Social Work as a Profession with Code of Ethics in Australia

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CRITICAL REFLECTIVE ESSAY
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SOCIAL WORK AS A PROFESSION WITH CODE OF ETHICS IN AUSTRALIA

This research paper focuses on taking social work as a professional practice and
finding whether the social workers are abiding by the set of conducts in their professional
life. The aim of the paper is to provide a critical reflective analysis of the policies designed
for a social worker to assist the practices in Australia. It acts as an ethical guide and assists
the workers in individual or group practice. Hence, this paper will look into the professional
lives of social workers and access the values and responsibilities carried by them. It will also
talk about the decision making process of social workers and various difficulties that come in
the way of social welfare practice (McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008).
Social work as a professional deals with helping individuals, groups, families and
communities with an effort to enhance their overall well being and social functioning. Social
functioning refers to a certain way in which a person performs social roles in the society (Morley,
Macfarlane & Ablett, 2019). A social worker has to intervene in the client’s personal system, conduct
analytical assessments and develop solutions to the personal and social problems, trying to
bring in a social change. This work requires expertise and mainly ethical expertise for the
assessment of right or wrong behavioural concepts. But, it has been found that it has become
more like career oriented profession than a duty oriented work. Social workers are choosing
areas where there is more political and monetary help than taking all social areas as equal.
Social work is not a kind of single model, followed by a singular profession; instead it is an
integrated program with a continued study for retaining knowledge and skills (Braye, Orr & Preston-
Shoot, 2017). This evidence based social practice requires ethical code of conduct for a better
decision making process.
The national association of social workers i.e. NASW, as described that the social
work is rooted within a few core values. These core values enhance and embrace the
professionalism of social workers (Harms, 2015). There are- service, dignity and worth,
competence, human relationships, social justice and integrity.
Taking code of ethics as a base for social workers, it is analysed that code of ethics have
played an important part for the workers to understand the qualities of a social worker. But,
looking at the historical motive of making social work as a profession, it has been noticed
that the AASW has disappointed the professional regulation of social workers. It has been
checked that AASW has not been able to control the problems aroused in the sector of
poverty and child labour. The social workers are more focussed on few particular ideas of
social work and not the bigger picture of problems that have to be looked upon. As a
reflection of personal experiences, social workers have grown more self centred and wanting
growth in career more than looking after the real issues of duty and responsibility. Social
workers are needed to have a set of ethics to perform their duties but it has become more like
a doctor like profession than a work for the society (Morley, Macfarlane & Ablett, 2019). The
professionalism in the field has made the workers more careers oriented than a supportive
structure of society.
Integrity stands as one of the main principles of social work. It can be defined as the
quality of having high morals and being honest towards the work that is to be done (McAuliffe &
Chenoweth, 2008). Hence, a social worker must have these to qualities so that the client can rely
on their words and solutions, a social worker’s first aim is to provide help to individuals and
groups to help them cope with the social structure and maintain social balance and hence,
integrity plays an important role in the process.