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Professionalism in social work practice essay
Professionalism in social work practice essay
Definition of professionalism
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After Viewing the movie "Short-Term 12" I have noticed many different violations that may have resulted in the worker(s) losing their license if they were Licensed Social Workers. One of the violation is dual relationship and the part of the law that was broken is this relationship creates conflict of interest. I believe as social workers we have to practice cultural competence with not just the clients, but as well as with our colleagues, specifically those we directly supervise. If a social worker is a supervisor that they have a power over those they supervise so the relationship should be managed professionally. Therefore, supervisor should never have dual relationship with colleagues, they should set the tone for the professional relationship. …show more content…
In our course during week seven we learned Confidentiality refers to the “professional obligation of the social worker not to reveal to anyone information that he/she has received from a client without the client’s consent.” So, in the movie, when the new colleague got hired everything about the clients at the foster care was told to him without having the clients sign any release of information or consent forms. They also, never properly introduce him to the foster kids, and the colleague was not taught how to document in their records or who can view the records. The supervisor should have taught him the principles and rules associated with confidentiality using the code of ethics as a guideline. Also, the colleague should know any limits, and exceptions to handling confidential …show more content…
Even though, supervisor can often come across cool colleagues that they could be attracted to each other, so the key is to deal with it ethically and professionally. This is to promote the wellbeing of clients, colleagues and to protect social workers who are supervisor to not have to face law suits, or violations of misconducts. Also, respecting the boundaries of other colleagues makes sure the professional relationship is ethical and legal one. It should not be treated as a social circle because even minor boundary misdemeanor can give a mixed message. For instance, when in the movie the supervisor was talking to the clients like they are best friends. The supervisor was disclosing too much information to the client that the client was almost in a situation to role play therapies skills for the supervisor. I believe Social work can easily get the person to be burn out or bring into surface unresolved feelings. So, it is important to find a professional therapy to help with the social workers mental and physical health. Reasoning being is being able to release all the emotional build up in a professional therapist setting can help the social worker feel and have more balanced in their life, and would prevent getting distracted in the workplace while helping
In the social work practice, social workers should abide by and respect the protocol of their particular organization. The first ethical standard I would like to discuss is that a social worker having cultural competence and social (NASW, 1999). A social worker must possess the knowledge of values, customs, tradition and history just to name a few in order to have success with clients that may identify as something other than their own identity. Culture directs impacts human behavior. Within this case study, due to Mrs. Sanchez’s culture, she struggled to assimilate with the American culture and this included her being able to learn the English language. Her culture was very important to her and I respect that. As a social worker, I would have
Two individuals sought treatment with a Social Worker for their 8-year-old son for reasons unknown. As the social worker, I would apply social work ethical principles to guide my professional practice by making sure that I am knowledgeable of the liability and standard/duty of care issues as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics, be able to articulate and demonstrate social values, ethics, and principles, open to being challenged on the values and beliefs; have the ability to manage conflict regarding ethical issues, being able to reflect understanding of how to integrate ethics into practice, and recognize my personal values in a way that would allow my professional values to guide my practice (NASW, 2015). As a professional, one must practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development. As the social worker, I would identify areas of strength as well as areas where improvement is needed, seek and act on corrective feedback from my supervisor or mentors, establish effective working relationships with clients and peers, and seek to resolve identified problems with performance of professional responsibilities.
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.
Moreover, ethical issues are ubiquitous within the field of social work. As such, social workers employed in all facets of the profession, whether it is substance abuse, mental health, among many others encounter ethical issues common and specific to each area. According to the article “Ethical Issues in Addiction Counseling” by Cynthia G. Scott (2000), prominent ethical situations specific to the field of substance abuse include, “confidentiality and privileged communication” (p. 213). In her article Scott (2000) discuss the blurred boundaries of confidentiality with regards to group counseling. The author points out the discrepancy in federal confidentiality laws that prevent the practitioner from sharing confidential information disclosed
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.
The Code of Ethics is an important part of a Social Workers career, by giving them basic guidelines, principles, standards, and values/morals for which they should follow. By following these guidelines a Social Worker can keep their work at a professional level and learn to keep work out of a personal level. This Code of Ethics has been set forth by the National Association of Social Workers, and is mandated in the field of practice (NASW, 2008).
