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Articles by Frederic Reamer
Social Worker Safety: Emerging Best Practices
Spring 2026 Issue Social Worker Safety: Emerging Best Practices By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 26 No. 2 P. 10 The possibility of workplace violence has always shadowed social workers. They step into hospital rooms when emotions are running hot, knock on doors in neighborhoods when they are part of a police response team, and share offices with colleagues who have been hit, threatened, or stalked.
Documentation Strategies: AI in Social Work
Fall 2025 Issue Documentation Strategies: AI in Social Work By Frederic G. Reamer, PHD, LCSW Social Work Today Vol. 25 No. 4 P. 18 Emerging Ethical and Risk Management Issues Social work’s 19th-century pioneers could not have forecast that in the 21st century, the profession’s practitioners would use AI to serve clients and others in need. In the late 1800s, during social work’s inaugural years, the only way to serve vulnerable people was to meet with them face-to-face.
Ethics: Adoption Challenges in the Digital Age: Ethical and Clinical Issues
Summer 2024 Issue Ethics: Adoption Challenges in the Digital Age: Ethical and Clinical Issues By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD, and Deborah H. Siegel, PhD, LICSW, DCSW, ACSW Social Work Today Vol. 24 No. 3 P. 8 Massive changes in today’s digital world confront everyone touched by adoption.
Eye on Ethics: Moral Hazard in Social Work
Home | Subscribe | Resources | Reprints | Writers' Guidelines Winter 2024 Issue Eye on Ethics: Moral Hazard in Social Work By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 24 No. 1 P. 6 Despite their best efforts and intentions, social workers’ interventions may cause harm to clients or to third parties. On occasion, such harm occurs because social workers take unnecessary risks—what economists refer to as moral hazard.
Standards of Care in Social Work: Ethical and Risk Management Implications
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Eye on Ethics: Protecting Client Records
Eye on Ethics: Protecting Client Records By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 23 No. 1 P. 30 Over the years, I‘ve been a formal ethics consultant or “expert witness” in many litigation and licensing board cases involving social workers.
Eye on Ethics: Understanding Behavioral Health Advance Directives
Eye on Ethics: Understanding Behavioral Health Advance Directives By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 22 No. 4 P. 30 Several years ago, I consulted on an ethics case involving a social worker’s client who struggled with schizophrenia. The client once had a thriving career as a supervisor in the construction industry.
Eye on Ethics: Moral Disengagement in Social Work
Eye on Ethics: Moral Disengagement in Social Work By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 22 No. 3 P. 28 Unfortunately, during my career I have been summoned to serve as an expert witness in many litigation and licensing board cases in which social workers allegedly engaged in misconduct. Examples include the following: • A social worker employed in a hospital-based program serving clients with trauma histories pled guilty to engaging in sexual relationships with multiple clients.
Fall 2021 - Social Work Today
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Eye on Ethics: Moral Courage in Social Work
Eye on Ethics: Moral Courage in Social Work By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 23 No. 2 P. 30 In 2015, Kentucky child welfare worker Tim Williams reported to state social service officials that nearly 100 cases of alleged child abuse and neglect were misplaced and not investigated for months. Williams also alleged that some social workers had lied in court about investigations and made serious errors.
Summer 2021 - Social Work Today
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Eye on Ethics: How to Conduct Confidentiality Risk Assessments
Eye on Ethics: How to Conduct Confidentiality Risk Assessments By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 22 No. 2 P. 28 By now, social workers are generally familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which provides strict data privacy and security provisions to safeguard protected health information (PHI). Beyond the well-known HIPAA basics, however, are myriad—and vitally important—details that are less familiar to many social workers.
Summer 2021 - Social Work Today
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This I Believe New England - Words Matter
Published Tue Oct 19 2021 21:48:12 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) In 1951 – exactly seventy years ago – famed broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow inaugurated This I Believe across this nation’s airwaves. In his opening words, Murrow said: This I Believe. By that name, we present the personal philosophies of thoughtful men and women in all walks of life.
