Values, Ethics and Professional Identity, in Social Work Leadership Facilitated by: Daniela Sheri Shawn.

Values, Ethics and Professional Identity, in Social Work Leadership

Facilitated by:

Daniela Sheri

Shawn

Professional Identity

In your opinion, what is this movie clip teaching you about discovering our identity?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0jVCDHE6pI

What do you suggest is the relationship between:

Identity

&

Professional Identity

Margaret Wheatley

“First, we must know what “center” feels like. We must know who we are, our patterns of behavior, our values, our intentions. The ground of our identity and experience must feel familiar to us; we must know what it feels like to be standing in it. But we don’t expect that we will be perfectly balanced in that center all the time. We know that we will drift into the wrong activities or be thrown off-balance by life’s chaos. But we also will recognize when we’ve moved off too far, and will be able to recall ourselves more quickly to who we want to be” (Chapter 8 of Leadership & the New Science).

Let’s reflect together

In your practicum so far:

What has specifically helped you discover your professional identity as a Social Work Leader? Why?

What is distracting, or has distracted or thrown you “off-balance” from your professional identity? What do you to rebalance yourself?

A PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE

Theory on Professional Identity in Social Work Leadership

Mizrahi, T. & Berger, C. S. (2005). A longitudinal look at social work leadership in hospitals: The impact of a changing health care system. Health & Social Work.

30:2, p. 155-165.

Silverman, E. (2008). From ideological to competency based: The rebranding and maintaining of medical social work's identity. Social Work. 53(1), p.89-91.

Vancouver General Hospital

True North GoalsVancouver Coastal Health Authority

CASW Core Values

Value 1: Respect for Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons

Value 2: Pursuit of Social Justice

Value 3: Service to Humanity

Value 4: Integrity of Professional Practice

Value 5: Confidentiality in Professional Practice

Value 6: Competence in Professional Practice

SOCIAL WORK ETHICS:

THE PERSON AND THE PROFESSIONAL

Ethics

“Ethics is knowing the difference between what

you have a right to do and what is right to do”.

(By U.S. Former Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart.)

Code of Ethics“The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to set

forth values and principles to guide social workers professional conduct. While a code of

ethics cannot guarantee ethical behaviour it guides social workers as they act in good faith

and with a genuine desire to make sound decisions.

The Code of Ethics identifies core social work values, and the principles which

underline those values.”

(Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW), Code of Ethics, 2005)

Practice- Rossiter et al. (2000) found in his research about enforcing code of ethics in practice that codes of ethics are not used in practice.

- Rossiter et al. (2000) reports that there is no time for the professional to consult the code of ethics, or that some practitioners are only vaguely aware of their existence.

- Rossiter et al. (2000) argues that the codes are instruments to provide students with reflection on their practice.

Ethical Practice

Guidelines for Ethical Practice aim to:

Serve as a companion document to the CASW Code of Ethics

Provide guidance on ethical practice

Not intended to be exhaustive, or entirely prescriptive

Intended to provide social workers with greater clarity on how to interpret and apply the ethical values and

principles in the Code.

“The extent to which each guideline is enforceable is a matter of professional judgement”

(CASW, Guidelines for Ethical practice, 2005, p.2).

Social Work Values: Personal versus Professional

The Code of Ethics does not specify which values and principles are most important and which

outweigh others in instances of conflict.

Reasonable differences of opinion exist among social workers with respect to which values and principles

should be given priority in a particular situation.

A social worker’s personal values, culture, religious beliefs, practices and/or other important distinctions, such as age, ability, gender or sexual orientation can

affect his/her ethical choices.

Social Work Values: The Moral Core of the Profession

“At its core social work must respond to the moral imperative of caring for the neediest amongst us”

(Bisman,2004, p.109).

“Without values and morality, what good is the knowledge attained and skills used by social workers?”

(Bisman,2004, p.115).

Question for class:

What stood out to you in this article ?

Class Exercise

Define what ethical practice means for you in five words.

As social work leaders name 3 most important professional and personal values which define your way of leading.

ReferencesBisman, C. (2004). Social work values: The moral core of

the profession. British Journal of Social Work, 34(1), 109-123.

Canadian Association of Social Workers. (2005). Code of

Ethics. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved from: http://www.casw

-acts.ca/en/what-social-work/casw-code-ethics

Canadian Association of Social Workers. (2005). Guidelines

for Ethical Practice. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved from:

http://www.casw-acts.ca/en/what-social-work/casw-code

-ethics/guideline-ethical-practice

Rossiter, A., Prilleltensky, I., & Walsh-Bowers, R. (2000).

A postmodern perspective on professional ethics. Practice

and research in social work, 83-103.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

PARTICIPATION IN THIS SEMINAR

Any further comments or questions you may have?