AASW Code of Ethics in Practice: A Domestic Violence Case Analysis

This report analyzes a domestic violence case involving a social worker's encounter with a woman named Francis, who is a victim of domestic abuse. The report details Francis's experiences, including physical and emotional abuse, and the challenges she faces due to her husband's actions and societal perceptions. It then explores the Australian Code of Ethics of Social Work, emphasizing the social worker's responsibility in addressing domestic violence. The report utilizes Bacchi’s framework to evaluate the influence of the code of conduct on different stakeholders. It also highlights the vulnerabilities of individuals with disabilities and how these vulnerabilities affect their ability to seek help. The report discusses the application of System theory, the impact of trauma, and the importance of support from organizations like AASW. The report concludes with a discussion of the ethical dilemmas encountered by the social worker and the importance of providing support to victims of domestic violence.

THE CODE OF
ETHICS IN PRACTICE

Table of Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART A...........................................................................................................................................1
PART B............................................................................................................................................3
PART C............................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Code of ethics can be referred to as the guiding principles which are designed as well as
formulated for providing assistance to professionals in carrying out the activities and processes
in an honest manner while maintaining the integrity. The document that contains the ethical code
lays down the mission as well as the core values which are held by a company. Further, it also
consists of the probable manner in which an individual should approach the challenges or issues
and the ethical standards which must be upheld by the professionals. It covers areas such as code
of professional practice, business ethics and workforce code of conduct. This assignment is
divided into 3 parts. The first part consists of the account of domestic violence witnessed being
part of a Not for Profit organisation as a social worker. The second part is inclusive of the effects
that domestic violence may have on the different types of people. The last part deals with the
ways in which such an issue can be significantly dealt with and the changes that can be
incorporated in Australian code of ethics of social work in the AASW.
PART A
I am a social worker and last weekend I went to a friend's birthday party. There I got to
meet new people and all of us shared talks, drinks and snacks. There I also met a lady naming
Francis. She was from a small town and she was working as a servant at my friend's home. As I
was telling everybody about my profession as a social worker, I told everybody to inform me
about any mishappening, child abuse, domestic violence, etc. The maid heard that and when I
was about to leave the party, she came to me and started crying. She told me that she is from a
rich family but she has conducted a huge mistake. She told me that she is married to a man
named Mark. She fell in love with him 23 years before and she has hearing impairment since
birth. She uses machine to listen properly. She grew up in a loving but strict family environment,
and met Mark when she was still a teenager. She had a little experience with intimate
relationships or independent living. When mark and Francis were deeply in love they decided to
get married as soon as possible. Mark was not so rich but he has started a small business that
enables them to live a normal life. But there was a big problem that led to destruction of their
personal as well as professional life. Mark has a history of misuse of alcohol and drugs, however
Francis observed that he had developed ways of minimising its influence. The couple has three
children and they take care of them effectively. She informed me that at times, she even got fits
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due to the trauma of all this and some of the people in her neighbourhood believed her to be
mentally sick or retarded due to which she used to get fits or get fainted during any normal
course of activity.
On another occasion, when the couple was out with the children, Mark and his friends
tried to pressure Francis into taking drugs, which she had never done or been prone to. Mark
began calling her names, and on the way home he smashed the car interior while Francis drove.
Once home, Mark damaged the guard at the front of the car and punched the laundry wall so
violently he broke his hand. The following day Francis told him she would leave, but he pleaded
with her not to and promised a special holiday, which never happened. Not long after, Mark was
arrested on charges unrelated to violence at home, of which he was later convicted. Although he
avoided imprisonment, Francis believes, to some extent this was due to a favourable reference
she felt she was pressured by Mark and his lawyer to provide to the court. Mark started to control
Francis and making her life miserable. He became verbally abusive and he even called her slut.
He sometimes punches her on walls or doors and he damages household goods. Mark got new
friends who supply him drugs and alcohol so he began to hangout with them and leave Francis
and three children alone at home. Francis told that she had thought of leaving the relationship
and talked Mark that she wanted to end this relationship. But at all times, Mark acted and
pleaded her to stay. Francis says her main reason for continuing in the relationship was a
growing fear of what Mark may do if she goes away as she loves her from bottom of her heart.
There were some other reasons because of which she denied to complaint against her husband as
she did not want occurrence of domestic and family violence to family, friends and police for
long time. Mark became more violent towards Francis once they began having children. The
violence of Mark has resulted in physical injury to Francis. This was the repeating pattern, and
for Francis the occasions were too numerous to fully recount.
