Ethics, Values and Dilemas in Social Work Practice Introduction of Children and Families
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Added on 2019-12-03
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CRITICAL SOCIAL WORK: ETHICS, VALUES AND DILEMMAS IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE INTRODUCTION Ethics, values and dilemmas at work practices are the foremost aspects which are taken into account by care workers or health care setting. According to the Crime Survey facts, 1 woman is killed in every 3 days, out of 4 , 1 women will experience domestic violence and 8% will suffer domestic violence in any given year.
Ethics, Values and Dilemas in Social Work Practice Introduction of Children and Families
Added on 2019-12-03
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CRITICAL SOCIAL WORK:ETHICS, VALUES ANDDILEMMAS IN SOCIAL WORKPRACTICE1
INTRODUCTIONEthics, values and dilemmas at work practices are the foremost aspects which are takeninto account by care workers or health care setting. The areas of practice selected in the presentreport is of Children and Families. Here, domestic violence is also the part of Children andFamilies. In UK number of children and families are suffering from domestic violence and thus ithas negative effective of living standard of poor people. Domestic violence refers to a set patternof behavior wherein one person is abused by another in a domestic setting. It can be in cases likemarriage or cohabitation. The domestic violence take place in several forms such as physical,verbal, economic and emotional.Critical Exploration of ethics, values and ethical dilemmaDomestic violence generally refers to as violent or aggressive behaviour by a spouse orpartner which involves violent abuse within a home. It is now days a common practice in UKwhere every week 2 women are killed by their current or former partner. It is not necessary thatperson may be married, they can be married, of any gender that is heterosexual, gay or lesbian,they might be living together, separated or dating. Domestic violence can be done in many wayssuch as sexual assault, intimidation, stalking, threatening, killing, etc. Although emotional,psychological abuse are not criminal behaviors but they are forms of abuse which can lead tocriminal violence. According to the Crime Survey facts, 1 woman is killed in every 3 days, out of4 , 1 women will experience domestic violence and 8% will suffer domestic violence in anygiven year. British Crime Survey reported that on an estimation 635,000 are the cases ofdomestic violence in England and Wales out of which 81% are women and 19% are men. On anaverage prior to its first call in police, a woman is assaulted 35 times. The report of Departmentof Health was that 30% of domestic violence occur during pregnancy time. The report ofNSPCC, 2011stated that 25% of children are exposed to domestic violence in a home and 62%of children get harmed due to this violence happening in their house (Refuge.org, 2015). Theseincreasing incidents put a negative impact on the whole society because women and children stayin the fear. Further, social workers need to focus on these dilemmas and work upon towards thewelfare of the society. They should create awareness about these issues and also they influencethe women who are victim of this domestic violence to come with their complaints. 2
This abusement is highly actionable in the eyes of law and there are many social workpractitioner who help out the victims of such incidents. For this purpose social worker provideservices like counseling, support through shelter programs, court advocacy by country victimagency and social justice community (Mcauliffe and Sudbery, 2005). As professional committedfor the social justice then domestic violence becomes a social justice issue. There are variousforms of social work practitioner that is direct service providers which include women'sadvocate, shelter program; community education coordinator. The work of social worker is quite difficult as they have to provide mental and emotionalsupport to the victim for which they should posses patience. In contemporary social work praise,a worker should take care about the ethical considerations such as guidelines publishes by WHOfor addressing Ethical and Safety Recommendations for domestic violence against women.Research for abuse is not like other areas of investigations. Topic's nature is that issue of safety,confidentiality and interviewer skills and training are more important than any other forms ofresearch. The emotions and sentiments should not be undermined while doing research on thevictims that is why WHO has published such guidelines. As in present scenario, the identity of social work has been characterized as ambiguous;the role of social work in the promotion of social justice have been questioned and there are lessevidence for its effectiveness. At the same time Mcbeath and Webb (2002) have argued thatsocial work itself is a victim of an inhuman political and economical system which structures thesociety so as to undermine the rights of human. In addition to this, usually people of social workservice are belong to those society which are most vulnerable that is why they must be sensitivein the way they provide services. The decisions of social workers have long lasting impact onpeople's lives. Therefore, social work practice must be trained by transparent, understandable andethical principles which include respect for persons, soliciting participation and accuratereporting, confidentiality and privacy should be maintained, reports should mandated as per thestatute guidelines, social justice should be given to them. Similarly, values play an important role in a work of contemporary social work practice.Value is basically a general beliefs about desirable actions and goals. Values generally influenceand justify types of positive and negative attitudes which an individual holds in accordance withpossible events and outcomes. Values of practitioner are commonly expressed by a specified3
ethical code. However Manetta and Wells, (2001) stated that values are important forunderstanding the profession as they reflect the ways which social practitioner presently thinkand practice with critical problems. According to the study of Lyons (2006)social values areintegrated into codes of ethics and it binds social workers under a common professional identityand present its intentions. The social workers faces ethical dilemma in contemporary social work practice. Lawshave been clearly defined when it comes to domestic violence. Social worker are divided on theissue of mandatory reporting of such incidents but the laws are two folded. One, the law needsreporting of certain incidents which are debatable and two, reporting can be mandatory withoutthe consent of victim. This mandated reporting system is not in the interest of victim which maylead to more violence and reluctant by the victim. This create ethical dilemma for the socialworkers. Social worker faces dilemma on a daily basis as Morley (2007) illustrates that ethicaldilemma arise when the social worker faces a choice between two equally unfavorablealternatives which may include a conflict of moral values and practitioner are not clear whichchoice will be the right one. Healy (2007) implies that social worker are often involved in an issue like personal andeven painful circumstances and ethical judgments which are mainly related with the humanwelfare. This act as a big challenge for practitioner as any single decision may change the life ofservice users. In the study of Osmond and Darlington (2005) facts of a case solely cannotdetermine which decision to be taken, the complete decision is based on a values which socialworker holds. Thus, it is necessary for a social worker to have strong value base, however,personal values and professional values often contradict and hence the conflict of moral valuesoccur which leads to ethical dilemma. Certain times multiple ethical barriers and obligationscreate dilemmas for social work practice. Ethical dilemma reflect the complex nature of socialwork profession in terms of several factors that is the purpose and loyalties of social workers.The type of dilemma which social worker faces are that social worker do the function of helpersand controllers; conflicts between the duty of social workers for protecting the interests of thevictims or service users and societal demands for efficiency and utility; the loyalty of socialworkers usually in the middle of conflicting interest and lastly resources in the society arelimited. These factors often lead to ethical dilemma.4
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