Abstract

As professional social workers, we are guided by a set of core values that inform our ethical decision-making and professional behavior. However, there may be instances where our personal values conflict with our professional values, creating a dilemma that can impact our service delivery and overall effectiveness in the field.

This can be particularly challenging when working with diverse populations or in situations where cultural differences are at play. This abstract explores the topic of personal and professional value conflict in social work, identifying some of the primary ethical dilemmas that practitioners may face and highlighting key strategies for managing these challenges.

The paper draws on relevant literature in the field and offers practical recommendations for social workers seeking to navigate value conflict while remaining true to their professional obligations and responsibilities.

Ultimately, the research argues that while personal and professional values are bound to intersect, with thoughtful reflection, effective communication, and a commitment to ongoing ethical development, social workers can work effectively with clients while staying true to their individual and professional values.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

It has always been acknowledged that social work practice raises ethical dilemmas on a regular basis. These dilemmas occur due to a conflict of professional and personal values. Social work is involved with the support of people who have a variety of needs, with relationships within the family, with needs ascending from structural influences; such as poverty and conflicts with society. These are individually moral concerns which are integrated into the tradition of society, and are therefore laden with social values.

This is where the problem lies, because the views in which are regarded as being acceptable in society, are then accepted by the mass population. They say “what ought to be the case” (Shardlow, 2003, p.3), consequently initiating the potential for conflict between individuals on bases of belief and conceptualisation.

Therefore, social work will always reflect values and will often be disputed because society may not necessarily agree with the aim of social work. The following assignment will look at values at a professional and personal level, while considering the possible conflicts which could arise within practice, why this can happen and what needs to change.

1.1 Background to the Study

Every individual has a set of beliefs which influence their actions; some are personal to us, while others are shared beliefs. Our own moral code defines what is of value to us in life and therefore, identifies part of who we are. As a social work student, we are taught to be aware of our own personal values and how they might be different to people of a different culture. Professional values are based on a code of ethics presented by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW).

These are split into: human rights, social justice and professional integrity (BASW, 2012). Therefore, social workers are expected to respect all individuals and protect vulnerable people. Likewise, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) issued a code of practice for social care workers to abide by.

These highlight standards such as; protecting the rights of service users and carers, maintain trust, promote independence, respect and accountability and responsibility (NISCC, 2002). There are also agency policies, procedures and legislation which governs the way in which a social worker must practice.

One dilemma which could prove to be conflicting for a social worker is balancing confidentiality with the duty to protect versus the right to self-determination.

A central question with relation to ethics in social work is how a social worker should behave towards a client. What are the boundaries of a client-worker relationship? Let’s say for example, you are a social worker working with a female client, Miss Smyth, within a mental health facility. You have been working with Miss Smyth for three months and she has a son, aged six, who has some behaviour problems. Over the past few months, your relationship with Miss Smyth has strengthened and she now feels she can confide in you and trust you, talking to you about some of her personal problems such as; financial issues and her battle with depression.

Working together, you have taught Miss Smyth different ways with which to deal with her son’s behaviour problems and from this, there have been a great deal of improvements. However, one day during your visit with her, Miss Smyth confides in you about an incident she had with her son, when he was acting out and she pushed him because she was frustrated, but this caused him to bang his head as he fell over;.

Things will always come up and people need to be able to articulate these challenges and discuss them with supervisors and managers..”(Sale, 2007). He added “You cannot have an absolute list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to professional boundaries…you would end up with a situation where workers become so remote and distant from clients they would be unable to engage with them…” (Sale, 2007).

As a result, there is no perfect solution. However, it could be highlighted that the BASW code of ethics fails to provide sufficient guidance for social workers in the day to day conflicts of values and their responsibilities.

As a social work student, I know I will find some situations more challenging than others. My personal beliefs have been instilled into me from a young age, therefore, training to be a social worker and having to learn new values which I have to take into account will be difficult. The code of practice clearly states that all “social workers must protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers” (NISCC, 2002), therefore it is important to recognise that the appropriate action is to assess someone’s needs while working at a professional level.

Furthermore, social workers operate from a ‘Framework for Theory and Practice’ (Dalrymple and Burke, 2006) that understands the presence of inequality and oppression that exists in society. Therefore, using this framework will help to develop the skills required within practice without causing oppression or inequality. These skills will also help to improve working relationships with multi-agency and multi-disciplinary groups. These can be applied to my practice and will strengthen my ability as a social worker.

As previously stated, social workers regularly make difficult decisions, where there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. This essay supports the argument that social work values, such as, client self-determination and sustaining confidentiality can create an uncertain process, causing confusing between values and process, therefore resulting in the inability to find the ‘correct’ response.

A clients concerns are often complex and have many aspects, therefore, it could be suggested that the greater the knowledge and skills that a practitioner is able to develop in ethical decision making, the more effective this would be for a social worker in practice.

Additionally, the foundations of good social work practice is knowing your values and principles, how you’ve learned to interact with people, your knowledge and skills learned. I have always considered myself to be an empathetic person, who listens well, does not judge others and is sensitive to the feelings of others.

But, I am aware that there are still some areas I need to strengthen. For example; the ability to work with a person that has abused a child, I have always focused on the areas I would like to work and never considered being placed with a person or group of people I might struggle to accept or work with. This will be a conflict of my personal and professional values, however, through consistent training and development, I will be able to further develop in the profession of social work based on a commitment in practice to key values and principles.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The relationship between a social worker and client is not as smooth as it seems on the surface but rather very complicated and in some cases devastating leading to what is known as personal and professional conflict in social values.

Most often, these social workers try to understand their clients so as to maintain a good relationship but not all always go as planned. Therefore, this study seeks to explain why these conflicts occur and the reasons for the conflict between a social worker and a client.

1.3 Research Questions

1. Why is the relationship between a social worker and a client important?
2. What can be done to improve the relationship between a client and a social worker?
3. How effective is the job of a social worker toward the clients?

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