Value and ethics in contemporary social work 6
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Discuss the relevance of values and ethics in contemporary social work.
A value may be referred to as the moral conduct that defines an individual. It forms the basis of the belief that one chooses to judge the society. Values mainly arise from cultural, social, religious and even personal aspects. They, therefore, tend to be different between people. This will at times cause conflict among people. Ethics, on the other hand, refers to the mode of conduct governing a particular type of individuals such as the workplace (Barker 2003). Standards are set to define proper behavior from illegal conduct. People working in the one profession tend to have different ethical standards as opposed to another business. Social workers in the healthcare industry have different ethics and values as from those in the accounting industries.
Values and ethics often affect one's behavior in the day to day activities. Common ground is yet to be established as to what is right and wrong (Al Krenawi, 2003). Social work is the discipline that addresses the welfare of the community with the aim of improving the overall well-being. It, therefore, needs to incorporate values and ethics to promote collective responsibility to all individuals. In contemporary social work, there exist some common principles which point out to the relevance of values and ethics. The benefits include social justice, economic prosperity, adequate skills and knowledge and morality. Eradicating oppression among the people is also key to the social work scene.
Social justice is directly linked to human rights. Human rights are the rights that each person is entitled to regardless of age, gender, religion or race (Wormer, K. Van, 2004). They point out to the fact that everyone has the right to equal resources and opportunity when receiving and providing services. At the social workplace, a middle ground is often sought that ensures organizational goals are met. A harmonious workplace is needed, given the various human interaction (Finn, J. 2003). Some of these rights include equality, fairness, proper nutrition, and freedom, only if the freedom does not infringe on others rights. In the workplace, equality is evidenced by the division of labor. Equality promotes fairness. It carries on to the care given to service care users. That, in turn, promotes a conducive work environment that ensures the long and short-term organizational goals are met (Finn, J. 2003).
Economic growth and prosperity are the other relevance. With proper utilization of resources, services are administered which cuts down corruption cases efficiently (Womer, K.2004). Accountability from the top management down to the subordinate is a requirement in each workplace. In the sector of community development, funds allocated are accounted. Checks to measure the budgeted cost against the actual cost are put in place. Social workers are trained to uphold confidentiality and also h...
