Human Rights and Social Work Codes of Ethics: An International Analysis

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was designed to articulate values, guide behavior and protect the basic rights that are inherent to all human beings. The aim of this research is to identify ways that the international social work community explicitly reflects the ideals of human rights in its codes of ethics. The social work codes of ethics from 20 nations were examined for explicit reference to “human rights.” Fifteen (75%) codes explicitly referred to human rights. Five codes of ethics did not refer explicitly to “human rights” anywhere in the document. Language is a powerful tool in social activism. The authors discuss recommendations for future action.