Ethical Issues in Social Work I will provide practical help for new social workers to help them understand and deal with ethical issues and dilemmas which they will face. There are many ethical issues which are important to social work, but I feel that these are all covered by the care value base. The care value base Was devised by the care sector consortium in 1992, this was so that the workers in health and social care had a common set of values and principles which they would all adhere to. It is important because for the first time the social care sector had a clear set of guidelines from which ethical judgements could be made. The care value base is divided into 5 elements - The care value base covers - Equality and Diversity - Rights and responsibilities - Confidentiality - Promoting anti Discrimination - Effective communication Equality and Diversity Carers must value diversity themselves before they can effectively care for the different races, religions and differently abled people they will come across in their caring profession. Diversity is where there are many different kinds of people living in a community together. This means that in a set environment there will be black, Asian, gay, straight, differently abled people living together in a community. Discriminatory prejustice must be able to be recognised by the carer, for example, if a woman is being discriminated against in a care home, or treated differently in a hospital setting, the carer must be able to recognise that this behaviour is happening, and inform a higher power, or go through the complaints procedu... ... middle of paper ... ...es. The ethical issues surrounding this Act is who’s rights are more important, the right of the parent to have their child with them, or the right of the child to live happily and without fear of abuse. This also applies to schools The Data Protection Act of 1998 means that service users have a right to keep private information confidential, but it also means that they have a responsibly in relation to the rights of other service users. The confidentiality must be kept within certain borderlines, and can be broken when other service user’s rights come into conflict. Certain information may need to be passed to a senior member of staff when there is someone in danger. This relates to ethical issues as it is difficult to decide when confidential information should be shared, as described in my ethical dilemma above.
There is a pressing need for a high level of worker/client boundary identification when working within a client population, however realizing a conflict of interest scenario is vitally important when facing a dual relationship with a client. There are so many issues that are faced by a human service professional, explaining all of them may be difficult. In this field there are issues such as burnout, secondary trauma, compassion satisfaction, dual relationships, and boundary issues. (Reamer, F. (2012). As human services professional or social workers there is a code of ethics. In statement 6 of the code of ethics, it states human services experts must be mindful that in their associations with customers/clients power and status are unequal. Accordingly they distinguish that double or various relationships might build the danger of damage to, or abuse of, customers, and may debilitate their expert judgment. In any case, in a few neighborhoods and circumstances it may not be achievable to escape social or other nonprofessional contact with customers. Human service professional experts...
Working with people can be challenging, but so rewarding all at the same time. As humans, we are certainly not perfect and we are making mistakes daily. Making decisions is one thing that does not come easily to us, and depending on the day you can get multiple different answers to one situation. The NASW Code of Ethics is an extremely helpful tool when we are working with clients and something that does not ever waiver in ethical decision-making. If we are working in the Social work profession, then we must insure we are making the correct decision for everyone who is involved with the client.
As a student new to social work, The Code of Ethics written by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is in the forefront of my mind whenever practicing my freshly learned skills. According to the Code, these rules were written as the “values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (Code of Ethics - NASW, n.d.). Within my most-recent session, certain aspects of this code were relevant, including informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, a commitment to the client, the dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competency of the worker, and social diversity.
In the field of Social work, it is essential that we are all treating clients equally and ethically. It is our duty to promote the well-being of our clients. As individuals, we each have our own values and beliefs. When it comes to social work, all that is pushed aside and we must go off of the NASW code of ethics. We have different responsibilities that go along; the ethical responsibilities to clients, colleagues, our practice setting, as professionals, to the profession and as well as to the society as a whole. This scenario about Frank and his client could very well become a scenario that happens to me in this career in the future. There are five parts to the Ethical Decision making model, Examining, Thinking, Hypothesizing, Identifying, as well as Consulting. This is how we as social workers can maintain good ethical standards.
When dealing with an ethical dilemma, social workers usually reference back to Reamers 7-step process to help with ethical decision-making. In the given case study, we meet Lori a bright fourteen-year-old who is smart, involved in school activities, and sports. She has had a non-normative impacted life since she was young, such as her mother dying of breast cancer and father dying as well. She has no immediate family and was lucky enough to be placed in a foster home with a family who loves her and wants the best for her.
In the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, there are many standards a social worker should uphold in order to promote a healthy and helpful relationship with the client. One such aptitude is Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, which is in section 1.05 of the NASW code of ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). There are three sections associated with this competency “Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths in all cultures”. It is assumed that “social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients”. As a final point “Social workers should obtain education” in order to understand cultural diversity and oppression in people (NASW, 2008, p. 9).
