Professional Ethics: The Code Of Ethics In Social Work

Social work follows specific guidelines in respect to dealing with clients. These guidelines are called the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (Workers, 2015). The Code of Ethics is derived from societal values and morals that were then regulated into professional rules. “Professional ethics are closely related to, but not identical to, general societal ethics” (Dolgoff, 2012). The following societal values have been transformed into professional ethics in the social work profession: cultural diversity, equality, freedom, integrity, knowledge building, privacy and social justice. These societal values are associated with certain guidelines in the NASW Code of Ethics.

The first values, cultural diversity and equality,

In today’s society, integrity is a value that is highly respected. Integrity is to be honest and have high moral standards. Honesty and morality are required for a society to function well. Regarding privacy and confidentiality, social workers must possess integrity to protect a client’s welfare. There is a certain level of trust that is required between the social worker and the client. If a client doesn’t trust the social worker and doesn’t believe that they are in a safe space to speak about personal trials, the social worker’s efforts will not be effective. The same can be said for privacy. One of the most obvious indicators that privacy is import in our society is the fact that people put doors on everything, even inside of their homes. In society, people that are regarded as “snoops” are looked down on. To snoop, or to invade someone’s privacy, is seen as disrespectful by our society. Privacy and confidentiality differs from societal values, because although it’s frowned upon, members of our society occasionally gossip about other people’s private lives, where social worker’s will not disclose any information given (unless the client has consented or is a danger to themselves or others (Workers,