Professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles

We explore social workers’ perception of the importance and rank ordering of ethical principles. Do they have a generally agreed upon hierarchy of ethical principles? Do they apply similar hierarchies of ethical principles when facing different cases? Are their professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles similar? The findings based on a structured questionnaire indicated that while social workers attach high importance to most ethical principles closely associated with social work, they do not hold a universal hierarchy of ethical principles. Social workers change their ethical hierarchies in different professional situations but there is no difference between their professional and personal ethical hierarchies. Implications for practice and education are discussed.     

Busted and Branded

No abstract available for this article.     

The relative amenability of dull and bright children to child guidance 1

Supervision is an activity filled with ethical dilemmas related to the power held by the supervisor, a power that should be exercised with care. This article explores some of these dilemmas through the analysis of supervision vignettes viewed from the perspective of social constructionism, in particular, from the insights of French philosopher Michel Foucault. It concludes with suggestions to exercise supervisory power ethically.     

The Impact of Political Conflict on Social Work: Experiences from Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine

This paper investigates the impact of violent political conflicton social workers and service users in three countries: NorthernIreland, Israel and Palestine. Despite its significance forsocial work (and other helping professions), there is a dearthof research on the subject. The authors construct a researchframework which encapsulates the complexity and ambiguity ofthe issues at stake and three parallel empirical studies, whichfollow this framework, are presented. The findings highlightthe burden of working and living in a violent political conflict,not just for service users but also for social workers. Emotionalstress, fear, competing national and religious identities, yetsome indication of resilience, are key findings from these studies.A number of moral and professional dilemmas emerged across allthree studies, often testing loyalty to universal social workvalues. Thus, some respondents at times found it difficult todeal with colleagues and service users who were perceived tobe ‘the enemy’. These studies highlight the needto raise the consciousness of social workers, agencies and policiesabout such issues in a world which is increasingly afflictedby violent political conflict. Support, education and trainingfor social workers which transcend national contexts and furtherinternational research in this important area are recommended.     

Ethical Dilemmas and Areas of Social Work Intervention in Spain

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the types of ethical dilemmas that Spanish social workers face in their respective areas of intervention. The intervention areas that have been studied are health, children, immigrants, women, family, marginalized persons, ethnic minorities, young people, prisoners, elderly people, refugees and asylum seekers, schools and social and employment-related integration, mental health, disability and drug addictions. A quantitative methodology was chosen using a version of the questionnaire prepared by Eileen J. Ain in a sample of 700 Spanish social workers. The statistical analysis shows the correlation between the different areas of intervention in Social Work and the most significant ethical dilemmas that such professionals have to solve. The most pertinent ethical dilemmas are found in the healthcare sector (confidentiality, disclosure of personal information and patient autonomy). The article is an important contribution for Social Work at the national level that emphasizes the importance of the ethics of Social Work in social interventions. It is proposed to deepen the investigation of each of the areas of intervention for future research, as well as to carry out comparative studies between different countries.     

价值的科学——韦伯社会科学方法论再探

面对现代社会中理性与非理性、主观与客观、事实与价值之间的紧张,马克斯·韦伯的社会科学方法论力图在对立双方之间搭建起关联并在研究中往复运动,借助包含价值的历史个体和理想类型,通过超越主客观对立的价值阐释,说明历史、文化与社会的各种独特现象,发现各民族和时代中人们的价值理想,理解先辈如何去坚持和实践它们,进而指导现代人在今天继承和实现这些价值。历史和社会科学,既要用理性的方法培养学人清明的理智,也要使人看到超越理性的价值信念,从而帮助人在高度抽象的现代社会中,以理性的态度去守护和坚持各种文明的价值核心,避免走向僵死的理性和狂热的非理性两个极端。     

伦理决策语境下的包容性增长研究

伦理决策与包容性增长具有内在的、不可分割的联系,在社会信任发生变化、传统工业文明的文化向现代商业文明的文化变迁、行政体制改革滞后的过程中,伦理决策有弱化的趋势。本文认为,在伦理决策语境下,包容性增长的路径表现为以政府为主导的政治伦理发展路径,以市场为依托的经济伦理发展路径和以社会为背景的生态伦理发展路径。     

公共生活的变迁与婚姻道德价值理念的嬗变——从“富二代校园征婚选校花”透视我国当代婚姻异化现象

随着现代化进程的加快,我国社会的各个层面都发生了巨大的变化,社会公共生活也给婚姻伦理价值理念选择呈现出多元化、多层次、多选择,以平等为前提、爱情为基础的家庭婚姻伦理核心价值理念受到了极大的冲击,带来世俗化、功利化、政治化等弊端。要处理好婚姻家庭伦理关系,应健全社会道德评价机制;确立以平等、尊重为前提,以爱情为基础的婚姻伦理价值理念;建立公平、公正的制度秩序,确保不同阶层向上流动的公平竞争机制。     

