Subject Name: Introduction to Social Work

Lecture 5: Ethical principles and values of social work practice

Social work as a profession differs significantly from many other professions in that
it is deeply humanistically oriented, and that professionals are directly "incorporated"
into the lives of their clients. A social worker must adhere to professional and ethical
principles, have moral values, master organizational and management methods, and
use recognized positive local and foreign experience of social work for the
implementation of social work.

The concept of professional ethics refers to the moral principles of practice. Social
work values underpin social workers' beliefs about people and society, while ethics
provide a framework for what to do in specific situations.
Ethical awareness is an important part of the professional practice of social workers.
The Code of Ethics, adopted separately by the International Federation of Social
Workers (IFSD) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASW)
in Copenhagen in May 2001, aims to encourage social workers worldwide to reflect
on their problems and dilemmas.

Thus, according to the ethical principles of the International Association of Schools

of Social Work (IASSR) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSR), a
social worker should:
- Human Rights and Human Dignity;
- Social justice;
- Professional behavior.
Thus, the social worker must measure his actions against the highest standards of
professional integrity:
a) the social worker should perform his professional duties impartially and not
succumb to the influences and pressures encountered during his professional activity;
b) the social worker should not use his professional relations for his personal interests

face ethical dilemmas every day in many aspects of their service . Addressing these
complex issues requires a deep understanding of social work values and ethics, as
well as the legal obligations that influence and inform its work. Such an
understanding includes more than a general familiarity with legal acts, jurisprudence,
and ethical standards.

Thus, moral paradigms and value orientations: life, human dignity, humanity,
kindness, love, people's well-being, social justice, responsibility - are the foundations
on which concrete social work is built. In practice, social workers face various ethical
issues and dilemmas due to their obligations to clients, colleagues, their profession,
and society as a whole. These problems are often vague and make you want to ignore
and avoid them. It is easy to verbally adhere to the lofty values enshrined in
monographs and textbooks in the abstract and thereby show one's responsibility.
However, abstract values such as client self-determination or the sovereignty of the
client personality are difficult and dangerous to apply to guide everyday work, and
they can give the social worker a false sense of reassurance.
Social workers must have a thorough understanding of ethical principles. They
should know the code of social work ethics and be able to identify the legal and
ethical principles that apply in specific situations. In cases of conflict, social workers
should be given the opportunity to consider and resolve the dilemma. In particular,
they must be able to determine which ethical principle or legal obligation is decisive
in a given situation and when duties conflict. The topic of values and ethics norms in
social work practice is quite complex.

Among the basic knowledge and skills required of social workers, the United States
Council of Social Work has identified the values that should guide their practice.
Social workers are required to adhere to the following ethical standards and
participate in solving ethical problems:
• Social workers must know the core value of the profession, its ethical standards and
relevant regulations.
• Social workers must recognize personal values and manage them in a way that
allows professional values to be used in practice.
• Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of
Social Workers and the Code of Ethics of the International Federation of Social
Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work.
• They must respect the stated ethical principles of social work.
• They should avoid ambiguity in solving ethical conflicts.

value is used to define objects, events, their properties, as well as abstract ideas
embodying social ideals, and therefore acts as a necessary measure.
The forms of value are:
- Value acts as a social ideal developed by social consciousness, an idea of what is
necessary (truth, beauty, justice and equality, democracy).
- Value is manifested in an objectified form in the form of a product of material and
moral culture or human actions, which is the concrete subject embodiment of social
value ideals.
- Social values accepted from the perspective of individual life activity are included
in the psychological structure of the individual in the form of personal values that
stimulate human behavior.
- The value-normative basis of social work ethics includes the system of moral values
that make up the main components of the social worker's normative behavior.

