Introduction Nowadays, it is not easy to describe professional work and never talk about ethical principles and values that guide it (Guttmann, 2006). Social work because it is a profession it has its own principles and values that guide its ethical conduct. In addition, Guttmann (2006) argues that the knowledge and skills we have acquired as social workers cannot guarantee an ethical conduct in practice alone. Ethical conduct is an important aspect of social work practice. It involves following and respecting the rules or standards for right conduct, especially the standards of a profession. A professional social worker who has a good ethical conduct must act in ways consistent with what the profession, society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behaviour in social work tends to involve demonstrating respect for key principles that the profession upholds. This paper seeks to critically discuss the importance of ethical conduct in professional social work practice. In doing so, I will explain the philosophical principles that guide ethical conduct in social work. Examples will be used to illustrate this. What is social work? Globally social work definition …show more content…
Since social workers work with a variety of populations, they experience some dilemmas during delivering their services to clients, hence the need for ethical conduct. According to Barker (2003) an ethical dilemma refers to a situation that occurs when two or more moral values seem to be equally legal but contradictory and the practitioner is required to make the best possible choice from among them. So it is important to have ethics that will help in taking ethical decisions. Barker (2003) defines ethics as a system of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong and the resulting philosophy of conduct that is practiced by a
Social workers have several responsibilities. They have to provide service, justice, and dignity to a client. They have to possess integrity, competence, and patience. Social workers need to possess knowledge of human rights, and how to perform scientific inquiry. Social workers occasionally have cases in which problems ensue and a solution is not found within a certain time frame.
This competency is all about being able to make critical decisions in the case of ethical dilemmas and acting professionally in the work place. Although ethical dilemmas rarely have clear-cut solutions, this competency tells social workers to turn to the NASW code of ethics and supervision for guidance. That is exactly what I did for my "Ethic Paper" which you can find below. For this assignment, I was asked to interview a licensed MSW about an ethical dilemma they faced in their career, how they handled it, and how they came to their decisions. This assignment allowed me to better understand how an ethical dilemma is handled in the real world (as opposed to the many hypothetical situations we discuss in class) and also challenged my interviewing
Profession Code of Ethics Comparison As a social work student, we are provided with the foundational education necessary to succeed in our profession. The National Association of Social Work (NASW) Code of Ethics is the most significant publication because it “is intended to serve as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers” (NASW Code of Ethics, 2017). For this assignment, we are charged with exploring other professional codes of ethics to gain a better understanding of how they may be similar or differ from one another. Therefore, I choose to explore the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics with the intention of conducting a comparison analysis of both documents.
Social workers main ethical responsibility is to ensure that the patient is receiving the proper care that they are entitled and that the patient is the main
Code of Ethics The development of human needs and issues led to the establishment of the field of human services in the 1960s. An appreciation of people in all their diversity is a hallmark of human services, which assist their clients in the context of their communities and environments. Human service professionals and those who educate them promote and encourage the distinctive values and characteristics of human services. By doing so, professionals in human services uphold the ethics and integrity of their field, help clients and the community thrive, and advance their careers.
Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43).
The second ethical dilemma is that social work practitioners and their clients have different personal values. Despite social workers best efforts to keep their feelings in check and to respect differences, being confronted with situations in which their
The beginning of the article discusses the ethical dilemmas during client support. It argues about two situations in which ethics needs to be considered. Some people argue that ethics is required in every case, while others disagree. However, the article says that value based decisions are needed in a social worker’s decision other than simply considering knowledge.
The Code reviews broad ethical principles that reflect the profession's center values and builds a set of particular ethical standards that should be used to manage social work practice. 3. The Code is meant to help social workers recognize relevant considerations when professional obligations conflict or ethical uncertainties arise. 4. The Code provides moral standards to which the general public can take the social work profession responsible.
From time to time, social work practitioners face different challenges and one of such example is being confronted with ethical dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is defined as “when the social worker sees himself or herself as facing a choice between two equally unwelcoming alternatives, which may involve a conflict of moral values, and it is not clear which choice will be the right one” (Banks, 2012). Ethical dilemmas can occur in the context of either client or organisational-related conflict situations at work. The first ethical dilemma is when the patient refuses medical treatment and services because he or she would not accept that there is any problem.
Social workers are there to help meet the basic needs of human, also with the need of helping encourage, mentoring, and empower human struggles in society and poverty. The code is designed for many reasons. It identifies core values in which a social worker mission is based, the code summarize broad ethnic principle such as; challenge injustices, respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person, behave in a trustworthy manner, and help people in need and to address social problems. The code is generally designed to help people with relevant needs to there every day life. These codes help apply better and relationship with the worker to client.
I began college as a freshman at Central Michigan University thinking I was going to become an elementary teacher. I knew I wanted to make an impact on peoples lives but after my first week of classes, I remember telling myself becoming a teacher is not how I wanted to do it. I went to my counselor and added a social work course to my schedule. I had finally found courses I enjoyed taking and academically excelled in. Which brings me to where I am now, pursuing my degree in social work.
A) Values and ideology: Describe the values of social work and ideology that you think are most important to your future practice and why you have selected them? The values and ideologies that are most important to my future practice include respect for the inherent dignity and worth of persons, service to humanity and competence in professional practice. First, my value of providing respect for the inherent dignity and worth of persons is important to me and my future practice because it allows me to see the uniqueness in all my clients and subsequent cases. Moreover, it further guides me to allow my clients to be self-determined individuals.
In my social work field supervision, I am expected to abide by the NASW Code of Ethics as well as the state of Alabama code of Ethics. In social work field supervision, it gives me the opportunity to apply theory to direct and community practice with my clients. I also get a chance to learn from a veteran or seasoned social workers by observing, practicing, and experiencing the important integration of theoretical knowledge with practice skills while working with diverse populations and communities. This experience also help me build a sense of professional identity that I can only acquire in a practice setting. Field supervision also help to recognize and adhere to the core values and ethical principles of the social work profession.
Social work is a dynamic helping profession, where the main goal is to improve the welfare of every individual in a society. Law is a system of legal rules that governs the way members of society interact with each other. Law is necessary for order, justice, punishment, protection and to settle dispute. Social workers need to have familiarity with the legal process and the understanding of basic legal principles in order to effectively be able to assess and intervene on behalf of clients. Problems where social work and the law overlap have consistently challenged social work professionals.