This article examines social workers' compliance with the law requiring rep
orting each case of sexual abuse of children or otherwise incompetent perso
ns. In a random representative sample of 212 Israeli social workers, partic
ipants were asked to relate to an ethical dilemma concerning sexual abuse.
The resolution of the ethical dilemma was measured by choice of one of the
following: system oriented decision, client-oriented decision, combined cli
ent-system decision, and nonintervention. Participants in the study were al
so requested to provide reasons for their choice. The content of the argume
nts was analyzed by its relation to the ambiguity of the situation presente
d in the ethical dilemma, its relation to comply with the law, and the rela
tionship between the reported choice and its argumentation. Moreover, socia
l workers' compliance with the law was also analyzed by their field of prac
tice.
Findings showed that 52% of the social workers would report sexual abuse. T
he rate of social workers in the field of child welfare who would report se
xual abuse is higher (70%). Among those respondents who gave reasons for th
eir decision, only 24% related to the lack of adequate information in the p
resented vignette. Seventy one percent of those who explained their choice
cited the legal requirement to report, and, of those, 73% evidenced a relat
ionship between their reported choice and their reason. The article shows t
he ambiguity of the law regarding the obligation to report sexual abuse of
children and discusses the implications of the findings for its implementat
ion.