NASW stands for National Association of Social Workers. ASWB denotes Association of Social Work Boards. CSWE is the abbreviation for Council on Social Work Education. Lastly, CSWA is the short form of Clinical Social Work Association. All these are organizations formed to act as regulatory bodies that place standards for the social work practice. Standards set by these organizations fall under four categories: the provision of data to the general public, establishment, and delivery of services collect, regulate, store and get information of clients and finally the supervision and education of social workers. These standards got integrated to manage social workers, particularly in technological use during their work practice to enhance both the public and practitioners concerning technological use.
Consider a scenario of technology use in social work practice.
Modern social workers provide services through the use of technology in several scenarios. Among these scenarios that use technology includes online counseling. Online counseling refers to the act of offering ethical counseling sessions of the mental health with the use of internet through emails, chats or still video conferencing. During online counseling the interventions are human-based, and the conversations are what is technologically based. The significance of such technological use particularly for clients is that it enables them to receive first treatment in a not only safe but also the strategic environment. However, the challenge placed upon with the technological use in online counseling is the license issue as some social workers end up working outside their jurisdictional boundaries.
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Identify the specific standards, cite and explain their application in your scenario
Notably, ASWB ensures efforts toward license portability standards through the delegation of a mobile workforce that works towards the establishment of an online global licensure application (ASWB, 2015). CSWA, on the other hand, implement the policy that online counselors should retain or dispose of client's information referring to either state or federal laws (CSWA, 2017). The reason behind this is to ensure the client's protection of privacy in cases of disability or even death. Notably, social media poses as part of the society's fabric and it is inarguable for the social workers to choose either or not to participate. Hence this places an ethical challenge between technological standards and ethical scenarios.
Technological standards versus Ethical Situation, how to address it and standards that are applicable
According to Dombo, Kays and Weller's article, most social workers, are registered on Facebook either for personal pages, their work practice or even both. The undying need for the use of these online platforms illuminates both risks and opportunities for the social workers. Consequently, the relationship between the social workers contains undefined boundaries as disclosures can either be unintentional or not discussed. To address this situation, the ASWB should go ahead of the contemporary trends to establish if clients should get interfaced with such modalities professionally. Lastly, the protection of client's information should get ensured by the organization through encryption thus protection from hackers who may use vital information for harm.
References
Association of Social Work Boards (2015). Model regulatory standards for technology and social work practice. Retrieved July 28, 2017, from https://www.aswb.org/wp-content/ uploads/2015/03/ASWB-Model-RegulatoryStandards-for-Technology-and-Social-WorkPractice.pdf
Clinical Social Work Association (2017). NASW, ASWB, CSWE and CSWA standards for technology in social work practice. Retrieved July 28, 2017, from http:// www.socialworkers.org/includes/newIncludes/homepage/PRA-BRO-33617.TechStandards_ FINAL_POSTING.pdf
