Critical Reflection On Social Work

Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43).

The dilemma lies in how the social work practitioner would respect the patient’s autonomy and determining whether the patient is competent. Furthermore, the social work practitioner is responsible for assessing whether the patient understands the consequences of his or her behaviours. Because, often than not, there are different risks associated with the patient’s refusal to medical treatment and services. Thus, in such cases, social workers would face the ethical dilemma of deciding whether to protect or limit the right of how the patient should live his or her life.

Everyone’s recovery journey is different, which is why it is important to look at the individual and consider what interventions best suit service users, as a good intervention for someone may be a bad one for another person. Recovery starts when people realize that each individual’s recovery differs and is unique (Bland & Wyder, 2014). It is important for Social Workers to establish a positive relationship with service users and to understand that family participation is really important for recovery, as they are one of the biggest and most important support service users’ need, and acknowledging this will also lead to a more effective and appropriate interventions (Anthony, 1993). It is alothe Social Workers role to support service users’ families as well, as they may need assistance themselves (Bland & Wyder, 2014). The notion that service users are in charge and own their recovery journeys in personal recovery may suggest that families do not have a part or a place in a family member’s recovery and that they are not helpful or useful, which raises questions about the real role of family members in recovery (Bland & Wyder, 2014).

They positively or negatively affect the individual, in other words, family support might be weak for any number of reasons effecting attachment and commitment resulting in the search for others like themselves for attachment. This theory is very relevant seeing that it doesn’t reside in just one class of society. However, it does seem to be more prevalent in the poorer areas due to the lack of financial opportunities, broken families and the encouragement of education. In my own perception, the theory could go more into detail in the belief phase.

However, in social work, communication has been attached with utmost importance to social work. Communication and social work are interrelated entities which get interlocked most of the times. There are researches and firsthand experiences that highlight the importance of communication skill in social work, but, it can also be understood with simple arguments and discussion. As, it is fact that social work has direct contact with society and its members, so in the course of helping them with any issue or difficulty, it becomes highly important to use communication in accurate and effective way. The right use of communication will accelerate the process of improvement and faulty or ineffective communication will produce opposite results (Massat et al,

In this article Frederick Reamer provides an overview of boundary issues in Social work that involves dual and multiple relationships, which are the among the most problematic and challenging. It involves circumstances social workers encounter between their professional duties and either their social, religious, or business relationships. \ In the form of a typology Reamer speaks on the range of boundary issues and to distinguish between problematic and non-problematic issues, and provide guidelines to help practitioners manage boundary issues and risks that arise in practice. Social workers in the capacity of clinicians, community organizers, policymakers, supervisors, researchers, administrators, or educators encounter possible conflicts of interest

Huang (2001) said that these codes are crucial for public relations to be granted a status as a bona-fide profession. The codes strive to give guidance to public relation practitioners in order to help them to act in a practical and professional manner. However even though these codes are fashioned to satisfy universal conditions and principles (Kruckeberg, 1993), many scholars like (Parkinson, 2001; Wright, 1993) voiced out their opinion that the codes fall short of the ideas promoted in the codes, or even being internally conflicting. Many other practitioners have also voiced their opinion that the code of ethics is too vague to be useful, and that it does not give enough specifications (Bowen,

As long as human are in existence there will always be a need for a counsellor or a social worker. The intent of this paper is to provide clarity as it relates to the differences between counselling and social work as both professions sometimes overlap and persons are not able to differentiate between the two professions. Notwithstanding the fact that both professions have their differences it not be noted that both career paths is considered to be the helping profession where adequate training and preparation is needed in order to help their client improve their social, emotional and mental performance. The profession of counselling and social work is for individuals who are interested in becoming a catalyst for change or to help people

In addition, they must observe or watch the measures involving data congregation in order to arrive at the organization’s specific needs. A source of data for a focused

Cultural norms provide a backbone of guidance for people in the society to know what is morally correct and morally wrong. These norms are formed through trial and error and they are generalized towards what is morally correct in various situations that occur in society. I believe that we do not have to ALWAYS follow these norms and “ride the wave”. In a situation, I strongly believe that although yes, norms do still matter and may still make sense, it should not always dictate what is realistically correct in a situation. Are there moments when you think your personal values contradict cultural norms?

Social workers have several responsibilities. They have to provide service, justice, and dignity to a client. They have to possess integrity, competence, and patience. Social workers need to possess knowledge of human rights, and how to perform scientific inquiry. Social workers occasionally have cases in which problems ensue and a solution is not found within a certain time frame.