In 2004, Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan conducted an experiment in which they sent fake resumes out to hundreds of real open job postings. These resumes were identical except for one control—half the fictional applicants’ names were “African American-sounding” and half were “White-sounding.” They found that the white names got 50 percent more callbacks for interviews across all industries and job types, suggesting the presence of racial bias or subconscious attitude formation and stereotyping. Over a decade later, employment discrimination, police bias toward certain groups, and discriminatory housing or financial policies are still at the forefront of current affairs.

For this Discussion, you examine an experience with racial or ethnic bias that you or someone you know has had. As a human and social services professional, drawing awareness to these experiences and your reactions to them may help you begin the process of bringing ethical decision-making sensibilities to culturally or racially sensitive issues, a topic you continue to explore throughout the course.

To Prepare:

• Review this week’s readings, focusing on any implications of your lived experiences with racial or ethnic bias toward clients in your professional area of interest.
• Select a personal experience from your community or workplace related to racial or ethnic bias that you or someone you know has had.
• Reflect on how you handled the situation you selected and whether you would address it differently if you could.

By Day 4

Post a description of the experience you selected. Next, explain how you addressed the bias at the time. Finally, now that you have had time to reflect and consider the situation, explain whether you would have addressed it differently. If so, how? If not, why?

Corey, G., Corey, M. S., Corey, C., & Callanan, P. (2019). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (10th ed.). Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 1, “Introduction to Professional Ethics” (pp. 2–36)
• Chapter 2, “The Counselor as a Person and as a Professional” (pp. 38-65)

Diller, J. V. (2019). Cultural diversity: A primer for the human services (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 1, “Introduction” (pp. 1–10)
• Chapter 2, “What It Means to Be Culturally Competent” (pp. 11-36)
• Chapter 3, “Working With Culturally Diverse Clients” (pp. 37-57)

Scenario 1

Scenario 1
Program Transcript

STACEY: I know I’m required as part of my internship to practice under the
supervision of an experienced professional. I’m supposed to be consulting with
my supervisor on cases. However, I’m also required to protect my clients’
confidentiality. My client just shared with me some confidential information and
asked me not to tell anyone. I said I wouldn’t, but now I’m wondering if I should
share it with my supervisor.

NARRATOR: Does Stacey have an obligation to keep the information
confidential, or does she have an obligation to share it with her supervisor?

© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Scenario 2

Scenario 2
Program Transcript

SEAN: I had some difficulty providing support services to an Ecuadorian
immigrant. I’m the only one that is bilingual, so I was assigned the client.
However, since I’m only fluent in English and Spanish, it’s been difficult, since my
client’s first language is Quechua. My client does speak some very limited
Spanish, but not enough for us to have a clear dialogue. It’s my duty to obtain
informed consent in a language understandable to my client, but I cannot locate
a qualified Quechua translator. I’ve been struggling with whether I should decline
services or provide them, since I know if I decline, the client won’t likely be able
to seek help elsewhere.

NARRATOR: Should Sean decline to provide services to the client?

© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. 1