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Personal values and ethics for a social worker
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Importance of social work ethics in social work practice
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Prior to having the class of Professional Values and Ethics, I assumed I understood the basic concepts of what defines a professional who has competence of values and ethics. Nevertheless, by being enrolled in this course, I have gained great knowledge of which professional values and ethical principles must be held by a social worker, which I did not know before. Progressively in this class, by learning professional values and ethics, my motivation to succeed as an upcoming social worker has gotten stronger. Throughout this course, I have learned essential ways to behave as a social worker. Prior to having this class, I was caught in an ethical dilemma at my former job. Without prior knowledge of ethical decision making models, I was able …show more content…
Because of this idea, as a future social worker, it provides an explanation of why clients act a certain way because of their environment. For instance, a mother could decide to be a sex worker because she needs to find a way to feed her children. However, social workers must then find her other resources, in order to “enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people” (NASW Code of Ethics). This idea of looking at a client’s environment is also mentioned in a scholarly British article, written by David Green and Fiona McDermott (2011) that state that "[p]erson-in-environment begins from a position that recognises the interdependence of phenomena in affecting, changing and sustaining human life. Such phenomena are conceptualised as if they occur and operate on different ‘levels’—micro, meso, macro—in attempts to categorise and account for the complexity within which social and human life exists and to which social and human life contributes" (p. 2416-2417). Both authors provide an explanation of how factors can play in clients’ lives and consequently effect everything …show more content…
However, there is still a great amount of competence to grasp. Dimitrijoska and Vladimir (2016) state that “[t]he social worker is responsible for his/her professional development and must continually work on gaining new knowledge and learning new methodologies (p. 55). Moreover, as I move forward in social work courses, I will need to take a few actions to ultimately become successful. I will need to do more research, whether it be scholarly articles or assigned texts. I would like to engage in my community by volunteering at more agencies, and making connections with the organizations and learning from social workers. The last step I would like to take is from this point forward, I would like to engage in mindfulness practices. This step in particular is for me to be able to have a healthy relationship with myself, so I am able to continue working for clients in the future, and be able to act as an effective
NASW has formal procedures to adjudicate ethics complaints filed against its members. In subscribing to this Code, social workers are required to cooperate in its implementation, participate in NASW adjudication proceedings, and abide by any NASW disciplinary rulings or sanctions based on it (Code of Ethics).” Understanding what the code of ethics is used for is the best way to understand the history behind its
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
The person-in-environment approach views a client’s problems by how they react to the environmental contexts within their environment and how they occur. According to Gordon and Richmond, it has been stated that the person-in-environment approach is the “cornerstone” of social work practice. (as cited in Rogers, 2016, p.24). A clients’ systems are the interrelated aspects of a clients’ lives where all parts come together to function. Social workers utilize and focus on a clients’ systems when applying the person-in-environment. A clients’ system is anything that they interact with and hold roles in their lives. These systems can be on a micro level which is the individual and their biology, personality, and genetics. The individuals’ mezzo level would include their immediate environment, family, school, friends, or work. A macro level would include the larger social aspects of a clients’ life such as government policies, discrimination, oppression, or social class. Social workers incorporate these interactions and how they impact clients’ and their presenting problems. This theory and approach are beneficial as it allows a social worker to find out what resources are available to the client during their time with the worker (Rodgers,
Entering the field of social work you must be prepared to encounter many personalities. Knowing this, you have to become aware of people with different backgrounds and morals. By doing this you will be able to help your clients to the best of your ability, without forcing your personal beliefs or values on to them. A value is a set of rules or or beliefs that affect your every day decisions (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2011). Applying your personal values to every situation is very important, however, you must learn to separate what you know and what is in actuality the best outcome for your client. I will be discussing the ways I feel about the “Vignette’s”, while also incorporating different things I have learned from the readings and class discussions.
As a student new to social work, The Code of Ethics written by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is in the forefront of my mind whenever practicing my freshly learned skills. According to the Code, these rules were written as the “values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (Code of Ethics - NASW, n.d.). Within my most-recent session, certain aspects of this code were relevant, including informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, a commitment to the client, the dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competency of the worker, and social diversity.
To be an ethical social worker you have to make sure you follow all ethics and are consistent. Walter explained that there are four qualities to him that makes someone an effective social worker. First he explained that it is important to have integrity. Integrity is important because you have to have morals and are honest with yourself. That to me is very important when being an effective and ethical social worker because it makes all the sense, it’s a perfect quality to have for life in general. Second, is honesty… that falls through with integrity also. Honesty is important because you have to be true to yourself and the people that are around
As a social work professional, you must take into account your own personal values before you can be an effective worker in this field. Social workers sometimes need to put their own values aside when working with clients who don’t share their same ideals. Clients are diverse and are not going to always have the same values that the worker has. Social workers need to be professional and adhere to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) guidelines when working with any client.
The following paper aims to discuss and analyze the way in which my personal values intersect with the values I hold as most important within the profession of social work. It would stand to reason that these values would stand on common ground; however, there are places where my personal and professional values diverge. These conflicts may prove to be problematic within my chosen career unless I find a way to prioritize my values, or find ways for them to work harmoniously with each other.
Ethics consists of factors such as culture, religion, and these continuously affect a person’s beliefs and ethics. As individuals continue to develop and adapt to different values and ethics. This is through past experiences and the expectations as our life pattern changes. Core values in social work practice are the code of ethics, informing our understanding of the difference and diversity. The social work profession is evaluated by a whole set of guidelines, measures put in place by regulatory bodies, allowing the movement to put in place new governmental laws and guides within this field.
“Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner. Social workers are to be aware of this profession missions, values ethical principal and ethical standards and practice in a manner consistent with them”. (NASW, 2008, p.6). Social workers are to be sure their practice is embedded in the NASW Code of Ethics.
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
(Chenoweth and McAuliffe, 2014) It is important that social workers acknowledge the core values of respect for others and acceptance that each person has unique worth as an individual are universal and should cross time and cultures. (Chenoweth an McAuliffe, 2014) In Evelyn’s situation ethical challenges can raise due to being more than one person involved, such as Evelyn daughter and the potential risk of her being in danger with her father as she is in a domestic household. This can be conflicting as a social worker because although David is showing clear signs of abuse towards Evelyn, Evelyn makes it clear that he is in fact a good dad with charlotte. This can then lead to issues for charlotte in the future if her connection with her father is lost and she gets taken away from both her parents as she is at risk of the potentially losing Evelyn If she continues to abuse drugs and not take full care of her daughter. This situation is seen as an ethical dilemma when a social worker see’s themselves faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternative that may involved a conflict of moral principles and its it not clear which choice will be the right one. (Chenoweth and McAuliffe, 2014) This is when models for ethical decision making become affective in deciding how to deal with the potential risk of danger that charlotte may be
Press. Parrott, Lester. (2010). Principles and consequences. In: Values and Ethics in Social Work. 2nd ed. Exeter: Learning Matters. P47-67.
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a variety of many things regarding social work. These things vary from learning how to help oneself to understanding how to help others. Not only were the textbooks very useful, but also the materials that furthered this textbook learning. The in class presentation, activities, and guest speakers gave us insight and a different perspective on the material we were learning. I feel like this course has given me a good foundation and prepared me as a future social worker (1).
There are certain ethics that social workers must follow and is a guidance for professional standard of work. However sometimes people are not aware of their own values, though the more fully conscious someone is about their values, the more people are able to ensure that their actions are consistent with the values. As a social worker it is vital to know the dangers of not taking account of values and the ethical dimension of practice. A social worker should see their client for who they are and not just another object that is unclear by their own emotions hence why self-awareness is a key to