Bibliography

Summary

Advocates for the application of computer technology in the human services assume that it promotes practice and organizational effectiveness as well as efficiency. Opponents claim that it fragments practice and reinforces the worst, most punitive, and counter-productive aspects of bureaucracy. While each of these positions rests on conflicting theoretical assumptions about the nature of practice, organizational structures, professionalization and information technology, proponents and opponents alike have failed to provide evidence to support their positions or even to recognize that these issues can be framed and tested empirically.

This paper proposes the use of a comparative research design for studying the effect or computerization on program effectiveness and outlines a range of variables which need to be taken into account in addressing the differential impact of computerization on social work practice.     

Computer Acceptance by Social Workers

Summary

Much has been said and written concerning the influence of intrinsic personal and professional factors on the use of computers in general and in the social services in particular. For example, much has been made of the negative attitudes of professional personnel towards computer use. Little data however has been forthcoming to demonstrate the accuracy of this viewpoint. Theoretical analyses of the computerization process have mentioned three general issues in overcoming the imputed outcomes of these negative attitudes.

An ex post facto study on computer acceptance by social workers, employed in municipal social service agencies (MSSA) in Israel, where a computerized case management system was implemented, was conducted. The impact of (1) intrinsic attitudes towards computer utilization in Human Services; (2) organizational factors; and (3) system design related factors on system acceptance was explored. It was found that readiness to computerize was related mainly to organizational and system design factors and not, contrary to expectations, to intrinsic attitudes of social workers. Implications of these findings on system implementation are discussed.     

Morals,Ethics and practice — in search of social justice

Abstract

This paper reports a study of sources of influence on moral and ethical decision-making in social work practice. Practitioners from ten government and five non government agencies kept journals about the main moral issues they faced over a one-month period and were then interviewed about the nature of those issues, their resolution and the influences that shaped those resolutions. Practitioners' personal moral perspectives were found to be the main sources of influence on resolutions to a wide range of dilemmas and most of those resolutions did not conform to accepted social wok ethical practice principles. Even though the results of this study are drawn from a small sample, some implications are suggested for practitioner development, professional ethics and social work education.     

Respect for persons

Abstract

The notion of ‘respect for persons’ is a key notion in moral philosophy as well as in social work ethics. The Kantian notion of a person has, together with individualism, liberalism and positivism, given rise to a strange ideological mixture which ‘guided’ social work theory and practice for some time. Gaita's concept of respect for human beings, examined in this paper, contrasts with the poverty of this ideological mixture. Concepts such as ‘goodness’, ‘remorse' and 'sensibility’ explain why Gaita sees the ethical as something that is both sui generis and of the utmost practical importance. They clarify the irreplaceability of human beings, emphasise the need for moral agents to have ‘historical integrity’, and in general show that a moral agent is much more substantial than a res cogitans. This paper attempts to indicate the relevance of these considerations for social work.     

Risk Management in Online Human Services Practice

SUMMARY

The growing use of the Internet for human service practice has resulted in ethical and legal issues that have yet to be fully addressed by current professional codes of ethics and the courts. This paper describes issues and risk-management procedures related to online human service practice, including: use of novel and untested services, unclear jurisdiction, equivalence of face-to-face and online practice, duty to warn and to provide emergency services, privacy and security of online transactions, establishment of fiduciary relationships, online assessment, and fees for online services. In addition, risk-management issues related to human service agency Web sites including copyright, ownership of the Web site, posting of staff names, online fundraising, online threats and disruption of services, unsolicited e-mail, and agency e-mail policies are discussed.     

Defining Computer Literacy in Human Services

Abstract

Computer literacy in human services is defined as an intersection of both computer and human services abilities. With different levels of ability possible, a matrix is created which can be used to operationally define computer literacy within any area of human service practice. Child protective work is used to demonstrate the utility of this definitional approach. Various issues within computer literacy are also discussed.     

There are no Answers,Only Choices: Teaching Ethical Decision Making in Social Work

Abstract

In teaching students about ethical decision making in social work, it is essential that the students are able to recognise the moral implications of their work and develop a deep understanding about ethical issues and their personal responsibility for making ethical choices. Thus, more than a “how to do it” approach is needed and teaching students about values and ethics is an essential thread that runs through our experience-based social work education program. The present paper describes a learning unit that sought to teach students about ethical decision making as a critical thinking process and, in so doing, to integrate students’ knowledge and experience of values, ethics, policy, and research in the final year of study. The relationship between values, ethics, policy, research, and social work practice provided an ideal context within which students could learn to integrate their knowledge and experience and apply it directly to their fieldwork practice. The paper ends with our critical reflection on this teaching experience and a critique of decisionist ethical frameworks.     

