cswe’s core competencies and practice behavior examples …cswe’s core competencies and practice...

CSWE’s Core Competencies and Practice Behavior Examples in this Text

Competency Chapter

Professional Identity

Practice Behavior Examples . . .

Serve as representatives of the profession, its mission, and its core values 3–11

Know the profession’s history

Commit themselves to the profession’s enhancement and to their own professional conduct and growth

1, 4, 5

Advocate for client access to the services of social work 5–11

Practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development

4–11

Attend to professional roles and boundaries 6,7,8

Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication 7

Engage in career-long learning 1, 3–11

Use supervision and consultation 3, 6–11

Ethical Practice


Obligation to conduct themselves ethically and engage in ethical decision making 1, 3, 4

Know about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law 1, 3, 4, 6–11

Recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice

4, 6–11

Make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and, as applicable, of the International Federation of Social Workers/International Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles

1, 3–11

Tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts 1–11

Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions 1–11

Critical Thinking


Know about the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment 1,2,5

Use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity 2–11

Requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information 1, 3, 5–11

Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom

1–11

Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation

Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues

1, 5–11

Adapted with the permission of Council on Social Work Education

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Competency Chapter

Diversity in Practice


Understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity

4, 6–11

Understand the dimensions of diversity as the intersectionality of multiple factors including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation

4–11

Appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim

4–11

Recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power

4–11

Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups

4–11

Recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences

6, 8

View themselves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants

4, 6–11

Human Rights & Justice


Understand that each person, regardless of position in society, has basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education

2, 3, 4, 6–11

Recognize the global interconnections of oppression and are knowledgeable about theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights

Incorporates social justice practices in organizations, institutions, and society to ensure that these basic human rights are distributed equitably and without prejudice

2, 3, 5–11

Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination

Advocate for human rights and social and economic justice 3, 4, 5

Engage in practices that advance social and economic justice 4, 6–11

Research-Based Practice


Use practice experience to inform research, employ evidence-based interventions, evaluate their own practice, and use research findings to improve practice, policy, and social service delivery

4, 6–11

Comprehend quantitative and qualitative research and understand scientific and ethical approaches to building knowledge

Use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry 1, 5–11

Use research evidence to inform practice 1, 4–11



Competency Chapter

Human Behavior


Know about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being

4–11

Apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development

5–11

Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention, and evaluation

6–11

Critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment 4–11

Policy Practice


Understand that policy affects service delivery and they actively engage in policy practice

5, 6

Know the history and current structures of social policies and services; the role of policy in service delivery; and the role of practice in policy development

Analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being 3–11

Collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action 3, 6–11

Practice Contexts


Keep informed, resourceful, and proactive in responding to evolving organizational, community, and societal contexts at all levels of practice

6–11

Recognize that the context of practice is dynamic, and use knowledge and skill to respond proactively

4, 6–11

Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant services

6–11

Provide leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services



Competency Chapter

Engage, Assess, Intervene, Evaluate


Identify, analyze, and implement evidence-based interventions designed to achieve client goals

1, 6–11

Use research and technological advances 1, 6–11

Evaluate program outcomes and practice effectiveness

Develop, analyze, advocate, and provide leadership for policies and services

Promote social and economic justice 5–11

A) ENGAGEMENT

Substantively and effectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities

6–11

Use empathy and other interpersonal skills 6–11

Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes 5–11

B) ASSESSMENT

Collect, organize, and interpret client data 1, 3, 6–11

Assess client strengths and limitations 6, 8–10

Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives 6–11

Select appropriate intervention strategies 6–11

C) INTERVENTION

Initiate actions to achieve organizational goals 6–11

Implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities 6–11

Help clients resolve problems 6–11

Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients 6–11

Facilitate transitions and endings

D) EVALUATION

Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions


xvii

Major ethical issues are inherent in the work of any profession. Yet, as social workers, we often confront problems that are unique and especially difficult, because the work we do has a strong impact on every aspect of the lives of those we serve. We have many obligations—to our clients, their families and communities, and the wider society.

