Rubric for Final Exam Essay

The Normal Heart

ACT UP is considered one of the most successful grassroots movements of all time https://actupny.org/ . The Normal Heart is a film adaptation of a play written by one of the main organizers of the organization. 

1.     What are the main ethical conflicts the organizers are facing? What are the benefits and costs of the choices they are wrestling with in a health crisis?

How does law help and hinder the organizers at the time?

2.     What is the responsibility of the organization to the community they are serving? Using the NASW Code of Ethics, what should be the priority of the organization?

3.     The film barely mentions medical staff refusing to care for patients with HIV/AIDs, what does the bioethics literature say about refusing care to patients with HIV/AIDs? Are there special protects for patients with HIV/AIDs because of early neglect?

4.     What ethical theories or principles would be helpful in approaching the ethical challenges faced by the organization in the film?

5.     Social workers volunteered time to support and comfort the men dying in the early days of understanding the virus. Is there a possible conflict between a social worker’s ethical obligation to the broader society and their ethical obligation to their profession and other professions when there is a lack of full-scale recognition of the seriousness of a disease? As you see in the film many people risked their jobs and reputations to be a part of the fight. What risks should social workers take in their fight against injustice?

6.     What is the difference between fighting an injustice and managing an injustice? This events in the film are in the 1980s. What issues are happening today that are similar? Are their policies that social workers need to support to address these similar issues today?