Macro Practice and Policy in Cyberspace

SUMMARY

The integration of computer training within social work education is necessary for social workers to keep abreast of technological changes occurring within human service agencies. This article presents several techniques to integrate computer simulations and Internet research within the baccalaureate curriculum. Emphasis is placed on the use of these techniques to teach policy and macro practice.     

Computerizing the Small Non-Profit

Summary

Small non-profit organizations that computerize their operations face a number of problems because of their lack of financial resources and technically trained personnel. A group of computer consultants discuss typical experiences of computerization that bear on organizational and personnel issues, the organization's relation to consultants, and training. Factors emphasized are the importance of using informal computer champions; management involvement; obtaining second opinions on consultants' recommendations; paying consultants after satisfactory results are obtained; and training staff in small, incremental steps growing out of their job functions.     

Otherness and empathy—implications of Lévinas ethics for social work education

This paper examines the concept of otherness in Lévinas’ ethics and raises related issues regarding the limits of empathy on philosophical grounds. This study also identifies and discusses a number of linguistic, social and cultural barriers that can establish such limits on practical grounds. This paper raises various considerations for social work educators teaching empathy. Such considerations suggest that social work educators could adopt a stance of ‘understanding and not understanding’ and a dialectical approach in using knowledge and skills. Furthermore, this study challenges the common assumption that empathy leads to compassionate action. Apart from empathy, moral commitment is necessary to engage in such action. This article discusses such moral commitment in relation to Lévinas’ notions of face and responsibility that place ethics before knowledge. Hence, the present study brings the attention of social work educators back to the importance of nourishing virtue and the moral character of students.     

Developing Anti‐oppressive Ethics in the New Curriculum

This paper describes the development of an anti‐oppressive ethics and values module appropriate for the new social work degree. It is contended that there has been insufficient attention paid to ethics teaching in social work education generally in the UK, and in particular there has been:

• ?failure to develop discrete modules on ethics and values in social work;

• ?minimal critique of conventional ethics with social work values that take oppression and diversity seriously;

• ?insufficient use of recent feminist ethical contributions relevant to social work;

• ?limited development of interprofessional ethics teaching that take service user and social work values seriously; and

• ?neglect of ethical decision‐making guides that can encompass legal, ethical and social work values.

The paper proposes a rationale for an anti‐oppressive ethics module that will enable traditional ethical theories to be placed within an anti‐oppressive social work values context, and aim to provide students with a more adequate guide for decision‐making. The module will be developed in consultation with service users and interprofessional colleagues. It will take into account the British legal and policy framework, the General Social Care Council code of practice, as well as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education requirements, but placing them within an anti‐oppressive framework drawn from the authors' current and previous work in this area, and will have special reference to recent feminist moral philosophy. The authors have recently been re‐located into a Faculty of Health and Applied Social Studies and will be developing the new module on ethics in consultation with health lecturer colleagues specialising in ethics with the aim of developing interprofessional co‐operation and sharing of perspectives between staff and students. They write with long experience of both practising and teaching social work, and with diverse experiences of ‘race’, gender, class, and also being both service users and providers.     

The Perspective from the Field on Computer Literacy Training Needs

Summary

Rapidly evolving computer technology is changing agency life and social work practice and challenging schools of social work to incorporate such information technology into their curriculum in order to prepare students for these changes. This article describes one effort to meet this challenge: a planning and data-gathering approach utilized by the School of Social Work at the University of Washington to integrate classroom and practicum preparation with computer applications in the field. As part of this process, human service agencies that serve as practicum training sites and potential employers for master's level students within the Seattle metropolitan area were surveyed.

Based upon findings from this survey, this article presents an agency-based perspective on computer literacy training needs through addressing the questions of who is using what computer tools, toward what service ends, with what expected level of proficiency, and with what future needs and directions in mind. Implications of these field-based findings for curriculum planning, for prac-ticum development, and for the conceptualization of computer literacy within human services are identified.     

The Changing Face of Computer Utilization in Social Work Settings

Abstract

This paper describes survey results from 103 human service agencies serving as MSW training sites. The survey concerned: (a) Their current and projected computer utilization for direct and indirect practice activities; and (b) perceived issues, benefits, and emerging training needs regarding responsible and effective use of the computer. These findings' implications for curriculum planning, for practicum development, and for reconceptualizing computer literacy are explored.     