In preparing this 4th edition of From the Front Lines, I am struck once again by several thoughts: first of all, I am struck by the persistence of some major ethical issues across the almost 20 years that this book has been in existence. Issues of confidentiality, of informed consent, of client self-determination and the responsibility to protect, of concerns about the application of policies that don’t always fit every situation equally well, of value differences, and many others continue to be major ongoing concerns in social work practice.

Although the 20 years have not made an appreciable difference in the special challenges involved in addressing collegial issues, which still seem to create reticence and discomfort in discussion, I am especially grateful to the students who have been willing to share their experiences in their case studies, so that we all may learn and consider these important issues. I am also struck by the range of complex and challenging issues that social work-ers encounter in host settings, where different values and different ethical codes can create professional conflicts which require both a loyalty to one’s own professional code and a willingness to truly understand and consider the code of another profession. I am impressed by the level of awareness of the writers of the effect of national trends and national policies on the day-to-day ethical issues in practice—from very macro to very micro!

Our responsibilities range from care and decision making for those unable to care for themselves, to assisting people to fufill their hopes and potential, to advocacy and empowerment for vulnerable and oppressed clients and com-munities, to working for the public interest and the common good of society as a whole, and to supporting social justice in the broader global context. We are the custodians of many of the resources of our society, and we determine how they may be allocated in a just and equitable manner. We administer major social-welfare programs; protect the best interests of children, the elderly, and the disabled; and support families and individuals in developing their optimal potential.

We work in social agencies, schools, the justice system, hospitals, nursing homes, residential treatment centers, clinics, employee-assistance programs, child-welfare programs, governmental and policy-making agencies, NGOs, and a multitude of other settings. In each of these, we work to optimize the “fit” between our client populations and the world they live in. It is our versatility, along with multiple and often conflicting obligations, that creates some of the ethical dilemmas that we all encounter in the course of our work.

Preface


Prefacexviii

We confront our various and conflicting ethical responsibilities armed with our personal values, professional skills, and understanding of the society in which we, as well as our clients, live. For guidance, we turn to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers and to ethical principles drawn from theories that support our professional values: respect for the value and dig-nity of every human being and a concern for the well-being of others. We address our clients’ needs in the context of an ever-changing, ever more complex world. We address them with a heightened awareness of the role that our own values, beliefs, and experiences play in our understanding of their problems and needs.

Our understanding of our clients and of our own roles in working with them has evolved with the maturation of the profession. In the early days of the “friendly visitor,” it was often believed that the problems people encountered were caused by some personal moral failure. Social workers of this period at-tempted to lead these unfortunates toward a “better” life by influencing their values and behavior. “If you become like me,” the friendly visitor might have said, “you will no longer have problems. You must learn to think like me, act like me, believe like me.”

Settlement-house workers lived in the communities they served and devel-oped a different approach—they tried to provide a wide variety of services that were needed by members of the communities. They worked with immigrant groups and with those living in poverty in all of the major cities of the nation.

With time, it became obvious that the problems people faced were often not rooted within the individuals themselves; rather, they were created by the clients’ environments or by circumstances beyond their individual control. This led to a proactive stance within the profession, an advocacy for programs and policies to improve the condition of disadvantaged populations.

Mid–twentieth century social workers were profoundly affected by the so-cietal and political movements and issues that were enabling major changes in society. The Civil Rights Movement, so closely aligned with social work values and goals, had a profound effect on the profession, and social workers were strongly involved in protests, advocacy, sit-ins, and voter registration drives, as well as in working directly with individuals and communities to effect much-needed changes. Influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud and others, the profession also focused interest on the development and refinement of clinical skills, and on the application of psychological theories to practice.