The CASW Code of Ethics outlines a number of values that guide the social work profession. These include (1) Respect for the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons; (2) Pursuit of Social Justice; and (3) Service to Humanity (CASW, 2005a). The first value of Respecting the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons advocates for the protection of individuals because it encompasses the right to self-determination, human rights, and the right to informed consent (CASW, 2005a, p.4). Notwithstanding, one principle found in this value also supports the protection of society, encouraging social workers to "... uphold the right of society to impose limitations on the self-determination of individuals, when such limitations protect individuals from self-harm and from harming others (CASW, 2005a, p.4). This first value from the Code of Ethics makes it confusing for social workers because it guides them to advocate for human rights and self-determination, while justifying limitations in order to prevent harm to the individual or society.
Social work exists inextricably within the presence of ethics and values. Human rights and other values central to social work call for highly idealistic praxis, defining contemporary best practice. Yet, social workers operating in Australian health face dilemmas of meeting at times, untenable ideals within the constraints of exceedingly regulated organisations. Policies, past and present, impact practice and often undermine the principles contingent to social work (Ife, 2008,pp.8). Regardless, social workers are compelled to uphold the ethics and values of their profession. Balance must be struck between competing factors, a task that is not entirely achievable in certain contexts (Dominelli, 2012). In this assignment, review of rural health and the level of autonomy it affords professionals will take place. Emphasis will be given to the controversial area of indigenous health. I aim to demonstrate that the reality of social work practice in Australian health is vastly different from the moral platform from which it is envisioned, whilst also acknowledging that this platform is indispensible to the integrity of contemporary practice in difficult circumstances.
Shaniya Robinson arrives at the County Human Services Authority for her monthly appointment with her social worker. Ms. Robinson is a 25 year old African American female who is receiving treatment for schizophrenia from the adult behavioral health services program. During a session the client reports that she is under a great deal of stress because she is having difficulty adjusting to being a new mother. Her five month old baby girl Shanice is teething and cries frequently. Ms. Robinson is also struggling financially because she is currently unemployed; her mental illness makes it difficult to sustain employment long term. And she does not receive support from the child’s father on a consistent basis. The combination of these interactional difficulties is weighing heavily on the client who reports an increase in positive and negative symptoms (i.e. auditory hallucinations and social withdrawal). Because the client does not have insurance she disclosed to her social worker that she self-medicates using marijuana in an effort to manage symptoms. More noteworthy, the client explains that she uses the same method to soothe the baby by blowing marijuana smoke in the infant's face. It is certain that Ms. Robinson divulged such information for several reasons, she wants help and she believes that any information she shares within the context of her sessions are confidential.
When somebody sees how moral difficulties are illustrated it gets to be conceivable to well-spoken methodologies to dispense with. The moral bursts of conduct performed by those inside of general society security areas. Cures of moral conduct with respect to cops start first with the choice and employing of experienced people. Police office ought to no more effectively discover "work-round" of least enlisting norms to select an individual from an uncommon hobby. Lawyer General Eric Holder as of late demonstrated as to Dayton, Ohio Police Department. "No organization ought to until the end of time be found in the position that the Los Angeles Police Department discovered itself when they had volunteers working the boulevards and their personal
As a part of the National Association of Social Workers, social workers may face different kinds of ethical dilemmas in their scope of practice. The code of ethics is put in place so that these professionals may be able to act wisely and make the most suitable and appropriate decisions thereby positively benefitting the client likewise themselves. An ethical dilemma is a conflict between two or more ethical principles. These ethical principles aim to provide beneficense, least harm, respect for autonomy, and provide justice. I will discuss three ethical dilemmas affecting human rights in social work.
The objective for this stage is for the social worker to show competence in transferring or terminating the case. Also, the social worker must look for relevant ethical dilemmas during the transition or termination. For the community mental health group, the final session is termination.
All social workers are beholden to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Professional ethics are the main core of social work. The profession has an obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. The code is composed of thematic sections that outline a social worker’s responsibility to clients, colleagues, employers, and the profession. Some responsibilities that a social worker has to a client are that the clients are their primary responsibility, fostering maximum self-determination in clients, respecting the privacy of clients, keeping information that has been shared during the course of their duties confidential and charging fees for services that are fair and considerate
“In this essay, we have been asked to critically assess the professional values in the ‘British Association of Social Work’ (BASW). With this the concepts of ethics and how this operates in social work practice and analyse the general role in governing and representatives bodies 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). In addition, ethical decision-making is a process that