Fall 2021 - Social Work Today
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Eye on Ethics: The Invisible Gorilla and Social Work Ethics
Eye on Ethics: The Invisible Gorilla and Social Work Ethics By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 21 No. 3 P. 30 Many ethical issues are obvious. Every clinical social worker understands that it is unethical to be Facebook friends with clients and bill for services they never provided. Social work administrators know that it is unethical to falsify quarterly reports in order to enhance funding from government agencies and foundations.
Eye on Ethics: The Importance of Motives in Ethical Decisions
Eye on Ethics: The Importance of Motives in Ethical Decisions By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 21 No. 2 P. 8 Learn how the doctrine of double effect comes into play. Recently, several colleagues and I provided outreach to people who struggle with homelessness in our community. In conjunction with a local agency that offers supportive services to this population, we set out at 6:30 in the morning to locate people who might need assistance.
Spring 2021 - Social Work Today
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Eye on Ethics: Social Workers and Self-Disclosure
Eye on Ethics: Social Workers and Self-Disclosure By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 21 No. 1 P. 32 Recently, the National Public Radio program Here & Now broadcast a compelling segment, “If You Have a Mental Illness, Should You Tell Your Employer?” During the segment, a guest who lives with bipolar disorder shared her ambivalence about telling employers about her mental health challenges.
Virtuous Virtual Social Work
Virtuous Virtual Social Work By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD May 2020 The social work careers all of us planned on no longer exist, at least for now. COVID-19 has made sure of that. Hospice social workers communicate with patients and their loved ones on smartphones. School social workers and students connect with each other on their respective laptops and tablets. Social workers in independent practice are scrambling to learn the art of video counseling.
This I Believe - New England: Gravestones
Published Mon May 11 2020 17:56:49 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Perhaps most of us have spent some time anticipating our own deaths, our own mortality. Maybe these are but fleeting moments, or maybe not. Have you ever pictured the gravestone meant for you, and what it might mean to those who visit your grave site? For many of us this may be a macabre subject, one that’s hard to embrace.
An Ethics Primer
Tele-Social Work in a COVID-19 World: An Ethics Primer By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD April 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has transformed social work. Legions of practitioners who have customarily provided face-to-face services to clients have shifted suddenly to online and distance counseling. Of course, a relatively small percentage of social workers have been providing remote services for quite some time, as video, text-based, e-mail, and smartphone technology has matured.
Ethical Challenges and Coronavirus
Ethical Challenges and Coronavirus By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD March 2020 Decades from now, social workers are likely to recall 2020 as the year their lives were transformed by COVID-19, aka coronavirus. With little notice, legions of social workers suddenly found themselves facing unprecedented roadblocks in their effort to serve their clients. In-person meetings were cancelled. Both clients and social workers scrambled to fashion new ways of connecting remotely.
This I Believe New England - A Larger Neighborhood
Published Wed Feb 26 2020 00:18:39 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) For so many of us, pets are at the center of our lives. They have a remarkable capacity to gauge our moods, comfort us, even protect us. And, pets can also take us outside of ourselves, helping us to discover and connect with the rich and complicated world that surrounds us. And that’s what we hear from Don Reese. Don Reese teaches humanities at the Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
This I Believe New England - Putting Down The Camera
Published Tue Feb 11 2020 22:56:12 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) The famed photographer Robert Frank once said, “The eye should learn to listen before it looks.” Now, isn’t that profound. The clear implication is that we need to truly notice what’s around us before we try to capture it through a camera lens. Yet, so many of us have grown accustomed to viewing the world through our omnipresent smartphones. Mary Murphy is here with a wise and cautionary message.
This I Believe New England - Winter
Published Tue Feb 04 2020 23:00:58 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Here we are, in the midst of yet another New England winter. For some, this stretch of months with early sunsets is filled with dread -- frosty temperatures, snow piles to shovel, sluggish car engines, and ice patches to dodge. But for others of us, this wintry mix is the stuff of pure delight. Shimmering sunlight bouncing off of icicles. Soft, gentle snow that dusts the landscape and slows down our fast-paced lives.
Eye on Ethics: Social Workers’ Duty to Protect and Warn
Eye on Ethics: Social Workers’ Duty to Protect and Warn — Evolving Standards By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Social Work Today Vol. 20 No. 1 P. 5 On July 18, 2010, Jan DeMeerleer entered the home of his former girlfriend, Rebecca Schiering, and killed her and one of her sons. DeMeerleer later took his own life. DeMeerleer had a long history of living with depression and bipolar disorder; for a number of years he had received treatment from psychiatrist Howard Ashby, MD, in Spokane, WA.
