Ethics In Social Work

Social work ethics involves principles that guide the practitioners of what is good and what is bad. Also, it clarifies of what should and should not be done (citation). According to Dolgoff, Harrington and Loeweberg (2012) ethics are the deduced from values and must be in consonance with what is good and desirable, while ethics deal with what is right and correct. Values determine what beliefs are appropriate while ethics address what to do with or how to apply those beliefs to do the “right” thing.

Counoyer (2014) states that in everything we do, in any aspects, decision, assessment and every intervention it must came from the perspective of the social work professional ethics. Ethical responsibilities must be the priority over the theoretical knowledge, research finding, and agency policies and of course, your own personal beliefs and perceptions.

Codes of ethics serve as a guideline in ethical decision-making because values are not specific enough to this function. Ethical principles and standards are derived from the fundamental social work values, but are more concrete and prescriptive

Due to this, social workers must avoid unethical behaviors and practices. Violating the code may be a ground for malpractice lawsuits with the social work licensing boards or professional association. But still, there are lots of ethical violations and the most common are: failure to seek supervision or consultation, fraudulent behavior, sexual activity with clients, dual activities with clients, failure to use accepted practice skills, failure to keep up with advances in relevant knowledge , premature or improper termination, inadequate provision for case transfer or referral, failure to maintain adequate records or reports, and failure to discuss policies as part of informed consent (Strom-Gotfried, 1999, 2000a,