Advances in communications and technology also brought global issues to the forefront. From the effects of the Holocaust to the “brainwashing” believed to have occurred in the former Soviet Union, to the war in Vietnam, and the ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, and Africa, the problems in the Middle East, and global terrorism, social workers became more strongly committed to addressing social justice issues on a broader scale.

In the beginning years of the twenty-first century, several societal issues and concerns have had a strong impact on our profession and our practice. The development and funding of faith-based social services and faith-based institutions have necessitated personal ethical considerations for many so-cial workers. The long years of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq have created major needs for social services and other supports for veterans and their fami-lies. Continuing economic stressors such as the housing crisis, banking and stock market contractions, and the higher rates of unemployment, underem-ployment, and job displacement have created additional needs for social ser-vices at a time when major funding cuts have been enacted by the nationwide economic crisis. Recurrent and unresolved issues around illegal immigration


Preface xix

and the “rights” of undocumented immigrants to education, social services, and health care continue as major public issues. Natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the fires in Colorado and California, major heat waves, flooding, and man-made disasters such as the oil spill in the Caribbean have created a more urgent need for prompt, effective, and well-orgnized emer-gency health as well as social services.

While acceptance of cultural diversity is loudly and publicly espoused, and the first African American president, Barack Obama, has been elected to a second term, stereotyping, discrimination, and limitations on civil rights con-tinue to impact many groups, such as the LGBTQ community, religious minor-ities, immigrants, people with limited English proficiency, and people with disabilities, as well as ethnic and racial minorities. As our focus expands from local to national to global, we become more aware of, and engage in, the major humanitarian crises occurring on a worldwide scale, and the need to address social issues beyond our borders becomes a major concern.

Research and literature in the area of ethical issues for social workers ap-pears regularly in books and professional journals, offering us information, data, and a forum for learning. The case studies in this book add to the growing body of knowledge about ethical issues in our profession. They offer a unique perspective: that of student social workers in the field encountering ethical issues on a day-to-day basis, having to face these issues and resolve them in a manner consistent with both their own values and those of the profession.

The title of the book may evoke images of war and thus seem inappropriate to a social-work ethics textbook. Yet, I believe that there are parallels that can be drawn between social work and soldiering that make the title a meaningful one. At times, our work may place us on the front lines of a very real struggle: a struggle for rights, justice, survival, dignity and respect, recognition, peace, and the possibility of a good life.

Like soldiers in battle, we are given training and guidelines. We are given protocols and guidance, supervision and policies. We are sent out into a very different “field” than that of the soldier. But it is a field nonetheless, and upon it, alone, we must encounter difficult situations and make decisions, knowing that the effect of these decisions may go well beyond our immediate time and space and affect the course of many lives. Like the soldier, we do not have the luxury of inaction, for inaction in itself is an action.

Confronting ethical issues may seem daunting to students and practitio-ners. After all, ethics is its own discipline, with its own body of knowledge and its own methodology. How can we, without years of study, feel that we are qualified and able to make ethical decisions? We are social workers, not ethicists.

Yet, in the course of our work, we can and do make ethical decisions fre-quently, perhaps more frequently than we realize. It is possible, I believe, for social workers to make reasoned, reflective, and careful ethical decisions with-out the benefit of years of study. After all, we make ethical decisions in our personal lives all the time. We have a great deal of experience doing this.

What is asked of us, as professionals, is that we carefully consider and de-fine the issues; that we gather the information needed to make an informed de-cision; that we allow ourselves to be guided by the Code of Ethics to which we all subscribe; that we recognize and consider the effect of our own values and beliefs and our own life experiences upon our decision-making process; that we honor the values and beliefs of those affected by our decisions: our clients, our agencies, our communities, and society at large; that we reason and reflect


Prefacexx

upon the choices available to us; and that we act with integrity in the manner that we believe will be best for all concerned.

organization of the BookThe first five chapters of this book take the reader on a focused and intense journey through the elements of making an ethical decision. These apply spe-cifically to social-work ethical decision making, but there is much that can be used to reflect on the manner in which the reader and others make ethical deci-sions in their lives in a variety of contexts and situations. I believe that learning about ethical decision making is of value not just for professional practice, but for the whole person as well. Reading and learning about ethics in a profes-sional context can assist readers to become more conscious and aware of the elements they themselves bring into their decision making, and of the process they use to make decisions.

