Values And Ethics Of Social Work

The mission of social work interconnect with my personal values and mission positively by allowing me to implement them into my profession. Every day I try to focus on doing activities that will allow me to incorporate these values in my life. As a social worker, it’s important to be a professional that my clients can depend on and help them to balance life. By doing that, it does not only give

Ethical theories are however debatable and usually mean different things to different people. It is therefore essential for social workers not to base their decisions solely on these theories, but make use of Codes of practice when faced with ethical dilemmas. Codes of practise are there so service users and carers are informed and know what to expect from social workers and hence there will always be trust between service user and client. According to Banks, values are regarded as those beliefs people regard as worthy or valuable (Banks, 2012).Some values are personal, yet some are culturally/ societally shared. Our personal values form during personal and social development; also past and present experiences influence them. Ethics is that which society considers as right, yet values are

The first value in the Code of Ethics is service. Personally, I believe this is one of the values that basically sums up social work. As a social worker, this value describes how one must help their client. By helping their client, they address obstacles that their client may be facing and help the client find the best available resources to assist them. Second, social justice is the next value described in the Code. This value describes what topics social workers focus on and work with. These can be topics regarding inequality, individuals living below the poverty line, health care, gender inequality and education. Social Workers strive to aid these issues and help clients who are facing these issues.

Social work is a profession which has the objective to improve the quality of life of other individuals. The NASW code of ethics is used as a guideline for social workers and the interaction they have with their clients. In addition, within the code of ethics, there are six values, which include service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. Therefore, going into the social work field it is important to understand that your

– My personal values will have to be respecting others, education, and helping and caring for others. The person(s) who I feel influenced me the most in forming my values is my parents and my grandmother. They influenced me because growing up they always preach about treating others with respect even if I feel like they don’t deserved it. They also made sure that education was a priority and not an option. For as helping and caring for others I always saw them helping when they didn’t necessary didn’t have too and not one complain or threw it in the person face. The value that lead me into social work is helping and caring for others wanting to see them do better and make better decision in life.

Looking at the values listed in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2008) and the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW, 2010) code of ethics, I can see that the values held by the profession are also values I regard highly, such as respect for persons, social justice, professional integrity, service, importance of human relationships, and competence.

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

A career in Social Work requires conviction to personal values that reflect and uphold the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Professional ethics are the foundation of social work, as the trade has an innate obligation to endorse ethical principles and basic values to advocate for the wellness of others. The core values adopted by all social workers, as distinguished by NASW, are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. As a Clinical Social Worker, I will honor the NASW Code of Ethics in addition to my personal values of respect, self determination, responsibility, motivation, and wisdom. My personal values complement the NASW Code of Ethics and will resonate in my work as a social worker.

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.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has written a code of ethics that serves many purposes. The main purpose is to identify the core ethics and values that provide the foundation for the profession. It details six basic principles for social workers to follow: service, social justice, dignity and worth, human relationships, integrity, and competence (National Association of Social Workers, 1999). The code acts as an ethical guide for students, and those professionals just

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 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).

Values are used in every aspect of the social work profession. It is important to have an understanding of these core values for the benefit of the client and the profession. There are many different reasons to become a social worker and many different people who choose to become social workers. I am choosing to become a social worker because, I am passionate about people in need. The core values provide me with the guidance on how to achieve my goals in a kind and effective way.

The six core values of social work are integrity, social justice, competence, dignity and worth of the individual, service, and importance of human relationships. It is vital that a social worker shows that they have integrity, meaning that they should have trustworthy tendencies. Social workers must entice social justice. They should assure that social change is okay and be there for those who are considered oppressed. Social workers should always remain competent and be willing to expand their knowledge and use it to the best of their abilities. Having dignity and knowing the worth of the clients is very important. Social workers should always remain respectful no matter the situation. The goal of a social worker is to provide service

The social work profession is like no other because we advocate for vulnerable populations by meeting people at the point where they interact with their environment. We do not seek to enforce our personal values and beliefs, but we strive to address the needs of people in order to ensure basic human rights for all