SWK6134 Social work values and ethics

Abstract

This course is intended to assist students at the advanced level of practice to assess their work with individuals, families, groups, and communities from an ethical perspective. While ethics is addressed in all areas of social work education, this course will provide the theory and framework for making sound ethical decision-making. The focus of this course begins with an overview of the values of social work practice, utilizing the NASW Code of Ethics as a framework. Students will become familiar with the challenges of negotiating value conflicts that emerge between the worker, professional standards, agency, and personal religious values versus professional values in the work environment. ¶The deontological, utilitarian, and moral theories will be the basis for ethical decision-making and justification models will be introduced through the use of concrete issues and cases, thus combining theoretical frameworks with practical analysis. Students will learn the difference between a value conflict and an ethical dilemma, how to apply theory, and a model for mediating ethical dilemmas in their work with individuals, families, and groups, in social policy, and in social welfare. The exploration of values and ethics reinforces the profession’s commitment to its standards and codes of practice. It is an in-depth exploration of values introduced in first-year courses, such as Foundations of Social Work Practice, Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Cultural Diversity, and Social Welfare Organization.