Ethics and Values

Social Work Principles, Values and Ethics
Social Work Values

 What, How, Why
 These three elements translate into the

knowledge base of social work, the value
base of social work and the skill base of
social work.
values
 Social workers need to be knowledgeable
about the issues and circumstances of the
clients.
 This knowledge has to be applied within the

context of a judgement about what is good,
just and humane
 The application of knowledge must be

conditioned by value considerations.
values
 According to Rokeach in Morales and Sheafor
(2010:p134)
Values are ‘ a type of belief, centrally located
in one’s total belief system, about how one
ought or ought not to behave, or about some
end-state of existence worth or not worth
attaining’
 Values guide our thinking on acceptable

behaviour and what we want to accomplish
1. Service
 Providing service to others above self-

interest
 Social workers should also volunteer their

services without financial return.
2. Social Justice
 Pursuing social change on behalf of the
vulnerable and oppressed groups.
 The main social work functions are on issues

of poverty, unemployment, discrimination
 Social workers provide information, services

and resources, equal opportunities and
meaningful participation in decision making.
3. Dignity and worth of the person
 Respect for individuals
 Respect of cultural and ethnic diversity
 Client self determination
 uniqueness
4. Importance of human
relationships
 Relationships among and between people are
an important vehicle in the change process.
 Social workers engage people as partners in

the change process.
5. Integrity
 Social workers should act honestly and
responsibly and represent the organisations
they are affiliated to well.
Social work Ethics
 Ethics refer to conduct or standards of
behaviour expected in a particular situation
based on the values and ideology of the
society and the profession. (Mupedziswa,
1996)
 Ethics guide the functions and operations of

Social Workers.
6. Competence
 Continuously increase the social work
knowledge base through furthering education
and research.
Ethics
1. Social workers must seek to understand
each individual client and client system and
the elements which affect behaviour and the
service required
2. Maintain the client’s right to a relationship

of trust, privacy, confidentiality and
responsible use of information.
ethics
3. Uphold and advance the values, knowledge
and the methodology of the profession
refraining from any behaviour which damages
the function of the profession.
4. Contribute professional expertise to the

development of policies and progs which
improve the quality of life in societies.
ethics
5. Recognise professional and personal
limitations.
6. Need to defend colleagues against unjust

actions or criticism.
7. Need to use all possible ethical means to

bring an unethical practice to an end when
policies, procedures and practices are in
direct conflict with ethical principles of social
work.
Principles of Social Work
 Standard by which to follow and operate
within.
 The Social Work practice is guided by seven

principles which are value- laden
1. Individualisation
 Based on the need of the client to be dealt
with as an individual with inherent worth and
dignity
 It recognises each client’s uniqueness
 The social work relationship relies upon the

individual presentation and treatment is on
individual basis
individualisation
 Individuals are treated not just as a human
being but as ‘this’ human being with his or
her personal differences.
 Need to have knowledge of human behaviour

and ability to listen and observe.
 Need for the social worker to develop a

flexibility of attitudes.
Means of individualising
 Coming up with programmes and
intervention methods that are specific for
each client.
 Keeping appointments
A promptly kept appointment tells the client
that he/she was expected
individualisation
 Privacy in interviews
The place of interview should give the client
confidence
 Preparedness by reviewing the previous case

record
Limitations
 Shortage of personnel
 The demand for efficiency
 Pressure of work- possibility of lumping

people
2. Client- self determination
 A client has a right to make his/her own
decision
 A client should determine what their needs

are and how the needs can be met.
 Lack of client-self determination erodes the

client’s right to choice thereby inhibiting
personality development
Client -self determination
 Client self determination assist client to gain
confidence in their own ability to deal with
their problems.
 In recognising this principle, a social worker

will be acting as an enabler, who puts
problems into perspectives and may suggest
solutions but do not dictate solutions to the
client.
limitations
 A client may make the wrong decision which
is not good for his situation of his
community. A client’s right is only their right
when it does not interfere with other people’s
rights
 A person may not be able to make a decision

they are young or are people with mental or
physical disabilities.
 Limitations of the law- there should be co-

existence with other laws or functions of the
agency .
3. Confidentiality
 The need to preserve secrets volunteered by
the clients must be respected.
 If the social worker violates this principle, the

clients will lose confidence in the social
worker
 There are three types of secrets

confidentiality
Natural secret
 information gathered in one’s private life and
not directly gathered from the client

