ETHICS PRINCIPLES
Amber Sperlbaum
Indiana Wesleyan University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 3 NASW CODE OF ETHICS..................................................................................................3-4 PERSONAL VALUES VS SOCIAL WORK VALUES.......................................................4 ETHICAL REASONING.....................................................................................................5 AMBIGUITY IN RESOLVING CONFLICT......................................................................5-6 REFLECTION.....................................................................................................................6 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................7
A. INTRODUCTION 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
Iruonagbe, Chiazor, & Ajayi (2013) beautifully described the sentiments of my heart regarding family making mention it is not only the oldest social institution, but indeed the most important. The responsibilities of families are great ranging from guidance, to support, and more importantly it gives the individual a sense of belonging and commitment. My personal value as a social worker is family is a bond that is not to be broken. When one of us is made weak, the other steps in and pick up the pieces. We are guided by love respect and sacrifice. I come from a strong background of caregivers. I have watched my mother care for her elderly mother until she took her last breath, or family unable to care for their child and most assuredly another member will raise that child. In like manner of Mrs. Vishnick being a widow myself I bore the responsibility of my children and applaud her for doing the same. I understand she is 87 years of age, and her adult daughter has a mental disability, still I am empathic to her situation. In my culture, it is expected other members will step in as no one is a throw away. Mrs. Vishnick should not have to carry the burden alone. Family must be able to depend on each other, as we are one another’s protective factor. God and our faith in him will see us through.
The NASW Code of Ethics is the guideline for social workers in regards to professional conduct and practice. The Code of Ethics is divided into four parts: “The Preamble,” “Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics,” “Ethical Principles,” and “Ethical Standards.” These sections educate social workers on what their mission is, and how they complete that mission with true morality. Within the Code, there are six values presented which are also used in regards to helping and practicing with clients honorably. These six values are: service, social justice, dignity and worth, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These six values are the principles that drive social work practice, and are used by social workers everyday.
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
Explain how you became interested in social work and why you chose social work as a major.
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.
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 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
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 NASW stands for the National Association of Social Workers. The NASW has made a code of ethics for all social workers to follow. The mission of practicing social workers is social justice for everyone, service to anyone in need, treating everyone with dignity and recognize their worth, understand the importance of human relationships, integrity in everything we’re involved in, and competence in the field. The NASW code of ethics has 6 purposes for social workers.
My understanding of the social work profession and its core values is that social workers are caregivers, they provide assistance to people in need, and they address social problems. The social worker goal is the improvement of society to ameliorate the lives of individuals in need. The social work profession mission is to enhance the well-being of people and to assist them in meeting their basic needs, with particular emphasis on the needs of the poor, and the vulnerable individual. The Social Work profession has six core values. These core values are the foundation of the social work profession. The social worker incorporates these core values into his daily practices. Service to others is one of the fundamental values of social work. Social workers goal is serving others and putting the needs of their clients ahead of their own. Social justice is another core value of social work. Social workers aim at improving the lives of the disadvantaged, vulnerable people who are less fortunate or unable to advocate for themselves. Social workers understand the essential value of every human life, regardless of ethnic background, cultural differences or religious beliefs. Their goal is to respect the dignity and worth of every person. Another key value of social work is integrity. The social workers conduct themselves in a trustworthy, honest, and responsible manner at all times. Competence is another important core value of the social work profession. The
The National Association of Social Workers have provided the Code of Ethics as a set of guidelines for social workers to follow in order to assure they are practicing in an ethical manner. These guidelines have been revised to address any additional information or critiques that are necessary for quality conduct that have arisen since the first edition that was drafted in 1960. They strive to address core values, such as “service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence.” (National Association of Social Workers, 1999). In order to remain stringent with these core values, the Code of Ethics strives to fulfil six key purposes: “identify mission based core values and appropriately guided decisions making when conflicts and situations with questionable ethics, outline ethical standards and principles, introduce social workers to ethical principles, standards, values and mission, and provide a guideline for the population worked with to hold their social worker accountable for” (National Association of Social Workers, 1999).). Ethical violations may occur if these guidelines are not diligently followed, which ultimately could result in being sanctioned. Some of the consequences that could arise are: mandatory additional educational classes and refreshers in a constricted timeframe, additional supervision for licensure, fines for legal costs, and having your license and membership revoked.
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 core values recognized by the NASW's Code of Ethics are broad ethical principles set forth to which all person's in the social work profession should aspire to. These six values, on which the guiding principles and standards are based, are as follow service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationship, integrity, and competence. Again these are in no exacting order. Service is to help people in need and address social problems above the workers self-interest. This would include both paid and volunteer time. An illustration of this would be to help train employees of, and work with these employees at, a crisis call line. Social justice, the next value, is challenging the inequalities that is seen daily both in a micro, mezzo and macro realm. An example of all three could be in looking at AIDs patients. If a worker was working with a client who had the AIDs
As a social worker how I engage with a client is based on the two sets of values; the NASW values, and my personal values. When working with any client, not just with military clients, circumstances may occur when two or more of these values become conflicted, where you are forced to conform to the professional standards of conduct creating an ethical dilemma. Since I am no longer in the military, I am not confined by the rules and regulations that govern military clinicians. However, a military social worker, defined as, a social work professional, who is also a commissioned officer is still confined by the rules and regulations that govern the military, as such, these professional are obligated to the military “mission first” and then the
Since the profession was recognized many concerns arose regarding the values and ethics of social workers. The key points of the NASW Code of Ethics, the CSWE Educational Policy and Standards, and HIPAA will be summarized. Some of the most challenging ethical issues facing social workers and the social work profession today, have been explored. The core values of the