价值理想的认识与实践:马克斯·韦伯的伦理教育

在我们这个似乎已实现了“价值自由”的时代,马克斯·韦伯很少被人视为一位伦理教育者。本文尝试从韦伯身处的时代和社会背景出发,以其关于学术与政治之伦理意义的论述为重点,结合其书信和传记,来揭示韦伯思想中之伦理教育的面向。面对威廉二世时代的精神危机,韦伯力主社会科学虽具有抽象的观念性,但能够向人们揭示文明与历史中的超越性价值,并通过对其客观化实践的描述,令人们看到这些价值理想如何落实于现实,并产生复杂的变化与后果;由此,学术能够令人明确自身的价值立场及其实践后果,从而培养人的自我清明和求真务实的品质,在日常的工作与生活中朴实地践行自己的理想。另一方面,韦伯还告诫我们,要警惕主观理想潜藏的暴力性,认清实践的复杂性和悖谬性,将信念与清醒的现实责任感结合起来。     

论社会主义友爱的三个层次

从当代人际交往的实际看,我国公民间的友爱关系包含相互依存的三个层次:道德情感、道德规范和道德理想,它们与社会主义制度相联系,从不同侧面反映着公民道德建设的基本要求。以情感为动力、规范为导向,创建互助友爱的和谐的人际关系是公民道德建设的目标。     

大学生道德认知与道德行为失调的原因分析

本文深入分析了大学生道德认知与道德行为失调的原因,认为其原因主要包括道德本身“知易行难”属性,学校和家庭教育体系的不足以及社会环境的变化等几个方面。因此,对于寻找正确的方法和途径实现大学生德育的知行统一目标具有十分重要的理论和实践意义,从而帮助提高大学生整体思想道德水平。     

惩罚机制对阻断腐败循环的演化博弈分析

腐败循环是一种典型的社会困境问题,其根源在于反腐败组织无法打破腐败利益交易双方在长期博弈中形成的稳定均衡态势。通过演化博弈分析发现,惩罚机制可以起到促进反腐败组织协调高效运作的作用,有助于打破腐败交易双方的长期合作关系,从而为最终阻断腐败循环提供可能性。     

存在主义治疗取向对高校心理咨询的启示

存在主义疗法源自存在主义哲学思想,作为一种动力学取向的治疗,它认为人格的内在冲突在于个体与存在的经验之间。当代存在心理学并不排斥其他治疗流派,而是对其他流派观点的补充和整合。存在治疗强调来访者的责任和生活的意义,指出存在焦虑是一种正常的生活状态并深具建设性。当今大学生的焦虑和困惑充满了时代特点,他们的存在困境正是存在主义治疗所关心和讨论的主题。高校心理咨询工作者可从存在主义疗法获取如下启示:区辨存在焦虑和神经症性焦虑;重新审视社会适应标准;增进来访者的责任能力;注重对意义的追寻;对死亡和人生困苦持非防御的态度;增进咨询师的在场意识,并帮助学生恢复其感受能力。     

Coping with Low Pay: Cognitive Dissonance and Persistent Disparate Earnings Profiles

The paper focuses on an employee’s perception of his or her own labour market outcome. It proposes that the basic earnings function, by adopting an approach that ignores perception effects, is likely to result in biased results that will fail to understand the complexities of the wage distribution. The paper uses an orthodox job search framework to illustrate the nature of this problem and then adapts the model to take onboard the theory of cognitive dissonance. The search model indicates how workers may adopt a coping strategy in order to reduce the disutility associated with the wage underpayment that develops. Then, by modelling cognitive dissonance, the paper highlights the weaknesses of using purely human capital proxies to understand labour market outcome. The analysis goes some way to explaining why individuals with equivalent human capital investment can have disparate earnings profiles.     

Accounting for Ethical Difficulties in Social Welfare Work: Issues, Problems and Dilemmas

This paper is a preliminary exploration of social welfare practitioners’accounts of ‘ethically difficult situations’. Itdescribes variations in the ethical vocabulary and form of theseaccounts. Analysis of practitioners’ own accounts (asopposed to ‘textbook’ cases) draws attention tothe ways they construct events, actions and qualities of characteras ethically significant and highlights the qualitative distinctivenessof ethical dilemmas, where seemingly irresolvable choices leavea residue of moral loss, regret or guilt.     