Entrusted secret
 The client volunteers information on the
assumption that the social worker will not

reveal or publish it.
Promised secret-
 the client discloses secrets and the social
worker promise that he will not disclose or

publish the secret.
limitations
 Social workers may be compelled to release
confidential information to other
professionals
 Cultural reasons especially when working

with women.
4. Controlled emotional involvement
 Arises from the need for sympathetic
understanding and respect to the feelings
expressed.
 A worker must use knowledge of psychology

and patterns of reaction.
 Emotional involvement is important for the

following reasons:
Controlled emotional involvement
 Communication is a two way process and the
client expect a response and involvement
from the Social Worker.
 The relationship is not complete without the

worker’s participation.
 Lack of response may be interpreted to mean

lack of interest or rejection by the Social
Worker.
Controlled emotional involvement
 Controlled emotional involvement is an
attempt by the social worker to be sensitive
to the client’s feelings, understanding and
then responding appropriately.
 A social worker should get messages in both

verbal and non-verbal communication.
 Social workers should be aware of becoming

emotionally involved or they loose being
rational and objective
5. Purposeful expression of feelings
 Refers to the recognition of the client’s need
to express his feelings freely especially
his/her negative feelings.
 Need to listen purposefully, neither

discouraging nor condemning, and
sometimes stimulating and encouraging them
when they are therapeutically useful as part
of the helping process.
6. Acceptance
 Overlaps with the principle of
individualisation.
 It entails making an effort to treat the client

as he/she is as a human being.
 In practising the principle, there is need to

look at reality, the client’s ability and
weakness and also to make an effort to
understand the client.
limitations
 Prejudice/bias
 Lack of self awareness on the part of the

social worker- not able to identify your own
weaknesses and dysfunctioning.
 Lack of an adequate knowledge base
 Over identification-going outside the call of

duty.
7. Non Judgemental attitude
 Closely related to the principle of acceptance.
 It arises from the client’s need to be accepted

as a person of worth and not to be judged or
condemned for the difficulties in which
he/she finds himself in.
 The worker should not assign the client to be

guilty.
Non-judgemental
 The principle upholds neutrality and
discourages imposing pre-conceived ideas of
morals standards and should not label clients
as good or bad.
 The social worker should only make

evaluating judgements on the attitudes or
actions of the clients.
limitations
 However, social workers condemn negligent
behaviour that may result in other people to
suffer.
 It is difficult to practise this principle in the

case of difficult clients, but these clients
should not be subject to moral evaluation.
General Critic of the Principles
 The principles were not made in Africa and
therefore can not be universally applied to
the Zimbabwean culture.
 According to Midgley (1981) the principles

tend to focus on the micro (i.e. individual)
other than the macro(group or community)

Ethics and Values

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethics and Values

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethics and Values

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Social Work Principles, Values and Ethics

Social Work Values

 These three elements translate into the

 This knowledge has to be applied within the

 The application of knowledge must be

 Values guide our thinking on acceptable

 Providing service to others above self-

 Social workers should also volunteer their

 The main social work functions are on issues

 Social workers provide information, services

 Respect of cultural and ethnic diversity

 Client self determination

 Social workers engage people as partners in

 Ethics guide the functions and operations of

2. Maintain the client’s right to a relationship

4. Contribute professional expertise to the

6. Need to defend colleagues against unjust

7. Need to use all possible ethical means to

 The Social Work practice is guided by seven

 It recognises each client’s uniqueness

 The social work relationship relies upon the

 Need to have knowledge of human behaviour

 Need for the social worker to develop a

 Preparedness by reviewing the previous case

 The demand for efficiency

 Pressure of work- possibility of lumping

 A client should determine what their needs

 Lack of client-self determination erodes the

 In recognising this principle, a social worker

 A person may not be able to make a decision

 Limitations of the law- there should be co-

 If the social worker violates this principle, the

 There are three types of secrets

not directly gathered from the client

assumption that the social worker will not

worker promise that he will not disclose or

 Cultural reasons especially when working

 A worker must use knowledge of psychology

 Emotional involvement is important for the

 The relationship is not complete without the

 Lack of response may be interpreted to mean

 A social worker should get messages in both

 Social workers should be aware of becoming

 Need to listen purposefully, neither

 It entails making an effort to treat the client

 In practising the principle, there is need to

 Lack of self awareness on the part of the

 Lack of an adequate knowledge base

 Over identification-going outside the call of

 It arises from the client’s need to be accepted

 The worker should not assign the client to be

 The social worker should only make

 It is difficult to practise this principle in the

 According to Midgley (1981) the principles

You might also like