Ethical Decision-Making in Social Work: Philosophies and Practice

This essay examines the critical role of ethical philosophies and decision-making models in contemporary social work practice. It begins by establishing the general argument for the importance of ethics in social work, emphasizing how these philosophies guide professionals in achieving social goals and upholding ethical standards, particularly when working with vulnerable populations like people living in poverty. The essay identifies ethical dilemmas faced by social workers, such as accurately identifying individuals in need and ensuring ethical service delivery. It then explores key ethical philosophies, including deontology and utilitarianism, explaining their principles and application in social work. The essay also details the PLUS model, a practical framework for ethical decision-making, evaluating its components and relevance. The conclusion synthesizes the importance of these ethical considerations for effective and responsible social work practice, highlighting their impact on service delivery and the well-being of clients.

Essay

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................................3
General Argument...................................................................................................................................3
Ethical dilemma arising in work with client group...................................................................................3
Ethical philosophies.................................................................................................................................4
Application of the ethical philosophies and decision-making model.......................................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Social Work refers to a practice-based profession in which the promotion of the changes
and development in the society is done so that the social goals and objectives can be attained and
the desired contribution can be made towards the welfare of the society (Azzopardi and McNeill,
2016). Ethical philosophies and Decision-making models are quite useful in Social Work
because they help in ensuring that the maintenance of ethical standards can be done in the right
manner. The Social Work Client Group which has been chosen for this report is People living in
poverty. In this essay, detailed focus will be made on the ways in which ethical philosophies and
decision-making models can guide ethical decision-making in contemporary social work
practice.
MAIN BODY
General Argument
Ethical philosophies are quite useful for the social workers. Therefore, In this way it can
be said that there is a requirement of application of these philosophies in Social Work because
they can help a lot in ensuring that the identification of the social goals and objectives to be
attained in the future can be done and the use of appropriate methods and techniques can be
made so that the social goals and objectives can be achieved (Beddoe and et.al., 2016).
It is important for the social workers that they are able to become highly ethical by
making the use of different philosophies because this will help in ensuring that they are able to
identify the right way in which they can contribute towards the well-being of people living in the
society in the right manner (Jani, Osteen and Shipe, 2016).
With the use of these philosophies the social workers can identify the way the use of
ethics is required to be made in the Social Work which will help them in taking the appropriate
decisions effectively and efficiently in the future so that the goals and objectives can be attained
(Parsell, Petersen and Culhane, 2017).
Therefore, it can be said that the Social Workers are required to make the use of ethical
philosophies because through their use they will be able to ensure that the needs and
requirements of the People living in poverty can be identified and the actions can be taken so that
these needs and requirements are fulfilled.
Thus, overall it can be said that the various types of social workers have to make sure that
they are able to identify the ways in which they can manage out these needs and requirements
and thus this makes the application of ethical philosophies important in Social Work.

Ethical dilemma arising in work with client group
The Social Workers have to face different types of Ethical dilemma while performing
their duties and responsibilities for the Social Work Client Group. It is so because of the
confusion which is required to be cleared by them regarding the work which is required to be
done for the social workers (Chan and Holosko, 2016).
The Ethical Dilemma which is faced by the Social workers in dealing with People living
in poverty is as follows-
 The Social Workers have to identify the people who are truly poor. There are some
people in the society who only represent themselves as poor to get the benefits which are
available to the poor people. Therefore, in this way the social workers are required to
make sure that the ethical standards are followed in a proper manner while identifying
poor people so that the wrong people are not provided the benefits which are meant to be
provided to the poor people.
 The Social Workers have to ensure that the ethical standards are met while providing the
services to the poor people. Sometimes the ethical standards are not followed in
providing the services to the poor people who creates an impact on them. Thus, it can be
said that the social workers are required to make sure that the standards are followed and
thus the social work which is being done can be helpful in ensuring that the social goals
and objectives can be attained.
Ethical philosophies
There is a requirement that the use of a wide range of ethical philosophies can be done
which will be helpful in ensuring that the use of ethics can be made within the social work in a
right manner. With the use of these philosophies, the ethical standards can be maintained in an
appropriate way. Thus, the ethical philosophies which can be used are explained as follows-
Deontology-
According to the deontological class of ethical theories it is important for the people that
they are able to adhere to their obligations and duties while being engaged in decision-making
when ethics are in play (Deusdad, Comas-d'Argemir and Dziegielewski, 2016). It means that a
person should follow obligations towards another person or society because upholding one’s
duty is part of one’s ethics. Thus, In this way it can be said that in the Social Work the use of this
philosophy can be highly helpful in ensuring that the duties and obligations towards the society
can be fulfilled in the right manner so that the attainment of a wide range of goals and objectives
can be done which will help in ensuring the maintenance of the ethical standards.
Therefore, it is crucial that the Social Workers are able to consider this particular aspect
which will be highly helpful in ensuring that the wide range of obligations to be fulfilled while
dealing with the People living in poverty can be considered which will help them in ensuring that