January/February 2020 - Social Work Today
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This I Believe New England - Shakespeare
Published Wed Jan 08 2020 00:08:53 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Imagine yourself as a high school English teacher trying to inspire your students to grapple with the complex nuances embedded in Shakespearean literature. Not an easy task, you may be thinking. But as many of us have come to know and appreciate, often decades post-high school, Shakespeare is chock full of profound insights and life lessons, if only we have the patience and persistence to delve into the Bardâs writings.
This I Believe New England - Empathy
Published Tue Dec 31 2019 22:09:38 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Empathy â real empathy â is a mysterious phenomenon. The poet Walt Whitman wrote, "I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.â It is reasonable to ask whether we have the capacity to truly tune into other peopleâs experiences, particularly when theyâre traumatic.
This I Believe New England - Miracles
Published Tue Dec 24 2019 22:06:17 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) The nineteenth century novelist Joseph Conrad once wrote, âMy task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feelâit is, before all, to make you see.â And that is exactly what this public radio series aims to do.
This I Believe New England - Muddling Through
Years ago famed sociologist Erving Goffman wrote about a concept he dubbed "impression management." Goffman's thesis was rather simple, yet quite elegant: People have a tendency to manage the impressions others have of them. Sometimes our efforts are designed to convince other people to like us, hire us, vote for us, marry us, or maybe buy something from us.
This I Believe New England - Psychiatric Care For The Homeless
In recent years, so many of us have become keenly aware of people struggling with homelessness. We see them at traffic intersections, huddling in doorways, and sleeping under bridges. Many others are hidden from view. In Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, an impressive coterie of professionals spends their days and nights reaching out to those in need, offering them support and services.
This I Believe New England - Hospice Care
It may seem all too hackneyed to say that death is a mysterious, often anxiety-producing, subject. The truth, of course, is that so many of us struggle to wrap our hearts and minds around the meaning of dying and death. When will I die? How will I die? Will I have the opportunity to choose to die on my terms? Some of us are able to confront these questions. Others of us shy away from them, whether for psychological, cultural, or spiritual reasons.
This I Believe New England - Falling Back
Seasons, especially the shift from one to the next, are complicated. For some, the shrinking daylight and chillier air are filled with foreboding. But others of us relish the changing solar and lunar dance. As Mark Twain wrote, âI think that to one in sympathy with nature, each season, in turn, seems the loveliest.â For Leigh Vincola, itâs best to appreciate the season weâre in, right now. Leigh Vincola is a writer, food systems advocate and, she says, emerging yoga teacher.
Pattern Recognition Theory and Social Work Ethics
Pattern Recognition Theory and Social Work Ethics By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD November 2019 Social workers have come to understand that professional work often produces exceedingly complex moral and ethical challenges that demand keen insight, astute analysis, and skilled management. In some instances, social workers reach quick consensus about the most appropriate course of action.
This I Believe New England - Small Packages
Published Wed Nov 06 2019 01:02:40 GMT+0000 (UTC) by Frederic Reamer Vincent van Gogh once said, âGreat things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.â Letâs hear Mike Finkâs reflections on the value of all things small. Mike Fink is a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. This I Believe New England - Small Packages This I Believe New England - Small Packages
This I Believe New England - Aphasia
All of us encounter setbacks in lifeâsome small, some medium, some super-sized. The unsuccessful job search. The long-term relationship that did not end well. The disappointing test results. We hope, of course, that we have the resolve to weather the sorts of unbidden storms that arrive in our lives. And thatâs precisely what we hear from Michael Obel-Omia, whose inspiring persistence and grit are a lodestar.
This I Believe New England - From Prison To Stage
Many listeners have been mesmerized over the years by the trials and tribulations of former Providence mayor Vincent âBuddyâ Cianci. Our beloved Trinity Rep has brought this story to stage in the play The Prince of Providence. One of the lead actors is a Providence native, Erick Betancourt, who has his own compelling story to tell.
