Importance of Ethical Behavior in Social Work

Importance of Ethical Behavior in genial WorkVeronica AndersonShalondria Wade hillI. morality and social WorkFor professions rooted in health and human services, ethics are a vital part and have the most immenseness. The societal work up profession is the epitome of both right and ethics. Although the majority of affable proletarians display ideal ethics and the nature of the career tends to attr exemplify the most pity and principled individuals, in that location is a sm entirely minority that bind in behavior that is considered to be un h singlest. The NASW (National connecter of societal Workers) Code of Ethics emphasizes that the meaning of any type of brotherly work revolves around master copy ethics. The mission of the societal work profession is rooted in a nonplus of six magnetic core set. It is somewhat of a map that guides each complaisant doers journey and is important to altogether mixer workers regardless of working conditions. These core set serve as the root for all mixer workers and if followed properly will fancy that each and all social worker remain highly ethical in any situation that they whitethorn face. These core values are (1) Service, (2) Social Justice, (3) Dignity and chargey of the person, (4) Importance of Human relationships, (5) Integrity, and (6) Competence (National link of Social Workers, 2013).Unethical behavior for a social worker is any deviation or violation from the six core values and the several principles and standards set onward by the NASW. The reason social workers misconduct is so important is because misconduct and neglect of duty by a social worker could have harmful consequences. Misconduct by a social worker can result in right injury, lost financial support, baby endangerment, and in some grammatical boldnesss remainder (Hyslop, 2015). With such fatal consequences, it is urgent that the social work profession understand why some of their workers engage in such ethical m isbehavior. According to Dr. Frederic G. Reamer, there are several prominent themes when it comes to social work misconduct (1) Desperation, (2) Greed, (3) Impairment, (4) mental illness, (5) addiction (including addiction to substances, sex, and gambling), and professional burnout (Reamer, 2012).II. CompetenceOne of the critical core values set forth by the NASW is competency. Competence is the ability to perform ones duties both successfully and efficiently. This is critical for social workers. Social workers tend to work long hours and have a number of cases, so it is important that they can work efficiently entirely similarly keep the equal standards to ensure that the dividing line is done successfully as well. The ethical principle states how Social workers must practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise (National tie-up of Social Workers, 2013). For social workers it is proper to utilize their education, ainized value s, experience, training, and any other professional related experiences in order to properly address any situation.Although it may be overlooked at times, being suitable is a crucial factor in some cases of unethical behavior. With many of these situations, competence is the first core values that many unethical social workers neglect. Having a competent social worker is the necessary first key to resolving any situation and when it is lacking, portentous consequences could be the result. The NASW believes that social workers should continually strive to increase their professional knowledge and skills in order to leave of absence them successfully in practice. In order to remain competent social workers must work every day to non barely maintain their take of competence but to also build upon it as well.III. CaseAn example of unethical behavior in social work can be seen in the case of Candice Lassiter and Craig Smith in North Carolina. These two social workers were each ch arged with three counts obstructer of cleanice in relation to the death of a 15 month year old footling girl. According to Mitch Weiss of the Huffington Post, the social workers were aware of the child iniquity going on in the home, yet by and by the death of the child Lassiter, who was in charge, ordered Smith, a subordinate, to fix records to make it appear like they did an decorous and competent job in investigating the case (Weiss, 2013). There were several violations of social work ethics in this case which include (1) double-dealing, (2) incompetence, (3) service, (4) social justice, and (5) the unethical conduct of colleagues.Gregory Achen notes how child abuse can be hard to substantiate and requires comprehensive, time-consuming assessments from social workers (Achen, 2013). If the two social workers in the previous case use the code of ethics this childs biography could have been spared. According to the Child Abuse legal community and Treatment Act (CAPTA), chil d abuse and neglect is defined as Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm (U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services, 2012). In the United says 9.3% of children were victims of abuse and/or neglect in 2009. With approximately 9% of children in this country neglected and/or ab utilize, there needs to be a voice for the children, and that voice needs to be in skilled, ethical social workers.To explain this problem in a social work setting, I propose this hypothetical situation. A social worker coming straight out of a Masters program has just been hired by the Mississippi surgical incision of Health and Human Services (MDHS) as a child protection services specialist. This social workers superior has been an excellent mentor so cold and has provided necessary skills and knowledge on the subject m atter and how to deal with a variety of situations. Over the ancient year, the unexampled social worker has been to various functions with the supervisor and now considers them to be not only colleagues but close friends.At MDHS, social workers are informed of suspected cases through the hotline and once the case gets appoint they have 3 trains. Level 1 is called the screen out it is centered on neglect much than actual abuse. Level 2 is still neglect and abuse but more severe than level 1 and the social worker has up to 72 hours to make a home visit. Level 3 is the most severe level. Here are the cases of extreme physical abuse and sexual abuse and the social worker has up to 24 hours to make a home visit. (MDHS). Now unfamiliar to the young social worker, her supervisor has already had a level 2 call somewhat child abuse in a pretty bad neighborhood. The supervisor has neglected numerous home visits and eventually the hotline receives a level 3 call about this same child. T he supervisor still remains to follow through, and two weeks later, the same child is found dead at the home.Upon hearing of the death, the supervisor is trying to go their tracks and so they bring in out to the young social worker. The supervisor should have pileed the case to a CPS worker and oversee all of the home care visits, but did none of it. So they come to the young social worker to falsify official documents. He wants the young social worker to fill out reports show that home visits were made and that everything seemed to be in order when they visited on the