Open AccessSocial Work Values and Ethics: Reflections on the Profession's Odssey
Author(s) -
Frederic G. Reamer
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
advances in social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2331-4125
pISSN - 1527-8565
DOI - 10.18060/73
Subject(s) - social work , professional ethics , applied ethics , morality , engineering ethics , meta ethics , military medical ethics , normative ethics , period (music) , nursing ethics , information ethics , sociology , environmental ethics , political science , law , engineering , philosophy , physics , acoustics
Social workers' understanding of ethical issues has matured significantly. This article traces the evolution of the profession's approach to the values and ethics. During its history, social work has moved through four major periods-- the morality period, the values period, the ethical theories and decision-making period, and the ethical standards and risk-management (the prevention of ethics complaints and ethics related lawsuits) is diverting social workers from in-depth exploration of core professional and personal values, ethical dilemmas, and the nature of the profession's moral mission. The author encourages the profession to recalibrate its focus on values and ethics.