Social Work Ethical Theories

With this week’s topic being values and ethics, I decided to take a more purposeful approach to identifying how social work’s ethical principles are practiced at my practicum. Service can be seen 24/7 at my practicum, since counselors are available to answer phones around the clock. The fact that all of the counselors are volunteers, even at the odd times of the day, really represents this value and putting the needs of the person on the other end of the crisis line above self-interest. The counselors also present the value of dignity and worth of a person, because we are trained to put aside judgments, to not problem solve, and to allow the caller to talk through whatever is on their mind. Throughout the call, unless it is absolutely necessary

Call logs are for all volunteers to read, but only when they are on site. Calls are discussed between shift partners and supervisors, but outside of the call room, nothing personal is discussed. I make a conscious effort to not talk about any specific experience I have had unless I am talking to my field instructor about a question that arose from the experience. Every person at my practicum demonstrates the sixth ethical principle, competence. All counselors and paid workers go through extremely thorough training that involves numerous role-plays to prove they are capable to counsel a caller through a real crisis situation. Currently I am in training, so I can still working on my competence. After reflecting how the principles can be seen at my practicum, I find it interesting that everyone practices the principles without necessarily being a social worker. In fact, I assume the vast majority of people that are counselors at my practicum do not have any social work background, aside from the training and expectations they are to meet in the environment of my practicum. Personally, I think I need more experience with putting the principle of social justice to