Chapters 6 through 11 each focus around one of the ethical standards of the NASW Code of Ethics. The order of the Code is preserved in the arrangement of the chapters. Within each chapter, the particular ethical standard is discussed, and examples of cases involving that standard are presented to the reader. After a brief review, each chapter includes some review questions to assist students to integrate the chapter’s materials

The collection includes 26 cases, each unique in terms of the particular combination of setting, issue, worker, and client and/or policy. Cases illus-trate both common kinds of dilemmas and more unusual ones; cases where the writer did an extensive and exhaustive research and literature review and cases where less material was used; cases illustrating the use of different theo-ries and methods; cases where the writer carefully examines the impact of his or her own values on his or her decision and cases where this is not accentu-ated. In some instances, I would have made the same decision as the writer, though perhaps for slightly different reasons. In others, I would have made a very different decision. In still others, I would have framed the ethical problem differently from the way the writer has chosen. Similarly, the reader may find herself or himself agreeing with some writers and disagreeing, slightly or vehe-mently, with others.

The rationale for this diversity is to illustrate that it is possible to make ethical decisions using a variety of approaches, and in more or less depth, as long as certain elements are always a part of the process: adequate information, reference to the Code of Ethics or to some set of principles and theories, aware-ness of all of the value systems that impact the decision and are impacted by it, and a process of reason and reflection.

It is my hope that the issues presented in this book will engender good dis-cussion: Ethics flourishes best in an atmosphere of open discussion, respect, and consideration for the views and opinions of others. I also hope that in reflecting on each writer’s approach and in considering the questions at the end of the chapter, the reader will feel an increased sense of confidence in his or her own ability to make ethical decisions. References and bibliographies are included with all cases to facilitate further study.

As the classical philosopher Aristotle says in the Nichomachean Ethics, “Ethics is an inexact science.” It is not necessary—in fact, it is not possible—for social workers to make the same decisions for the same reasons as do other social workers. We are each unique; we bring that uniqueness with us to our work. Therefore, we cannot seek absolute consistency among ourselves in ethi-cal decision making. All that can be asked of each of us is that we make the


Preface xxi

most thoughtful, reflective decision that we can, with sincerity, honesty, and integrity.

acknowledgmentsThis project was born on a sunny winter afternoon, early in a new semester, when, once again, I heard the familiar litany, “Why do we have to use ethics cases from other discipline’s books? Why can’t we have our own casebook?”

“O.K.,” I said, tired of this often-repeated complaint, “I’ll write one. But you must prepare good cases. I’ll use material from them and put a casebook together.”

And so, From the Front Lines was born.Over these past 20 years, the students in my ethics classes at the University

of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare and the National Catholic School for Social Service have worked extra hard to prepare cases they thought would be of interest to students everywhere. They helped me classroom-test the book. They read the revised and abstracted versions of their work to ensure that I had preserved the flavor and urgency of their ethical dilemmas. They assisted me always with their enthusiasm, loyalty, and interest. I would like to thank each and every one—those whose cases are included here, and those who, for various reasons, were unable to contribute a case to this endeavor.

It is the sincere hope of each of us that our book will help to stimulate thought and discussion in this essential area of our professional education. I would like to acknowledge the following reviewers who critiqued this book; their comments were very helpful and contributed toward the final version of the textbook: Duane Neff, Boston College; Thomas Watts, University of Texas at Arlington; and Karl Mitchell, Queens College.


cswe’s core competencies and practice behavior examples …cswe’s core competencies and practice...

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