There were some incidents that were so concerning to neighbours that they called the
police, but Francis felt too frightened to disclose the details of the violence. She did not want her
husband to be in jail and she thought he will understand. She always made up an account to
shield the reality of the violence. Francis recalls that one night she locked herself and the
children in the bathroom, and Mark punched the door in and smeared blood across the wall, in a
rage about having to cook dinner. Francis told police Mark had thrown a saucepan and didn’t
show them the blood or damage to the bathroom; she had tried to ring Mark’s parents but
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couldn’t go ahead with the call because she was worried her voice may be too loud and Mark
would hear her. Police offered Francis little or no opportunity to make a proper statement and
blamed her for fighting with Mark in front of the children. This has continued for years and
today also he beats her and forcefully makes sexual intercourse. She said to me that she wants to
be free and want her to live a happy life with her children. Due to the nature of the charges
Francis changed to part-time work so she could be with the children outside school and day care
hours, and continued to put up with Mark’s violence and abuse.
Later, Mark was charged with another serious offence. Pending his trial, a child
protection order issued requiring that Mark move out of the family home and that he have no
contact with the children for several months. Mark reacted angrily to these conditions, repeatedly
demanding to see the children and continuing the violence. After listening to her problem, I
informed police about her situation and tried to help her. But the police did not entertain the
problem she told as there were few neighbours who didn't take favour of Francis and they told
that she is lying. Also, Francis refused after some time that she is lying and there is no such
problem. This demonstrates that Francis must be told to help herself and get out of this situation
as soon as possible.
PART B
The Australian Code of Ethics of Social Work proposes that social workers working
within such associations must give their active contribution towards the reduction of cases of
domestic violence witnessed within the society. These workers should constantly lay emphasis
upon assisting humans who have been victims of such an unethical and immoral issue of
community. Further, such personnel should work for identifying the individuals, groups or
families that have inadequacy and insufficiency of resources to reach to a social or governmental
organisation to reduce the unfavourable outcomes associated with encountering of immoral or
unethical issues. The policies devised by the governmental agencies as well as the
responsibilities given to social workers tend to create tensions owing to which the social workers
in today's world are not able to significantly promote social justice amidst the society in which
they operate and towards which they possess a moral and social obligation. This largely affect
the lives of clients. In this regard, I am making use of Question 5 of WPR approach within
Bacchi’s framework with the aim to evaluate the influence of code of conduct as well as policies
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on the different stakeholders that are impacted upon by the issue and the various theoretical areas
associated with it.
It is noted that people who have mental or social disabilities are posed to huge extent of
vulnerabilities in their entire life cycle owing to a number of aspects such as culture, age, mental
constraints, social structures that largely impacts upon their living standards and lifestyles. Such
kind of people who are prone to vulnerabilities always have the risk to be a victim of any social,
physical or mental issue. This tends to have a massive impact upon lives of such individuals who
are victimised by social issues as a result of their decency and vulnerabilities. This even acts as a
restraining factor for them while carrying out a dignified life. Further, this acts as a hurdle for
them when they even intend or try to communicate about the mishappenings taking place with
them to someone else. This is so because they are regarded to be treated as a person with mental
and/or social illness due to which they may start to presume things upon their own discretion. In
relation to social work, the ideologies of System theory is taken into use which states that an
individual is largely influenced by communication taking place among their family, society,
company or community. This may prove to be a challenging task for person having disability.
This leads to isolation as well as mistreatment with such people confining their intention as well
as the capability to interact with people prevailing within the community.
As the client (Francas) went through trauma so she used to get fits due to which some
proportion of her neighbourhood believed that she was mentally or socially ill. Due to which
whenever he told anyone about the domestic violence and the abuse that she suffered every
single day from her husband, people used to believe that this was also a part of her hallucination
and they thought that she assumed hypothetical things. This caused difficulties for the client to
get adequate support and information from anyone regarding the social care organisations that
deal with the eradication of cases associated with issues such as domestic violence. In this
regard, she possessed entirely no knowledge about AASW which is an organisation operating
within Australia for the welfare, safety and security of people belonging to this location. As a
result of this, she could never contact me or any of my colleagues or seniors for getting the
resolution of the sufferings that she witnessed and experienced each single day. Francas had
hearing impairment since the birth owing to which she faced difficulties in communicating with
people. Generally, it is seen that the families of people with any sort of disabilities render them
the guidance as well as the direction to gain support. In this regard, it was found out that the
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family of the client did not have any knowledge of the trauma as well as the extent of domestic
violence that she witnessed due to Mark. The quality component associated with care has a great
role in the lives of individuals as this tends to promote a social, psychological and emotional
development of the female client. It is found out that the client is absolutely eligible for taking
the support as well as assistance from AASW. This will also hold a significant impact upon the
self-determination of the client along with the outcomes that strive to reduce their potential as
well as capability to take important decisions of their life. Further, the respected client is
ascertained both to be a mother as well as a wife that intends to spend quality time with the
family members. She has the requirements which fall under the category of social issues that can
be undertaken by the entity.
