Social workers can also have legal and ethical problems when interacting with other professionals. According to the NASW Code of Ethics, social workers have a legal and ethical responsibility to treat their colleagues with respect, work with other professionals to resolve ethical disputes, avoid sexual relations with supervisors or students, seek advice and guidance from other colleagues when it is in the client`s best interest, and report unethical behavior by colleagues. Social workers should often improve their professional knowledge and skills. As a social worker, it is important to continue to strive to serve clients in the best possible way and to represent the profession. Social workers need to be competent in their practice and know when they don`t have the knowledge base or skills and therefore need to relate to services. Integrity is an important value because it highlights the reliable way all social workers should demonstrate. Social workers should be honest and responsible and fully promote ethical practices (Reamer, 2006). They should also be familiar with the mission, vision, values and ethical standards of the profession and apply them consistently, as well as promote all ethical practices for each organization with which they are associated. Social workers should be proud of their work. The purpose of this chapter is to give you a brief understanding of the NASW Code of Ethics as you begin your journey through a social work program.
This chapter is intended to help explore these general concepts and principles and to provide a basic understanding of them. The goal is to prepare you for future courses and your future career so that you are familiar with the general concepts. You will continue to explore the NASW Code of Ethics throughout your studies and become much more applicable through advanced courses. (Keywords: ethics, values, duties and duties) A worker is a person who works. This usually means a person doing manual labor, such as making goods. There are three factors of production in the economy. These are labor (workers` labor), land (usually people need space to produce something) and capital (it costs resources or money to produce something). By calling yourself a social worker, you also have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the profession. Legal and ethical issues that may arise in this area include practicing in your area of responsibility, avoiding dishonesty and cheating, not allowing behavior in your personal life to interfere with your professional role, and dealing with personal issues such as mental health disorders or substance abuse. SWHelper emphasizes the importance of being aware of personal issues and past trauma in order to maintain objectivity, boundaries, and professional distance as a social worker. The social worker must decide whether to respect the client`s wishes or to disclose this confidential information to his parents without his consent for health and safety reasons. In addition to discouraging clinical problems, the social worker must be familiar with state law that relates to the right of minors to consent to treat chemical dependence without notice or parental consent.
In fact, state laws on this issue vary widely in terms of the rights of minors and parents, legal obligations of practitioners, and age and conditions of consent. Social workers who make ethical decisions in such situations without knowing or consulting the relevant laws do so at their own risk. The purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics is to maintain social workers at a high level of professionalism. One of the main goals of social work is to help people in need and solve social problems (Cournoyer, 2011). This value defines what social workers should be responsible for and engage in their work. As a social worker, you are encouraged to donate your time and professional skills without expecting significant financial returns (Reamer, 2011). Social workers must be dedicated to the delivery of their services and fully committed to meeting the client`s needs. One important privacy law you`re likely to encounter as a social worker is the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which is commonly found in healthcare. HIPAA ensures that customer information remains private and between them and the professional, and includes provisions to protect health information, records, or other information (Cournoyer, 2011). If a client wishes to consent to the disclosure of their information, they will be asked to sign a release form provided by the social worker who will give permission to share this information.
The NASW Code of Ethics is constantly updated. Many important revisions have been made as the needs of the increasingly diverse population of social workers continue to evolve. Shortly after the 1960 Code of Ethics was published, social workers reviewed the Code`s proposals to address ethical dilemmas. To address these concerns, a working group was established to revise the original Code of Ethics (Reamer, 2006). In 1979, the NASW Assembly of Delegates continued to work on the necessary revisions. It was not until the 1990s that the NASW Code of Ethics was again significantly amended. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine whether or not you need to make a report. This can be called an ethical dilemma. Throughout your training, you will learn better about when you, as a social worker, have to breach confidentiality. Right now, it is extremely important to understand that as a social worker, there are times when it is necessary to report.
Many other decisions of the Court of Appeal are relevant to social workers` ethical judgments regarding informed consent, conflict of interest, dual relationships, practitioner competence and termination of services. Therefore, as a social worker in the helping profession, you are responsible for many legal and important decisions. Often, these decisions involve ethical decisions in the best interest of customers` lives. These decisions can be extremely difficult and emotionally charged, and they are not always the choices you like to make. Like most mental health and social service providers, social workers face a number of legal and ethical issues in social work practice throughout their careers. They must make difficult decisions about treatment issues, maintain professional boundaries and develop an awareness of value conflicts. The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics provides ethical and legal advice to social workers in the areas of clients, other professionals, practice attitudes, profession and society. Some social workers feel uncomfortable making difficult ethical decisions and ignore them, while other social workers have no problem making a difficult decision (Dolgoff, Harrington, & Loewenberg, 2009). Ethical dilemmas are often referred to as the gray area of social work. Therefore, as a social worker, you need to know yourself very well; Be aware of the code of ethics and let it guide you in these decisions. Colton Cnossen, the author of this chapter, completed the master`s program at Ferris State University in May 2017 with honors.
Cnossen also completed his Bachelor of Social Work Ferris and was very passionate about contributing his knowledge to the field of social work. Cnossen hopes to work with teens throughout her career, especially in a school or with a community mental health agency. Colton has been coaching basketball in college for the past five years and has been very successful. Coaching is something Cnossen wants to continue to do, as he thinks it`s a great way to help young people and give back to the community. Colton strongly encourages all social workers to find something they enjoy doing that contributes to their local community. The NASW Code of Ethics does not list any values or ethics as more important than the following; You must consider all values and ethics equal. To be a professional social worker, you need to know the Code of Ethics for Social Work and the six core values. As mentioned above, it is necessary to know the Code of Ethics in order to be an ethical social worker and to be able to work with clients (Cournoyer, 2011). The NASW Code of Ethics is not something you should take lightly, and as you progress in your social work education, these values and ethics become much more deeply rooted. Having a copy of the NASW Code of Ethics with you or in your office is certainly a helpful idea.
Keep in mind that simply forgetting or inadvertently providing a standard of due diligence can lead to a malpractice lawsuit. A social worker has more than a duty to help clients through counselling, psychotherapy and social services such as health care. In all their different roles – educators, managers, evaluators, negotiators, facilitators, lawyers – social workers, as health care workers, must comply with legal responsibilities regarding personal information, treatment, and customer behavior issues. The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics provides guidance on how to fulfill these legal responsibilities and maintain professional conduct. The National Association of Social Work (NASW) Code of Ethics serves as guidelines for professional practice. It is relevant to all social workers, social work students, and social work educators, regardless of their specific tasks or attitudes.