Ethical Issues in Social Work

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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.

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