Ethical dilemmas in social work and theories

Since the beginning of the profession the role of the social worker has changed. Gone are the days of simple charity and assistance for the poor. Now, social work has evolved into a vast profession that stretches its boundaries to many different entities. Schools, hospitals, mental health centers and community agencies are a few places where social workers are needed. Due to the growth and need for social workers, national organizations dedicated to the ethical practices of social workers developed codes of ethics which serves as a guide to the ethical and moral practices of social work. The National Association of Social Workers and the National Association of Black Social Workers are two organizations responsible for developing codes of ethics for social workers. This paper will look at the ethics codes for each organization to compare and contrast each. The goal is to find similarities and differences that can be tailored to successful social work programs.

A social worker has a multitude of responsibilities to ensure the best care is provided for their clients. Due to conflicting interpretations of ethical guidelines and rules, and a variety of personal views, social workers can sometimes find themselves in a tough situation when there are conflicts of interest. This can cause difficult or awkward sessions between the social worker and client, and can ultimately lead to the termination of services. In the case between Allison and Carmen, conflicting views caused Carmen to discontinue her sessions with Allison.

Social workers face complex ethical issues in every aspect of their profession. This work is often ethically challenging because it involves direct contact and interaction with individuals who are vulnerable. There are many factors that influence our decision making especially when working with at risk youths, we often face challenges in wanting to take on certain roles to protect our clients. These roles often conflict with our professional obligations. When our personal and professional values conflicts, our decisions may affect the individual, family, group, community and the organization.

Social work takes its values from various sources, including – Kantian, Utilitarian, Common Morality and Professional Codes of Conduct. Both the Kantian and Utilitarian theories cannot provide social work practice with a complete set of values and ethics. Both the theories have their limitation and strengths. Kant saw the world in black and white, even if a lie could prevent a greater evil the act of lying is fundamentally wrong. Utilitarian theory justifies actions by the end justifying the means. Social work concerns “respect for the person”, this idea originates from Kant, an eighteenth century German philosopher. Beauchamp (1996) defines the principle as a fundamental standard of conduct on which many other standards and judgements depend, a principle that provides an essential norm in a system of thought or belief. Common morality is the idea that all humans have an inbuilt awareness of certain moral norms e.g. murder is wrong, stopping a child running into the road is right. Western philosophy has been debating ethics and morality for thousands of years and still has not formalised a definition for them, so how can anyone truly understand? Furthermore, if the greatest philosophers throughout history have been debating ethics and morality, how can the common man truly understand it?

They understand the value in ethical and professional behavior and the impact it has on their work. Social workers must maintain the highest form of ethical practice because of their intense work in the community. Social workers use NASW Code of Ethics to help them make the most ethical decision because they often hold a lot of weight. Social workers also know how to differentiate their personal beliefs even when in difficult situations. They do not mix their values as a social worker with their values as a person and therefore do not let their beliefs affect their work. Social workers understand the importance of maintaining professional behavior because it can affect their

As a social worker many problems may arise because of the constant grey area of either letting your personal values interfere with your professional opinion. It is essential to provide your client with information and tools to help them succeed and overcome their problems. Following the core values is essential to being a resourceful, competent social worker. In some cases, core values are in conflict. In a situation where more than one core value is in conflict it is considered an ethical dilemma (Hick, 2009). It’s not guaranteed that a perfect solution will arise, therefore one of the core values is subsided because the other has more of an impact on the client.

The section of the National Association of Social Work Ethics that will be discussed will be number four which includes Social Workers’ ethical responsibilities as professionals. This ethics code concentrates on a several different factors which include: 4.01 Competence, 4.02 discrimination, 4.03 private conduct, 4.04 dishonesty, 4.05 personal impairment, 4.06 misinterpretations, 4.07 solicitations, and 4.08 acknowledging credit.

Providing social services can sometimes be a difficult task, with uncertainties and challenges. The codes of ethics are a set of core values for social work professionals. It is important for a social work professional to understand the ethics of social work to make ethical decisions. In this, a social worker must provide quality unbiased service. Professional social

The commitment to act ethically is an essential aspect of social work due to the effect it can have on the quality of the service offered to those who engage with us. Through group discussions in our foundations of social work practice I have become extremely ethically aware and now will always seek to ascertain and respect, as far as possible, each individual’s preferences, wishes and involvement in decision making. From discussions with my fellow classmates I have learnt to strive to respect and uphold the values and principles of the profession by making sure I promote and work towards the code of ethics wherever possible. This in turn enables me act in a reliable, honest and trustworthy manner having worked closely with service users in a professional setting and learned of their good and bad experiences with practitioners through the service user experience we undertook in class. I believe I am now in a good position to apply the social work ethical principles to my professional practice, in a way that seeks to empower my service users and enable me to emulate the best practice. In addition from reading social work journals and staying on top of news regarding the profession more generally I am knowledgeable about the value base of social work as a profession .

There are many ways in which social workers can avoid ethical dilemmas. In regards to the Jones case I will explain five ethical dilemmas. I will explain what 3 core values could have benefitted the Jones family and I will give three strategies I will use to practice ethical behavior in my field of social work in the future.

As a social worker, there are guidelines you have to abide by. You have different values and ethics to follow as well. Values and ethics that you follow are vital and important in different ways. Social workers have to make certain decisions based upon ethics and values. These values and ethics bring us to what we call the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). The NASW is very important for social workers to follow and use as a guide in their profession. It is divided into different sections to follow to use as a guideline to help our clients. The main purpose for the NASW is basically to improve and develop our clients we are working with and their environment. Social workers have a responsibility when it comes

Moreover, this case should be analyzed based on the information provided by the NASW Code of Ethics. The ethical principle included in the NASW Code of Ethics (2008) states that “social worker’s primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems…Social workers seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible manner” (p.5). Suzanne’s social worker would only have to seek for Suzanne’s well-being because if Suzanne and Cindy get separated, they can lose contact, which would affect Suzanne 's emotions.

A social worker should refer to the ethics model of decision making that guides one into making ethically acceptable decisions effectively (Congress, 1999). The ethics model involves the following five steps. Firstly, one should examine the personal, societal, agency, client and professional values affected by the decision. Secondly, one should think about what ethical standards of the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics apply as well as relevant laws and case decisions. Thirdly, hypothesize about possible consequences of different decisions. Fourthly, identify who will benefit and who gets harmed given social works commitment to the most vulnerable. Lastly, consult with supervisor and colleagues about the most ethical

There is a great necessity for the code of ethics in social welfare. The first code of ethics was “adopted in 1960” and was a single page (NASW,1998, para. 8). The last major adoption was in 1996, which was similar to what we see today, in the 2008 edition. In this changing profession it is absolutely necessary for a social worker to have something to reference to when there is an ethical dilemma, because they will transpire from time to time (NASW, 1998).

Social work practice is one in which would always lead you back to the code of ethics when we are faced with difficult circumstances involving ethic and legal issues. It is pertinent for social workers to always assess a situation and decided what is right from wrong versus what is their duty and obligation towards clients. It is important to realize the social issues associated with law and social workers because the outcomes are difference on each of the end spectrum. A social problem between the two is institutional racism in the court and how it is display in the practice. Additionally, a majority of social work practice is geared towards diversity of the clients. Social workers are aware of the sensitive culture and religious background of the clients we served and how to appropriately assess each case individually. Social workers are taught to assess client’s systemic environment-related problems to help construct a useful plan for clients. On the other hand lawyers rarely consider these components because their main focus in the court are the facts of the case which differentiate the two.