Elaine P. Congress, D.S.W., Member, Committee on Ethics and Professional Standards
(September 1992)
On April 27, the Committee on Ethics and Professional Standards sponsored a mini-conference at Hunter College
School of Social work. More than 50 social workers from academia, child welfare agencies, mental health programs,
the public sector, hospitals, and agencies which service the elderly attended "Connecting Ethics to Daily Practice." The
day began with a presentation entitled "Ethical Principles: The Bedrock of Practice Standards and Legal Regulations"
by Sylvia Ridlen. This address focused on the complexities of ethical practice because our responsibility is neither to
further the interest of individual clients or agencies at all costs, but rather "to assess how individuals, and the institutions
with which they interact, can interact more effectively, and to work towards such change." In addition, Dr. Ridlen
focused on the constraints and challenges of being a "bureaucratic profession."
The second keynote presentation entitled "Identifying Tensions: The Relationship Between Legal Regulations,
Ethical Standards, and Precepts of Professional Practice" was delivered by Paul Kurzman. Dr. Kurzman spoke of the
tensions between NASW standards and the realities of practice, our dual commitment to the individual and to society,
and conflicting legal regulations. He encouraged social workers to practice awareness, increase their knowledge, and
practice risk management strategies to "mitigate the increasing risks today inherent in both independent and agency-based practice."
After the presentations, participants attended workshops to discuss in smaller groups what issues and dilemmas they
had encountered in "connecting ethics to daily practice." Some of the issues raised in the workshops included:
Ethics and the Law
- Does the social worker always obey the law? What if the law is not ethical?
- Ethics can be politicized; power is an issue as we manipulate systems on behalf of our clients. Is it our responsibility
to manipulate or negotiate?
- How does the social worker in a multidisciplinary setting manage when other professions have conflicting Codes
of Ethics?
- Confidentiality is used as a shield to protect the system's failure as well as protect the client. What should be the
social worker's position on issues of confidentiality in child welfare? With a client who is HIV positive? With an
adolescent?
Ethics and Social Work Education
- Should social work educators insure that students demonstrate a commitment to working with the poor and other
vulnerable populations?
- Students look for absolute answers. What should be the faculty position in directing students in resolving ethical
dilemmas?
- Students often "overlook" unethical situations, because they feel vulnerable, caught between the power of the school
and that of the agency.
- Do students learn enough about social work values and ethics in social work schools?
The NASW and Ethics
- Code of Ethics is general and abstract. More specific guidelines would be helpful in resolving ethical dilemmas.
- Should NASW focus more on peer review, rather than a legalistic approach to handle ethical problems?
Agency Practice and Ethics
- Do professionals change over the course of time? Does one grow used to "bending the rules?"
- How do we choose between two bad alternatives?
- How can the social worker stand up to agency pressure to change diagnosis for funding purposes?
- How can social workers set up forums to routinely discuss ethics within agencies?
Ethical Dilemmas in Agencies
- Should we manipulate forms for funding? Less serious vs. more serious DSM IIIR?
- Should social workers "lose" forms on desk to prevent a client being cut off from services?
- Should a social worker report a client who has another income while on public assistance?
- What is the role of a social worker in correctional settings?
- Kinship foster care: is the system rewarding a family member for reporting kin? Do kinship homes need the same
amount of supervision?
- Is positive toxicology sufficient reason to separate a child from his/her mother? Are the poor more likely to have
their children removed?
- Do social workers wait too long to report child abuse? Is placing children in foster care always preferable?
At the end of the morning session the group reconvened to summarize the proceedings of the five workshops and
make the following recommendations:
- Schools of social work should require an ethics course at the masters level.
- Since the Committee on Inquiry has become more legalistic rather than peer review oriented, NASW should develop
other mechanisms for helping members think through ethical dilemmas.
- The Chapter should sponsor forums on ethics and standards.
As a follow up, the Committee on Ethics and Professional Standards under the leadership of Ann Burack-Weiss is
planning a larger conference on ethics and professional regulation in the spring of 1993. Watch Currents for details.