This I Believe New England - Staying Alive
Itâs no secret that the news is saturated with disturbing and disquieting reports of suicide. The statistics are downright frightening: Between 1999 and 2017, the suicide rate in the U.S. increased 33 percent. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for people ages 35 to 54, and the second for 10- to 34-year-olds. Of course, underneath these stark numbers are real livesâthe lives of the people we have lost to suicide and those they left behind who must manage their grief.
This I Believe New England - Parks
When we think about plunging into nature, most of us conjure up images of hiking in bucolic forests, paddling up tranquil rivers, and splashing in remote lakes. But right smack in our own backyards are some hidden gems, often overlooked because of their urban surroundings laced with high rises, barren blacktop, and cold cement. Nature lover Scott Turner is here to remind us to take a closer look at the abundant offerings that are right around the corner.
This I Believe New England - Caretakers
Witnessing the slow and jagged cognitive decline of a loved one is among lifeâs greatest challenges. Encounters that were once so smooth and carefree are fraught with anxiety, frustration, and uncertainty, sometimes with sporadic moments of levity and ease. For caretakers, thereâs often the drip, drip, drip of compassion-filled, yet relentless and often taxing caregiving, perhaps accompanied by the glow of memories of what once was.
My Turn: Frederic G. Reamer: Grasping how precious freedom is
By Frederic G. Reamer Wednesday Sep 11, 2019 at 6:06 PM On June 26, I was in Hong Kong. I spent the day putting the finishing touches on a lecture I was scheduled to deliver the following day at the University of Hong Kong. Entirely by coincidence, I was teaching in Hong Kong during what has become known as the summer of protest. I kept a close eye on the headlines that saturated the local news.
This I Believe New England - Motherhood
Parenting, as many of us know, is chronically, relentlessly complex. Sure, there are those wonderful highs that donât require any sort of hyperbole: first words, first steps, deep emotional connection, the child who says thank you and truly means it. And, then, thereâs the other stuff thatâs sometimes part of the package: the indescribable exhaustion during infancy, the school and dating crises, the teenagerâs dramatic eye-rolling. Yes, parenting is complicated.
This I Believe New England - Clearing The View
All of us carry family memories as we travel through life. Some may be laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, or heartwarming. Others, sadly, may be painful and filled with anguish. The reality, of course, is that most of our lives are filled with a mix of memories that put broad smiles on our faces and fill our eyes with tears. Whatever form they take, these memories often shape the way we understand our lives and the people who shaped who weâve become.
This I Believe New England - Rhode Island Free Clinic
Health care is such a loaded and complicated topic. All of us are concerned about access to primary care physicians and specialists when our bodies donât behave the way we want. The most fortunate among us have a doctor we can call when we need one. But many in our community fall between the proverbial cracks and seek help at health care clinics that serve those who are uninsured and who may have no alternative.
This I Believe New England - Strength From Trauma
No one wants trauma in their lives. We don't want a spouse to die suddenly. We don't want cancer diagnoses. We don't want to be the victim of an armed robbery or a serious car accident. Yet, we know that life is filled with perils, and throughout our journey some are likely to come our way, no matter our efforts to dodge them. What we hope is that when trauma crosses our path, we have the wherewithal to learn the life lessons it can teach us and move on.
This I Believe New England - Poems
Published Tue Mar 31 2020 23:00:01 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Words matter. They matter a lot. We string words together in myriad ways. Sentences filled with compelling prose. Catchy phrases that inspire us. One-word exclamations, some of which are unprintable and can't be said on the air. And then there's poetry: the exquisitely careful, often delicate, assemblage of words that linger together artfully in ways that are sometimes hard to anticipate when we try out their juxtaposition.
When Ethical Standards Collide
When Ethical Standards Collide By Frederic G. Reamer, PhD July 2019 Recently, I received a telephone call from a social worker employed in a county public defender’s office. The public defender’s office provides legal representation to indigent defendants charged with criminal offenses. Many of the clients struggle with mental illness and substance use disorders.
This I Believe New England - Neighbors
Life in Rhode Island and south coast Massachusetts communities is so full of texture, replete with culture, ethnic diversity, topography, and cuisine that are so unique to the region. No place is perfect, of course, but so many of us extol the virtues of the lives we lead in this little corner of the world. Some of us have lived here our whole lives; others are transplants.
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