Common values of a Social Worker:

Based on humanitarian and democratic ideas, Social work practice is focused on
developing human needs and potential. Over the years, social work has integrated a
number of values: sincerity, honesty, empathy, compassion, professionalism, the
importance of human relations.
The professional values of social work direct the social worker to perform and
adhere to certain duties, but bear professional responsibility for their actions. The
basic values in social work are reflected in the following provisions:
1. The individual is the main concern of society.
2. Individual and society are related to each other.
3. People have social obligations to each other.
4. An important attribute of a democratic society is that each individual fully realizes
his potential, takes responsibility for himself by actively participating in the life of
society.
5. Society is responsible for eliminating and preventing every obstacle on the way to
active self-realization of the individual.

A social worker recognizes the value of each person and his right to realize his own
abilities, decent living conditions and well-being, free choice of life position,
provided that the rights of one person do not interfere with the realization of the
rights and interests of other people or groups. Social justice and humanism imply fair
distribution of resources, provision of equal rights and guaranteed opportunities to
use the potential of state and public services and organizations.
Thus, the set of professional values of a social worker is based on the principles of
humanism, and its components have a structure that affects the direction, essence and
content of the social work process. The characteristics of all aspects of the social
worker's professional activity are subject to the values of charity and respect for each
person, which are the basis of social work. As the basis of the essence of the
profession as a whole, professional values are the source of a set of ethical norms that
are regulated as the basis of the activity of each social worker.

principles such as clients' right to self-determination, confidentiality, accountability,

institutional orientation, respect for clients' moral and religious beliefs , and help to
observe human rights and principles of social justice.

Ethical Principles of the Social Worker:

1. Human Rights and Human Dignity
The Social Worker should respect the dignity and personality of each client and
their rights, and should support (bring to the fore) and defend their physical,
psychological, moral and spiritual unity and well-being. Human Rights and
Human Dignity mean the following:
1.1. Respect the right to self-determination – The Social Worker must respect
the right of every person to make choices and decisions, regardless of their
lifestyle and values.
1.2. Identifying and Developing Strengths - The Social Worker should identify
the client's strengths and strive to develop them.
1.3. Treating each client as a complete confidant - The Social Worker must
treat the client as a complete confidant, that is, he must be closely interested in
his family, living environment, society and consider all factors of the client's
life.
1.4. Treating each person as an individual - regardless of who they are The
Social Worker should approach and treat the client as an individual.
1.5. Individual approach to each client - Social worker should approach each
client individually, treat clients with the same problem according to their
characteristics.
1.6. Maintain confidentiality - The Social Worker must keep confidential the
information provided by the client that will not harm the community or a
second person.

2. Social Justice
The Social Worker has the responsibility to fight against the injustice committed
against the client in the society. Social Justice means the following:
2.1. Fighting against discrimination - Social workers should not discriminate
against clients who are in the risk group on the basis of age, gender, race and
other physical characteristics, socio-economic status, political belief, culture
and sexual orientation, religious views, and at the same time, should not
discriminate against such discrimination existing in society. must fight against.
 2.2. Respecting diversity - The Social Worker must recognize and respect the
ethnic and cultural (customs of ethnic groups) diversity that exists in society.
2.3. Distribute resources fairly (equally) - The social worker must distribute the
resources under his authority fairly among clients in need according to need.
2.4. Combating Unjust Political Issues and Movements - The Social Worker
has a duty to bring to the attention of his superiors, politicians, political
program makers and the general public the existence of unjust distribution of
resources, oppressive, unjust and destructive policies, behaviors and
movements.
2.5. Solidarity - The Social Worker must fight against the social conditions that
create conditions for social isolation, stigmatization and subjugation of clients
and work to build an inclusive society.

Historically, social work arose to deal with injustice that exists between people and
groups of people. Social work is based on humanitarian and democratic ideas, which
lead to the fight against discrimination and unfair distribution of resources. This
central point - fighting injustice and promoting democratic ideas - forms part of the
social worker's code of ethics today (HASW 1996).

Source:
1. National Association of Social Workers (January 1, 1997; Revised 2008). Code
of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Silver Spring,
Maryland: NASW Press. http://www.socialworkers.org
2. International Federation of Social Workers and International Association of
Schools of Social Work (2004). Ethics in social work, statement of principles.
Retrieved from http://www.ifsw.org