In this regard, the policies devised by the organisation named AASW serve as the hurdles
against the access of opportunities for the female client. In accordance with the attachment
theory that prevails within this sector of corporate world and care services, it can be said that the
development of a person is largely related to well being and physical health of a number of
factors. In case, an individual does not get the access to take advantage of society, their personal
needs remain unnoticed.
PART C
The profession related with Social work fosters change as well as development within the
society by working in an integrated manner with individuals, their families as well as the
community. It can be easily said that a social worker alone does not have the resources as well as
the potential to alter socio-economic structures of society. The Australian Association of Social
Workers Code of Ethics, 2010 has largely contributed towards the development of policies and
advocating the rights of individuals as well as communities. In accordance with the AASW Code
of Ethics (2010), social workers are required to work in alignment with its values and ethics
while their primary role is to promote the society to change for the welfare of client. But in some
of the agencies there are many policies where the social worker’s roles are limited. AASW Code
of Ethics is mainly based on empowering the clients by addressing their strengths and helping to
achieve the fair services. This Code of Ethics proposes that a social worker should be able to
prevent the structural inequalities and injustices within a society. Although such kind of code of
ethics describe the values, principles as well as ethics associated with ethical decision making, it
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also lays down the set of rules in relation to the manner in which a social worker operates within
such situations.
Social workers are ascertained to be largely impacted by the organisational guidelines,
professional roles and experiences and individual preferences. During the tenure of devising a
decision, social worker must be able to carry out an understanding of the probable course of action
involved together with the outcomes of such decision upon the lives of the client. A balance must be
maintained between the choices made by the client and their dignity as well as organisational role.
According to the Australian Association of social workers, it is important to analyse that
this organisation is made for social workers who jointly agreed by the International Federation of
Social workers and International Association of schools and social work. As AASW is involved
in promoting social change, problem solving in human relations and the empowerment and
liberation of people for enhancing their well being. So, it is important for these to make strict
actions for the people who are involved in domestic violence. As there are many cases present in
the world where there are no strict actions that are doing domestic violence and treating their
wives badly. The social workers have to develop and apply knowledge that can be useful for
helping victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is defined as an age old problem around
the world. This includes various emotional, physical, financial abuses that are made on woman
by a person. The AASW must develop strict actions for empowering victims of domestic abuse
to speak up and seek justice against various cruel actions.
The overview of government and legal actions must be helpful for women and child to
take effective actions against people who are committing domestic violence activities. After
developing the actions in the Code of ethics, this has developed social infrastructure for
supporting victims of domestic violence through police offers, NGO's, etc for helping these poor
people. Women should be protected against domestic abuse caused by men. The domestic
violence or abuse has a negative impact on a person. It affects the psychological aspect of a
person because the person is able to suppress woman more as they are emotionally weak. A
woman who is suffering from domestic violence must take actions against abuse done to her.
Each and every victim of domestic violence has suffered from physical injuries, and also it
affects the emotional and mental health of the person. The code of conduct of AASW should
have some changes regarding actions that can be taken by victims who are suffering from
domestic abuse and violence.
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above stipulated report, it has been concluded from the above discussion
that domestic violence is defined as the violence or abuse caused by a person against other
person in a domestic setting like marriage or cohabitation. This is termed as intimate partner
violence when it is committed by a spouse or partner in a relationship. Generally, the victims of
domestic violence are women and they tend to experience more severe kind of violence. It is
important for the society to decrease these kinds of issues that cause harm to people. A code of
ethics is defined as the guide of principles that are designed for professional who conduct
business in an effective and honest manner. The organisations have to make proper code of
ethics for fighting against domestic violence issues.
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