the contemporary clinical agenda, and much literature has been devoted to finding solutions to it. This paper places the addiction problem within the framework of ethics and diversity issues to explore the relationship between these aspects. A comprehensive problem can be solved when the interests of all parties involved are satisfied, which helps cover the diversity problem and consider the patient’s and support groups’ ethical aspects. This paper conducts a literature review and proposes solutions and an intervention strategy based on the scientific rationale.
Literature Review: Ethical and Diversity Issues in Human Services
The addiction problem within the ethical framework of clinical service delivery is widespread in academic discourse. In fact, in their work, authors tend to study the issue from different angles, depending on the end interest: this includes examining the ethical dimensions of addiction during group and individual therapies, as well as in the context of interactions with key stakeholders, whether they be the patient’s relatives, clinical service providers, or the patient himself (Farisco et al., 2018). With the intense development of medical science, the addiction problem has increased significantly as many people have gained access to addictive drugs over time (Rockecharlie & Wall, 2020). Such an effect has historical roots, as it is well known that previously narcotic substances such as opioid derivatives and cocaine were used legally to form the anesthetic and euphoric effects on patients (Jackson et al., 2021). Over time, the view of their use was radically changed because the negative consequences associated with severe neurophysiological habituation outweighed the benefits of such therapy. Nevertheless, society’s ingrained propensity to take medical drugs for pleasure has only increased.
Given the spread of addiction, it was only natural that clinical agencies should be established to help addicted patients. By now, more than 14,500 specialized organizations in the U.S. help such people cope with addiction and return to a healthy life (NIH, 2018). One of the most famous centers is SAMHSA, a government organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 (About us, 2022). SAMHSA’s mission statement is to take qualitatively preventive and reactive measures to reduce the number of people with addiction. To do this, the organization creates and promotes many national clinical programs that provide psychological support to patients and train communities and clinical service providers to collaborate with such people.
Critical ethical issues raised by the authors in their writings related to the study of addiction to medication are the problems of blurring the boundaries of perception of objective reality. In particular, it has been reported that addicted patients pose a social danger, including to clinical providers, because they may not adequately perceive reality, which increases the likelihood of committing crimes (Shafiei et al., 2021). The effects of substance use on the well-being of those around the patient have also been studied (Haque et al., 2021). Finally, a critical issue that has received sufficient attention in the academic literature is defining the ethical boundaries of the substance abuse patient in the context of respecting their rights and seeking the safety of those around them (Durmaz, 2022; Jackson et al., 2022). Thus, it can be postulated that the addiction problem has a high public and academic profile in the attempt of organizations or researchers to gain a deeper understanding of aspects of the disease.
Value of Diversity in Multidisciplinary Task Forces
The Theoretical Background on Diversity
The specific need that an addicted patient expects to meet in deciding to enter treatment is emotional and psychological support. Research shows that support is most effective when there is a match between the patient and the clinical provider, whether age, race, or culture (Norcross & Wampold, 2018; von Knorring et al., 2020). In other words, the value of diversity in interdisciplinary task forces lies in need to maximize alignment with the patient profile, the ultimate goal of which is to improve treatment effectiveness. The personalization of clinical care driven by increased diversity in task forces has an applied value and thus aims to improve specific outcomes (Norcross & Wampold, 2018). Factors of diversity contributing to these outcomes include maximizing the representation of interested cohorts in the force group. These may include professionals of different ages, cultural backgrounds and professional orientations, and ethnic and religious backgrounds. The benefit of increasing this diversity is increasing the representation of perspectives — decision-making is more effective eventually when the maximum number of interests and needs have been covered.
Relationship of Theory to Diversity Practice
In this context, it is legitimate to discuss the cognitive theory of addiction that determines why people choose to use substances. More specifically, the cognitive theory implies that the false notion generally determines addiction choices and that the benefits of addiction outweigh its drawbacks (Alexander & Ward, 2018). Based on this paradigm, an addicted patient may expect to find life more boring without drug use. This theory can also be consistent with the problem of investing in diversity in support groups. If a patient does not see the proper support from professionals, they are unlikely to give up addiction independently (Norcross & Wampold, 2018). On the contrary, when the force group is diverse, it increases the likelihood of overlap between the specialist and the patient and suggests better decision-making for the individual patient.
From what has been said, it can be concluded that an appropriate intervention strategy to address this social problem should be based on maximizing the match between the patient and the support specialist. More specifically, efforts should focus on finding a support worker with similar interests or cultural characteristics as the patient, allowing the patient to see support from a professional who understands them (Norcross & Wampold, 2018). The expected output from implementing this strategy will allow for increased clinical outcomes and help more patients. However, finding this match may take more effort and time, especially in the context of limited support groups, making the strategy ineffective.
Solutions for Managing Ethical and Diversity Issues
A solution to this problem may be to use the initial questionnaire as a benchmark to explore the client’s interests and needs. For example, when starting an addiction treatment program, clients can fill out a survey indicating their basic support expectations. This practice alone will show the patient that their interests are meaningful to clinical providers, proving to be a positive feature of this solution (Josefsson et al., 2018). It is easy to integrate the previously proposed intervention strategy into this solution because, based on the questions the patient has filled out, it is much easier for the support team to find the right specialist. However, this solution is associated with barriers, as the patient may not be interested in providing truthful information about their interests, especially in light of the sensitive direction of therapy. In this case, it is necessary to turn to an alternative solution may be to have an initial interview with relatives or people close to the patient in case the patient appears unwilling to share information about their interests and needs. However, this solution also has limitations since not all patients want the fact of their treatment to be known to others; clinical providers, in many cases, have no right to go against the patient’s interests (Substance abuse confidentiality regulations, 2022). The solution to this problem requires convincing the patient that therapy will be more effective and less painful if they are willing to share their interests with a support group.
Leadership Role in Task Force Development
Adhering to Ethical Standards in Organizations
Effective leadership to ensure that ethical values are upheld is essential in such a sensitive topic. A leader is an individual in a force group who motivates subordinates and directs the professional vector of the team (Noles et al., 2019). In other words, if the leader fails to ensure high standards of work ethics, subordinates take an example from them, with the result that the professional reliability of such a team decreases. Consequently, personal example and inspiration to promote ethics and diversity practices in the force group should be the primary tools that an effective leader implements during management. Specific strategies that a leader can undertake to do this are to encourage correct professional behavior and punish ethical violations. For example, if an employee speaks unflatteringly of other subordinates who are culturally or ethnically different from him, the effective leader draws attention to this and takes action to eliminate such episodes in the future through fines, public sanctions, or open conversations with all employees.
Concerning the addiction problem, effective leadership is used to assure that all treatment measures taken are ethical and safe for the patient’s interests. Collaborating with people with addiction is associated with stress, leading to conflict between the patient and clinical providers (Hasan et al., 2018). The leader’s job is to reduce the tension and find the best solutions for any confrontations between stakeholders. In other words, an influential force group leader seeks the best solutions for each case and incentives that support ethical standards and stakeholder interests.
Summary/Conclusions
This paper examined the problem of supporting ethics and diversity practices in the context of addiction. Patients with addiction have been shown to need the support possible with increased diversity in the force group, which increases the likelihood of consistency between the patient and the professional (Norcross & Wampold, 2018). In addition, increased diversity affects the effectiveness of decision-making. Based on cognitive addiction theory, specific solutions have been proposed that satisfy all aspects of the complex problem. To implement such solutions, the support team must include an effective leader who promotes compliance with professional, ethical standards and diversity practices.
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