New Technology and the Human Services

Summary

Much has been written about the effects of new technology on the human services and about its possible implications for agencies, practitioners and service users. There is also an important and expanding literature on the implications of new technology for society as a whole, including much which addresses issues of social justice. Until recently, however, there have been only a few attempts to explore the range of issues specifically concerning the relationship between social justice and the human services. My main purpose here is to start to sketch out the parameters of the field of study relating new technology to social justice in the human services and to explore some of them in depth.

Three examples of different definitions of social justice are introduced, viz.; justice as equity; flexible individualised justice; and empowerment. Then normative and ethical considerations in relation to new technology in the human services are briefly reviewed. In the main body of this paper these issues are brought together in relation to three key areas (i) the manager/professional interface (ii) strategies for new technology implementation-top down or bottom up and (iii) the relationship between social worker and service user. Finally some conclusions are drawn about the possibilities for a synthesis between competing visions of social justice.     

Bringing Technology to School: An Online Resource Guide for the School Social Worker

SUMMARY

The Internet can assist social workers and other human service professionals to obtain information that may potentially benefit both themselves and their clients. There is little doubt among those who are familiar with the Internet that this electronic medium has revolutionized the way we communicate and access knowledge. This article provides school social workers and other human service professionals with links to resources that can be incorporated into practice by offering specific Web pages related to school social work practice.     

Online Fundraising in the Human Services

SUMMARY

This paper examines emerging possibilities for use of the Internet in human service fundraising. Human service managers must compete for limited funds with their counterparts in educational, religious, health, and other nonprofit organizations. There is enormous potential for raising funds over the Internet; yet, this approach to resource development may not be appropriate or effective in some instances for certain human service agencies. The selection of fundraising approach must be consistent with the organizational context in which it is used. This paper provides examples of cases where use of the Internet may prove to be an effective method for human service fundraising. It also examines cases where use of the Internet may not be a good match for the organizational context, whether in terms of ethics or dollars raised.     

Aristotle’s virtue ethics as a conceptual framework for the study and practice of social work in modern times

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to highlight the importance of Aristotle’s model of virtue ethics for today’s social workers and students, as it can help them to build an ethical character and promote ethical conduct in both their personal and professional lives. In doing so, the paper first provides an overview of virtue ethics theory and its revival over the last decades in western societies and then, discusses the basic tenets of Aristotle’s ethics theory in relation to the social work profession. In addition, the main types of Aristotelian virtues are presented including cardinal virtues (courage, justice, practical wisdom/phronesis, temperance) and the concepts of eudaimonia and golden mean in relation to their applications in social work practice are described. The paper briefly explains cardinal virtues and provides a case example of moral courage that will help social workers and students to better understand the concept of Aristotle’s golden mean. Finally, it discusses and responds to the main criticisms of Aristotle’s virtue ethics, considering alternative ways to discuss and think about this approach to social work.     

Why Has the Ethics of Care Become an Issue of Global Concern?

Since Carol Gilligan published her masterpiece, In a Different Voice, many scholars, especially feminist scholars in various fields, including moral theory, philosophy, and political and legal theory, have been inspired to establish a more inclusive approach to social injustice as well as sexual inequality. The purpose of this article is to explore the depth and expanse of the ethics of care for its potential as a political philosophy. To pursue this end, the article analyzes first the main claims of care ethics by responding to its typical counterarguments, which criticize the ethics of care as being too dependent on gender differences, particularism, and essentialism. The second section examines three challenges that care ethics poses to the male-oriented mainstream of political philosophy, especially the theory of justice. The ethics of care provides us with a new approach to moral and political issues because it focuses responsively on social injustice, proposes a new idea of relational self and takes the social connection model to justice. With these three perspectives proposed by the ethics of care in mind, the article turns its eyes to global implications of care ethics by referring to the issue of the “comfort women” of Japanese troops during the Second World War.     

Computer Assisted Decision Making

Summary

It is frequently argued that computerized decision support lends itself more easily to structured than to semi- or unstructured decisions. This paper discusses decision tasks of human service practitioners and surveys emerging research in decision theory and associated decision applications. It provides examples of an Information System, a Decision Support, and an Expert System, and examines under what conditions they can facilitate decision making in human services. A number of future issues and concerns are addressed, including ethical and legal questions, and computer literacy in human services education and practice.     

Computer Management in a Substance Abuse Resource Center

Summary

This paper describes the use of computers to manage the Connecticut Clearinghouse, a resource center on alcohol and other drugs. Software packages were used to manage information on resources; to develop a database for monitoring client activities; to create a mailing list; and to publish a newsletter.

The paper addresses the selection process, equipment requirements and technical support for computer software. It focuses on introducing computer technology to a small staff, including staff resistance and techniques to overcome barriers to implementation.

Discussion centers on the role for supervisors in providing support and making training available to staff to facilitate computerization.