they take appropriate decisions and are able to meet out the needs and requirements of the social
work in a right way.
While this theory has positive attributes it also has some flaws. One flaw is that there is
no particular basis through which the duties of individual can be decided. Also, the duties of a
person may be in conflict with each other and therefore this can create an impact on the person to
be able to take a right decision.
Overall, it can be said that the use of this particular ethical philosophy can be made
because it is helpful in ensuring that the obligations of a person towards another person or the
society as a whole are determined which will be helpful in taking of the right measures which
hare for the benefit of the society.
Utilitarianism-
According to this philosophy, it is important to predict the consequences of one’s actions.
This is important as it helps a person in ensuring that the decisions which are being undertaken
are ethically correct and thus this will help a lot in improving the ability of taking appropriate
decisions in the future (Ferguson, 2018).
Therefore, it is quite crucial that the use of this particular philosophy can be made in
order to make sure that the decision-making can be done in a better manner which will help in
maintaining the ethical standards in an appropriate way.
For the social workers the use of this philosophy is essential so that they are able to
identify the consequences which their actions will bring and thus appropriately identify the right
steps which are required to be undertaken for taking of the right decisions effectively and
efficiently.
Therefore, for the social workers who are engaged in taking the care of People living in
poverty it is important that they identify the type of decision which they are taking and the
consequences of taking that decision in the right manner. Thus, it is quite important for the
people that they are able to consider the factors which are related with the decision which is
being taken by them so that the use of appropriate methods and techniques can be made in order
to take the right decision in the future.
Overall, it can be said that the use of this particular philosophy is useful when the social
workers are in such a situation where they are required to assess the impact which their decisions
will create in the future. Therefore, it helps in identifying the consequences of taking a particular
decision. The social workers can learn the way in which the decisions are taken and the use of
the appropriate methods and techniques is also done so that the ethical standards can be
maintained in a right way. Thus, in this way the social workers not only learn more about the
ethical standards but also learn about the different types of methods and techniques which can be

used in order to take the appropriate decisions in the future so that the ethical code of conduct
can be maintained in a proper manner.
Application of the ethical philosophies and decision-making model
Deontology- According to it, the consideration is required to be given to various
obligations which are required to be fulfilled as a part of taking of different types of decisions
(Gehlert, 2019). Therefore, in the identification of people who are truly poor it is important that
the social workers are able to meet their ethical standards so that they can take a right decision of
identifying the person who is truly poor and requires assistance to be provided so that the
different types of decisions can be taken. Also it will be helpful in meeting out the ethical
standards while taking the care of poor people so that the poor people are served properly.
Utilitarianism- According to it, the consideration has to be given to the consequences
which a particular action will bring with it itself (Heinsch, Gray and Sharland, 2016). Thus, it is
important that while taking a decision related to the identification of the people who are truly
poor it is highly important that the consequences of such a decision can be identified so that the
actions can be taken accordingly. This will help in forming a utility of the decision appropriately.
Also, it is important that for meeting out the ethical standards the use of this philosophy is made
so that the decisions are taken after judging the consequences which they will bring with them.
PLUS Model- PLUS model is one of the most widely used models in the ethical
decision-making (Hemy and et.al., 2016). This is so because the use of this particular model is
quite helpful in ensuring that the assessment of the considerations which are required for
effective ethical decision-making has to be done so that the right ethical decisions can be taken.
The explanation of this model is as follows-
Policies and Procedures- It is important to assess whether the decision which is being
undertaken is according to the ethical policies and procedures. Thus, in identifying the person
who is truly poor and maintaining ethical standards it is quite important to follow them.
Legal- It is crucial to identify that the legal parameters or regulations are not violated
while taking a particular decision. Therefore, in identifying the person who is truly poor and
maintaining ethical standards it is important to follow them.
Universal- It is also important to assess whether the decision which will be taken will
adhere to the values and principles. Also, it is crucial to find out whether it will tune with the
core values and the company culture. Thus, in identifying the person who is truly poor and
maintaining ethical standards it is important to assess all this.
Self- It is also crucial that the standards of fairness and justice which one has set for
oneself are also met. Therefore, In the process of identifying the person who is truly poor and
maintaining ethical standards it is important that the assessment of oneself can be carried out so
that the ethical decisions can be taken in the right way.

CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it can be concluded that Social Work refers to the contribution
which can be made towards the society by fulfilling the social needs and requirements in a highly
effective manner. It is quite important that the use of the Ethical philosophies and Decision-
making models can be done in Social Work so that the decisions which are being taken can be
taken appropriately and this will be very helpful in ensuring that the goals and objectives which
have been set in the future can be attained in the right manner properly.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Azzopardi, C. and McNeill, T., 2016. From cultural competence to cultural consciousness:
Transitioning to a critical approach to working across differences in social work. Journal of
Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. 25(4). pp.282-299.
Beddoe, L. and et.al., 2016. Towards an international consensus on a research agenda for social
work supervision: Report on the first survey of a Delphi study. The British journal of social
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Chan, C. and Holosko, M. J., 2016. A review of information and communication technology
enhanced social work interventions. Research on Social Work Practice. 26(1). pp.88-100.
Deusdad, B. A., Comas-d'Argemir, D. and Dziegielewski, S. F., 2016. Restructuring long-term
care in Spain: The impact of the economic crisis on social policies and social work
practice. Journal of Social Service Research. 42(2). pp.246-262.
Ferguson, H., 2018. How social workers reflect in action and when and why they don’t: The
possibilities and limits to reflective practice in social work. Social Work Education. 37(4).
pp.415-427.
Gehlert, S., 2019. The conceptual underpinnings of social work in health care. Handbook of
health social work. pp.1-19.
Heinsch, M., Gray, M. and Sharland, E., 2016. Re‐conceptualising the link between research and
practice in social work: A literature review on knowledge utilisation. International Journal of
Social Welfare. 25(1). pp.98-104.
Hemy, M. and et.al., 2016. Social work students ‘juggling’field placement. Social Work
Education. 35(2). pp.215-228.
Jani, J. S., Osteen, P. and Shipe, S., 2016. Cultural competence and social work education:
Moving toward assessment of practice behaviors. Journal of Social Work Education. 52(3).
pp.311-324.
Parsell, C., Petersen, M. and Culhane, D., 2017. Cost offsets of supportive housing: Evidence for
social work. British Journal of Social Work. 47(5). pp.1534-1553.