number of calls previously received. The supervisor would past sign off on all of the paperwork and even states how he himself went out to the home with the young social worker on one of the visits to ensure that everything was ok.In this hypothetical situation the police never envision out about the unethical misconduct of the social workers and they continue their friendship, however collectable to this incid ent more and more cases could possibly turn out the same way and one childs life was lost. In this scenario, there has been a variety of social work unethical behavior demonstrated. Obviously lying to stretch out up other colleagues neglect is the most obvious. The core values not used were reasonable for all six. The core value of service was not administered at all here.A social workers primary goal is to help people in need, and in this case a child needed them and nothing was done. There was no social justice performed by these social workers because social workers are supposed to help get justice for weak and vulnerable individuals, and in this case this was not accomplished. They did not acknowledge the dignity and worth of this child, possibly because of the unsafe environment with which they were being raised. The importance of human relationships extends beyond clients at times. Although it is the target to obtain a good relationship with colleagues, it is not worth it if the clients, social workers are supposed to help, suffer as a result of it. Lastly there was no integrity or competence shown here with the falsifying of documents to cover the tracks of a superior.IV. Personal ReflectionSocial workers practicing in the child welfare field often face the need to make critical decisions eyepatch working in stressful work environments that can include high caseloads and limited supervision, training, and support (National Association of Social Workers, 2013). As an undergraduate social work student here at Jackson State University, the NASW Code of Ethics has played a crucial role in not only how I view social work issues but also how I look at issues in my chance(a) life. The role of social workers when it comes to abuse varies, but it centers on the safety and well-being of potential victims. This is one major reason why I feel that it is important to have a code of ethics and set of guiding principles that anyone can fall back on when confronted with morally unclear issues such as the earlier hypothetical situation.In my opinion, both the supervisor and the young social worker were more than wrong in the above scenario. First off the supervisor was neglectful in his duties initially. Any level two calls about child abuse are extremely upsetting and his duty was to call attention to it and respond appropriately. To chemical compound his neglect, upon the death of the child he immediately began lying to his superiors, to the young social worker, and to himself. Lying about see the home and lying about the entire situation was not the way to go. To top it all off, due to his negligence he brought in the young social worker to lie on his behalf. He used the friendship he achieved with a coworker to justify and cover up his mistakes. The young social worker is also at fault because she should have had more integrity to not get involved in the cover up and report the negligence of her supervisor to the proper authorities. All she did, by covering up his mistake, was leave the door open for it to happen again and that could cost more children harm and possibly cause another life to end as well.One of the best things about the NASW code of ethics, in my mind, is the fact that they all work with each other. Without having one core value it lessen any of the other five. That is why I feel that competence is one of the most important ones. If a social worker is not competent it makes it almost impossible to display and of the other five core values. That is why in this case I feel that the core value most in need was competence. I feel that this falls hand in hand with my personal values. My aim is to become an exceptional social worker and the way to ensure this I must remain competent with everything I do. The supervisor lacked competence by not only neglecting his duties but by involving a subordinate in the affairs as well to cover his tracks. The young social worker lacked competence, by not knowing the situation that the supervisor put her in by asking for her to falsify documents.If I was ever in any situation that could possibly contradict with my personal values or the social work six core values, it would be hard to say one hundred percent what I would do, but I am more than confident that with the importance of my values and the NASW code of ethics that a solution will be reached that does not jeopardize my integrity, the integrity of my career, and my past, current, or potential clients. As a social worker we must rely on our values and the NASW core values to help us in any situation.If any situation contradicts with either of the two thence we must take appropriate action. Not only would I have denied the request the supervisor gave to falsify documents, I would also reported it to either his superior or to the authorities. Social workers are similar to a variety of professions, especially when it comes to the fact that lives could potentially be in our hands. There is no way that mortal could die because of my negligence, and instead of owning up to a mistake and serving the potential punishment, I would just cover it up. I would not be able to sleep at night as a result. Social workers are the first line of defense when it comes to abuse victims and with this comes the great responsibility of protecting the innocence of the domains children, ensuring that they at least have a chance to rise above the situation and go on to live productive lives.BibliographyAchen, Gregory. (2013). The Importance of Ethic in Social Work. San Diego State UniversitySchool of Social Work. Retrieved From http//socialwork.sdsu.edu/insitu/social-workethics/the-importance-of-ethics-in-social-work-by-gregory-achen/Hyslop, J. (2015). Mastering Social Work Values and Ethics by Farrukh Akhtar, Foreword byProfessor Hilary Tompsett, pause of the Mastering Social Work Skills series, JessicaKingsley Publishers, London and Philadelphia, 2012. 168 pp. ISBN 9781849052740 (Pbk), 17 .99. Child Abuse Review.National Association of Social Workers. (2013). NASW Standards for Social Work Practice inChild Welfare. Retrieved fromhttp//www.naswdc.org/practice/standards/childwelfarestandards2012.pdfReamer, Frederic G. (2012). Eye on Ethics The Dark Side of Social Work Ethical Misconduct.Social Work Today. Retrieved Fromhttp//www.socialworktoday.com/news/eoe_051712.shtmlUnited States Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). 2012 Child MaltreatmentAnnual report. Retrieved from http//www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2012.pdfWeiss, M. (2013). Candice Lassiter and Craig Smith, social workers, charged in AubreyKinaMarie Littlejohns death. Huffington Post. Retrieved fromhttp//www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/candice-lassiter-craig-smith-social-workersbabys-death_n_3079938.html?utm_hp_ref=crimeMississippi Department of Human Serviceshttp//www.mdhs.ms.gov/media/9579/titleandtoc.pdf