In Managing Social Service Staff for Excellence, Nancy Summers (2010) provides a list of “The Differences between a Professional Relationship and a Friendship” (p. 192). The very first item on the list states that a professional relationship puts the client first; whereas in a friendship, “each friend gives the support to the other” (p. 192). Hepworth, et al. (2013) also supports this by stating that professional boundaries intend to make “the client’s interest the primary focus” (p. 71). From my perspective, this is the main difference between a professional and personal relationship. As my field instructor has pointed out, in a professional relationship, it’s about the client’s needs. As social workers, we should not try to get anything
In the article conducted by O’Leary, Tsui and Ruch, they discuss the boundaries of social work relationships. They state that the social work relationship is both professional and unique. It is shaped based upon collaborative interaction and is created by mutually agreed-upon and context-specific set of boundaries (O’Leary, Tusi and Ruch, 2012, p.16). O’Leary et al. also stated that working
Conditions of “engaging in appropriate study, training, and consultation,” while having competent people in intervention or techniques providing supervision is ethical (Code of Ethics, n.d.). Another criteria that defines competence in the field of social-work recognizes the role of the practitioner regarding identifying and targeting families that are troublesome, along with the negotiation of access which requires special consideration (Spratt, 2011). The profession of the social worker is to design alternative examples while viewing issues in order to understand and act upon social problems (Spratt, 2011). Through the continued required development of support and one’s understanding, along with the appreciation of the position the practitioner might take in the development of solutions rendering it effective, and considerations are made regarding what leads to harms taking place over the life-span (Spratt, 2011). As an example to substantiate this claim of competence, we see social workers working within their professional boundaries, while attempting to perfect their development in the field in order to “advance their expertise” (Code of Ethics,
Concerns I have with establishing appropriate boundaries are working those cases that are near and dear to my heart. I have five children and could not imagine them being mistreated. I do not want my mind clouded with decisions I would make as a mom first, but rather what would I do as a social worker doing what is best for my client at the present moment. This is why I chose to complete my 450-hour internship at DHS, it gives me a chance to observe these types of real life situation and take pointers on how to remain professional and make professional decisions. As I stated above professionalism is an important aspect to dealing with social welfare in today’s society. Staying in touch with my professional behaviors, values, biases and managing a healthy balance between my professional and personal life will aid me in becoming a competent and efficient social
Social workers are increasingly recognized as an inevitable part of interdisciplinary teams in addressing the needs of clients who seek for legal remedies and services. The relationship between social work and law has been developing since 1917, when Mary Richmond, an architect of modern social work, acknowledged the role of legal authorities while developing her conceptual model for casework (Forgelson, 1970). Later, Mary Richmond drafted an early social work code of ethics in the early 1920s (Reamer, 1987). However, from the development perspective, all 50 states in the US have passed statutes requiring professionals from certain disciplines, including social work and law, to report any abuse or crime happened in the past or is going to happen in the nearest future if there are good reasons to believe that is true. Dubose and Morris (2005) stated that very few states passed similar mandatory reporting statutes for attorneys. It is not surprising that only a few states accepted these statutes because of the presence of the attorney-client privilege statute, which is true for all states. Due to differences in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and NASW Code of Ethics, professionals from the respective disciplines may have conflicts while both provide social and legal support to the same client from a domestic violence organization. There are two main reasons that allow the tension to happen, social workers are mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect but lawyers, on the contrary, have an ethical responsibility to maintain client confidentiality (Taylor, 2006).
“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 National Association of Social Work is used by social work professionals and students to uphold certain values within the profession (NASW, 2008). While discussing social welfare policy’s such as the legalization of marijuana, social workers can discuss code of ethics that apply to the legislation. Social workers will encounter several clients that could have benefitted from the use of marijuana. If marijuana has helped the client medically, then as a social worker, their job is to advocate the legalization of marijuana to medically help their client. The core value of social justice is used for this situation because marijuana benefited their client. If one client has been benefited, then many more untouched clients cause benefit medically
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
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