Values and Ethics in Social Work

What Are Values and Ethics?

Introduction to Values in Social Work

  • Chapter Authors: Chris Beckett, Andrew Maynard, and Peter Jordan, UK social work academics.
  • Focus: This chapter emphasizes the relationship between values and decision-making in social work.
  • Notable Points:
    • Acknowledges the often overlooked connection between our values and the choices we make.
    • Explores the existence of multiple value systems that can change over time and across different contexts.
    • Concludes that value-based practice can involve tension and conflicts, urging reflection on varying values and historical contexts.
    • Stakeholders should also consider personal experiences, including gender, race, and ethnicity, which shape values.

Definition and Types of Values

  • Values can be expressed in various contexts:
    • Financial (e.g., "gold has a higher value than lead")
    • Personal (e.g., "I value your company")
    • Cultural (e.g., "Islamic values", "liberal values")
  • Common Ground:
    • All forms of value relate to concepts of preference or choice.
    • Example: Valuing company emphasizes its importance and a choice over alternatives.

Cultural Value Systems

  • A value system refers to the priorities or importance a culture places on decisions.
  • Example in a Liberal Democracy:
    • High value placed on personal freedom (European Convention on Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to liberty").
  • Variation across societies:
    • Different cultures prioritize values based on historical and contextual circumstances (e.g., religious observances vs. social cohesion).

Personal Value Systems

  • Individuals often subscribe to persistent value systems, manifesting as beliefs:
    • Examples include identifiers such as: "I am a Muslim", "I am a socialist", "I am a feminist", "I am a conservative".
  • Importance of these beliefs:
    • They shape thoughts, judgments, perceptions, and social circles.
    • Help in self-definition and are influenced externally rather than solely personally generated.

Professional Values in Social Work

  • Transitioning to professional life introduces a broader dimension of values:
    • Professional values intertwine personal morality with organizational and ethical standards.
  • Quote from Kerstin Svensson (2009):
    • Outside the organization, 'doing good' is personal; within it, social work combines personal morality with professional responsibilities.

Framework of Values in Social Work

1. Level of Legislation
  • Principles within laws, policies, and agency rules inform social work, often originating from specific values.
  • Conflicts can arise when principles enshrined in legislation clash with agency or government policies.
  • Example: A law might uphold a principle that is unfeasible due to suppressive regulations in political context.
2. Level of Agency Priorities
  • Real-world actions might not align with stated organizational values, necessitating discernment of actual priorities.
  • Observations:
    • Agencies proclaiming preventive work might only respond to emergencies, contradicting their stated values.
  • Importance: The agency’s documented missions or procedural manuals often reveal true values and ethical guidelines.
3. Level of Professional Ethics
  • Various professions maintain distinct ethical codes reflective of their core values:
    • Doctors, lawyers, and accountants, similar to social workers, have professional ethics guiding conduct.
  • Common ethical principles may conflict with agency guidelines, revealing complexities in professional practice.
4. Examining Personal Values
  • Personal motivations for social work can stem from:
    • Beliefs about aiding marginalized individuals, religious commitments, or political ideologies.
  • Personal values inevitably influence professional performance and choices.
5. Societal Values
  • Acknowledged skepticism around a monolithic concept of 'British values':
    • Societal norms are diverse and dynamic, changing over time (e.g., shifts in acceptance of sexual behavior).
  • Examples illustrate contrasting societal values globally (e.g., views on premarital sex and corporal punishment).
  • Conflicting societal values often task social workers with complex ethical decisions:
    • Example: Balancing individual liberty with state protection under the 1983 Mental Health Act, merging contradictory principles leads to tension in practice.

Values in Conflict

  • Social workers face myriad tensions among personal, professional, and societal values while responding to complex human interactions.
  • Competing values often manifest internally (conflict within the individual) and externally (disagreements with colleagues or clientele).

Defining Ethics

  • Ethics, distinct from values, tie to specific rules, codes, and principles influencing conduct in social work.
  • Relation between values and ethics:
    • Ethics can be viewed as the practical application of values, initiating the moral conduct framework.
    • Example: The value that "human life is sacred" generates the ethical prohibition against killing.
  • In social work, a differentiation exists:
    • Professional ethics: principles enshrined in codes similar to other fields.
    • Emancipatory values: Focused on less privileged societal groups, distinct from general professional ethics.