生态城市的精神生态建设

目前,我国对生态城市的研究比较重视人与自然的关系,忽视城市制度建设、城市人际交往关系、城市的精神生活等非物质方面。实践表明,单纯依靠经济技术的力量是不能彻底解决城市生态环境问题的,所以,精神生态建设是生态城市建设的题中应有之义。城市精神生态对正确处理人与环境的关系具有不可低估的重要作用,造成自然环境恶化的深层次原因与城市精神生态危机有关,并且,城市精神生态严重危机有可能带来整个社会的危机。因此,营造健康的城市精神生态,必须在生态城市建设中端正对城市的认识,摆正政府的位置,加大对社区的文化建设,在全社会普及生态教育。     

Advocacy in Practice: The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services

This paper is a review, and critical appraisal, of the theoryand practice of advocacy. Advocacy is not social work, but itsprinciples and values resonate closely to those espoused bythe British Association of Social Workers (BASW, 2002). In thispaper, we interrogate the assumption that advocacy is necessarilyalways a positive and enabling experience. Indeed, we suggestthat the use of advocacy can be contested from the point ofthe view of the service user (the advocacy partner¹), the advocateand from professionals working with advocates (or positioningthemselves as advocates). Drawing on recent research that evaluated advocacy servicesin Nottinghamshire, we discuss some of the key tensions. Inparticular, we consider the reality of the advocate’srole, including where it relates to and differs from socialwork, and the issue of whether advocacy can be part of whata social worker does anyway. We also review, briefly, the dilemmasarising from professionals acting as advocates, especially inrelation to being independent of services.     

A green social work perspective on social work during the time of COVID‐19

COVID‐19 has challenged social workers to engage with health pandemics and provide essential services in conditions of uncertainty and high risk. They have safeguarded children, older adults and diverse adults in ‘at risk’ groups under tough conditions mediated by digital technologies, adhered to government injunctions, maintained social and physical distancing under lockdown and worked from home remotely. Social workers and social care workers have risen to the challenges, providing services with inadequate personal protective equipment and limited supervision and support. This article highlights the degraded physical environments, socio‐economic and political contexts that intensify precariousness and constraints that neoliberalism imposed on professional capacity before and during this health pandemic. It provides guidelines to protect practitioners and service users. It concludes that practitioners ought to understand zoonotic diseases, environmental concerns, acquire disaster expertise and training, widen their practice portfolio and value their contributions to this pandemic. Key Practitioner Message: ? Develop technological skills and innovate to support stressed individuals, safeguard children, adolescents and elders and deal with poverty and unemployment; ? Use digital technologies involving peers to explore tricky situations, examine ethical dilemmas through scenario building exercises, and tips for self‐care; ? Contribute to environmental protections that prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases like COVID‐19; ? Seek supervision and support for disaster‐based training from your line manager.     

Merleau-Ponty and Nagarjuna – Ethics Within the Self of the No-Self

This essay explores the concept of the self in the philosophies of Nagarjuna and Merleau-Ponty by examining how it is that, according to them, the self is empty and only conventionally real rather than intrinsically so. By analyzing the similarities between their philosophies, the essay aims to shed light on new ways of understanding perception, ethics, and our relationships with others. It will include an analysis of the no-self and the emptiness of entities, as well as an analysis of Merleau-Ponty's writings and philosophy to see how it is that, according to him, in order to better understand ourselves, we must understand the reality of our intersubjectivity and intertwining with the world. It will clearly be shown that Merleau-Ponty's existential phenomenology and the Madhyamikan school of thought coincide and offer powerful moral philosophies, while seeing the world as being completely separate from the self, distorts both our notions of ourselves and the world we are interconnected with. Virtue must be sought in samsara (perpetually being born into the world) and sunyata (emptiness that is itself empty of inherent existence), for samsara and nirvana (the end of karma) are one. [Correction added on 03 April 2023, after the first online publication: First two sentences of the Abstract have been modified.]     

不同的选择决定不同的人格存在——以存在主义解读《红字》与《荆棘鸟》

1850年问世的《红字》以及一个多世纪后的1977年面世的《荆棘鸟》可谓神父爱情悲剧的孪生篇章。通过对比可以看出,两部作品中的人物在欲望中的不同选择导致不同人格存在：在欲望中沉沦的邪恶者、在欲望中迷失的可悲者以及在欲望中自我救赎的坚守者。可以说作品中关于欲望与选择以及人性内在关联的深刻阐释使这两部小说具备了文学艺术的永恒价值。