Ethics

Professional Codes: Why, how, and with what impact?

The process of developing a code of ethics is assessed because of the role it plays in gaining consensus on professional values and ethical norms. After discussing some of the weaknesses in current approaches to professional self-regulation, several new private and public initiatives are proposed

Does Decentralization Increase Government Responsiveness to Local Needs?

This paper examines whether decentralization increases the responsiveness of public investment to local needs using a unique database from Bolivia. Empirical tests show that investment patterns in human capital and social services changed significantly after decentralization. These changes are...

Supervisors Behaving Badly: Witnessing ethical dilemmas and what to do about it

The NASW (National Association of Social Workers) Code of Ethics (1996) guides social workers’ professional conduct, but provides little instruction when one’s own supervisor behaves unethically. Using student-collected interviews, they found six typologies of supervisors behaving badly, and used...

Better Care, Better Volunteering

With growing interest in volunteer-tourism around the world, there is an increasing trend of volunteering within residential care centres such as orphanages and children’s homes. There is a critical need to raise awareness of the risks of harm involved in these volunteering practices, through...

Managing Ethical Dilemmas: A tool for HIV care workers

HIV care workers sometimes face ethical dilemmas, such as: "Do I uphold the law, or protect my client from an unjust criminal system?" This webinar introduces a new tool to help in working through ethical dilemmas.

Rhetoric Versus Reality in Social Work Practice: Political, neoliberal and new managerial influences

A study of experiences of social workers employed in public service organizations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, shows an increasing shift toward neoliberalism and new managerialism impacts on the functions and levels of satisfaction in day-to-day practice.

Difficult Decisions: A tool for care workers

This guide was developed to aid care workers in ethical decision-making when caring for children and families of key populations, including people living with HIV, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, and gay men and other men who have sex with men.

12 Approaches for Engaging with Children who have Suffered Sexual Abuse

This paper summarizes 12 reports documenting approaches appropriate for work with children who have experienced sexual abuse. The report covers specific practices as well as methods and approaches for working with the families of these children and the implications of different legal and policy...

Standards in Social Work Practice Meeting Human Rights

The IFSW has developed this document to help social workers understand what is required to promote human rights within the European Region.

Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice

The National Association of Social Workers (U.S) previously developed these standards and indicators in 2007, which are revised in this publication to provide additional guidance on the implementation and realization of culturally competent practice.

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