Social work is a profession that seeks to enhance the wellbeing of individuals and entire societies by helping them meet basic needs and empower those that are oppressed and vulnerable in the community ( Reilly, 2014) . The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics guides the professional conduct of social workers in their practice ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . The significance of values and ethics in social work goes beyond the requirement to comply with the set regulations and standards. These are crucial components of practice as they help social workers to protected and advocate for the vulnerable people they serve who cannot achieve these strides on their own.
Values
The first and most important core value from which all others originate of social work is service. Social workers aim to put the interests and needs of others above their own and they use their skills and experience to help people in need ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . Therefore, social workers often conduct volunteer work with no expectation of monetary rewards to fulfill this value. Social justice is another value where social workers play advocacy roles for people who are oppressed in the society such as the abused, homeless, and discriminated among others (Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, 2017). It is the obligation of a social worker to provide help in terms of information and other resources to people who need them to improve their lives ( Reilly, 2014) . They also educate those that do not experience societal problems about their existence and ways they can help solve them.
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Integrity is valued among social workers as it is a crucial to identify as trustworthy for them to maintain the relationships that they use to improve the lives of others. This values also helps a social worker to be continually aware of the mission, values and ethical standards required of the profession which help create more value to the communities they serve (Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, 2017). Competence is a value gained from a combination of educational background and field experience ( Reilly, 2014) . The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics requires all social workers to practice within the scope of their experience and avoid misrepresenting the scope of their skills to clients ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) .
Ethical Challenges
Due to the sensitive situations that social workers often have to deal with, they sometimes face ethical challenges where they have to choose between conflicting needs. One such challenge is informed consent where social workers are meant to present all relevant information to a client so that they can make informed decisions about the cause of action to take ( Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, 2017) . This can pose a problem where the client is legally incapable of giving informed consent such as if it is a minor or a mental health patient. In such cases, the social worker should get informed consent from an appropriate third party that acts in the best interests and according to the wishes of the client ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . In case the social worker is serving a person involuntarily, they are mandated to inform them the extent to which they are allowed to refuse service.
Cultural awareness and diversity can present an ethical challenge in social work as more often than not, social workers are dealing with people from different backgrounds than themselves ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . Often, a social worker may be biased by their preconceived notions about a particular culture or ethnicity and this may affect how they treat the client or behave towards them. To solve this dilemma, social workers should endeavor to understand culture, its effect in human behavior and the strengths that exist in different cultures ( Reilly, 2014) . They should be aware and accepting of their client’s culture and provide culturally sensitive services to people in different groups. Social workers should understand social diversity and the effects of different forms of discrimination.
Another common ethical challenge pertains to privacy and confidentiality where social workers are required to safeguard the information given by clients and their identities. The valid consent of a client is required to release confidential information, yet there are situations when this is a challenge ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017 ) . For instance, if a client is being physically abused by a partner but this information and the identity of the perpetrator are given in confidence, a social worker may face a dilemma between maintaining confidentiality and protecting the client’s life. To solve this dilemma, social workers should maintain confidentiality unless there is a compelling professional reason; and even then only the least possible should be released to achieve the intended purpose ( Reilly, 2014) . The limitations of confidentiality should be discussed with a client as soon as possible, especially if the social worker is dealing with a group such as a family or couples ( Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, 2017) . In case of legally authorized access to confidential records, the social worker should inform clients about it. Social workers should also avoid searching for client information electronically unless the client has authorized it ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . They should also avoid disclosing any identifying information when discussing the case with consultants unless the client has given authorization to do so.
At times, a social worker may find themselves in a personal situation that interferes with their impartial professional judgment on a matter; this presents the dilemma of conflict of interests ( Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, 2017) . For instance where a client’s abusive behavior triggers a hurtful experience that the social worker had themselves, it can make the social worker aggressive towards the client and thus unable to help them. This can be solved by termination of a professional relationship where there is a conflict of interests so that the person can receive more quality assistance from another social worker ( Reilly, 2014) . A social worker should also avoid multiple relationships with current and former clients as it present the potential of exploitation to the client ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . Where multiple relationships are unavoidable, social workers should set clear, appropriate and culturally sensitive boundaries ( National Association of Social Workers, 2017) . When services are provided to different people who have a relationship with each other, the social worker should clarify with all parties the extent of each relationship. Personal interactions with clients and the posting of personal information on professional sites should be avoided.
References
Beckett, C., Maynard, A., & Jordan, P. (2017). Values and Ethics in Social Work . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers . Retrieved from https://socialwork.utexas.edu/dl/files/academic-programs/other/nasw-code-of-ethics.pdf
Reilly, L. (2014). Mastering Social Work Values and Ethics. Journal of Social Work Practice , 29 (2), 244-247. doi:10.1080/02650533.2014.960197
