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.     

社会工作伦理困境及其解决方式

社会工作专业的本质是一种道德实践,其对意识形态的介入及专业实践中所涉的道德价值判断和伦理抉择使之不同于一般的专业。社会工作在专业化的进程中包涵着诸多的伦理议题,概括之为：社会工作的道德特质、伦理困境、伦理抉择等。这些构成了社会工作复杂的价值与伦理议胚中的核心议题。对这些问题的探讨有助于进一步澄清社会工作的专业本质,并提升社会工作的专业化水平。     

Ethical Beliefs of Social Work Researchers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the beliefs of social work researchers about ethical practices. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 240 members of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) to elicit their views about ethical practices in social work research. Responses from 160 members (67% response rate) yielded information regarding the appropriateness of dual relationships, authorship practices, informed consent procedures, and other conduct in social work research. Age, gender, educational level, years of social work research experience, and current teaching of social work research were related to respondents' ethical views about practices with students and sexual relationships with research subjects. The need for additional resources on ethics in social work research is highlighted.     

青少年社会工作伦理议题

青少年社会工作是社会工作的一个重要组成部分,也是一个容易引起伦理争议的工作领域,高度关注并谨慎思考工作过程中的伦理议题,是青少年社会工作达成预期目标的重要保障。     

Socratic Dialogue and Self-Directed Group Work: Strengthening Ethical Practice in Social Work

Socratic dialogue is a practical method of philosophical inquiry used to develop ethical and critical thinking among participants. On the other hand, self-directed group work is a practical intervention model based on social justice principles aimed at empowering service users and clients in social work and community work contexts. This conceptual article aims to reflect on a combination of the two models, arguing that group work interventions inspired by Socratic dialogue and self-directed group work may represent a way for social workers to develop a better ethical stance in their practice.     

本土社会工作实务的伦理困境与伦理抉择——基于上海青少年社会工作实践的质性研究

社会工作在实践过程中面临的最大困境是人与文化互动过程所形成的多元可能,这种多元可能往往使实务工作者在提供专业服务过程中遭遇价值抉择的两难。本研究运用质性研究的方法,以上海青少年社会工作者的实践为研究对象,着力探讨当下本土社会工作伦理实践中的困境及抉择。研究发现,本土社会工作常见的伦理困境包括:保密与否、案主自决、利益冲突、专业界限、公平分配、价值冲突、同事关系。而社工在进行伦理抉择时,遵循三大基本原则:案主生命优先原则,法律规定、机构规范优于个人价值,人际关系取向。此外,研究以"人在情境中"的概念为框架基础,提出个体因素(即社工个体对伦理抉择的影响)、问题因素(即伦理困境本身对伦理抉择的影响)、情境因素(即外部环境对伦理抉择的影响)这个三维分析架构来系统分析社会工作伦理抉择中的影响因素及其过程。最后,研究建议要建构本土的社会工作伦理体系,即建构本土导向的社会工作伦理原则、建立操作取向的社会工作伦理机制。     

Beyond Assessment: Social Work Intervention in Family Court Enquiries

Most parents or carers who separate or divorce are able to makearrangements themselves about where their children will resideand how the children’s contact with the non-resident parentwill be managed. A further group of parents or carers are ableto come to agreement with the assistance of community- or court-baseddispute resolution/ mediation services. There are times, however,when disputes cannot be resolved without recourse to the courtsand, when this happens, the court will normally request thata welfare report be prepared by a CAFCASS (Children and FamilyCourt Advisory and Support Service) practitioner. While theboundary between assessment and intervention in social workis often less than clear, the commissioning of a court welfarereport in family proceedings strongly suggests an assessmentfocus and appears to carry little expectation that the practitionershould intervene in order to meet the needs of the childrenor adults involved. This article presents recent research findingsthat illustrate ways in which CAFCASS practitioners do go beyondthe assessment role expected of them in the course of the enquiriesthey undertake. Implications for policy and practice in thisarea of social work are then discussed.     

浅析农民工问题的社会工作介入

农民工问题是当前我国的主要社会问题之一。作为一种专业的助人活动,社会工作具有专业的价值理念,其在农民工问题的认识上更突出人文关怀。更重要的是,社会工作对农民工问题的介入主要是通过专业方法协助农民工解决各种问题和困难,不断增强他们的能力和信心,从而能够正常地适应社会生活,最终促进社会的和谐发展。     

Biases in Ethical Decision Making among University Faculty

Over the years, cognitive biases have been examined throughout the decision-making literature, but little work has investigated the cognitive biases operating in ethical decision making. The present effort explores a taxonomy of biases through interviews with university faculty members. Additionally, this study identifies the psychological processes giving rise to these biases in ethical decision making. Results suggest that the biases listed in the taxonomy are indeed operating in the ethical decision making of university faculty. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Busted and Branded

No abstract available for this article.     

社会工作价值理念在民族社会工作中的运用

社会工作是一个以其专业价值理念为本的学科。民族社会工作是社会工作本土化过程中的重要实务领域,自然也要以社会工作的价值理念为指导。在民族社会工作中,结合少数民族自身的特性,相应的社会工作价值理念的运用尤其重要。     

社会工作价值理念在民族社会工作中的运用

社会工作是一个以其专业价值理念为本的学科。民族社会工作是社会工作本土化过程中的重要实务领域,自然也要以社会工作的价值理念为指导。在民族社会工作中,结合少数民族自身的特性,相应的社会工作价值理念的运用尤其重要。     

Group Work and Social Justice: Designing Pedagogy for Social Change

In this article the authors explore the gap between education and action in putting the social work core value of social justice into practice. Describing how their School of Social Work has taken up this challenge, the authors analyze how a new social action course helps bridge this gap and draw on student reflection on their experiences and assignments in the course to show how students concretize and interiorize the meaning of social action and social justice. Learning by doing social action through a case study, group work becomes the vehicle through which students act on social issues and work for social change.     

Critical Incident Debriefing and Social Work

ABSTRACT

A debriefing is a structured group process that responds to the cognitive, emotional, physical and social reactions resulting from disasters and other traumatic events. This article describes debriefings and reviews research critically examining their effectiveness. The author proposes ways that social workers can contribute to theoretical frameworks, expand debriefing models, contribute to skill development and advance debriefing research and scholarship.     

闪婚现象的成因及家庭社会工作的介入

"闪婚"是一种快餐婚姻,它的出现与蔓延既存在深刻的社会原因,也存在诸多个人主观因素。运用家庭社会工作的专业方法——家庭个案工作、家庭团体工作和家庭社区工作,可以使闪婚双方化解心理危机、促进相互了解、增进责任意识,从而减少甚至克服闪婚带来的消极面,维持婚姻的稳定和家庭的幸福。     

社会工作督导反思:学习成为有效的社会工作督导老师

有效的社会工作督导老师是社会工作实习教育成败的关键,但也成为内地社会工作实习教育发展的一大瓶颈。本文从这一历史现实问题出发,综合考察了有效的社会工作督导老师的职责、角色、素质要求及其发展基要,从成为有效实习督导的发展阶段的视角,着重从承担督导职责、澄清督导目标、建立督导关系、发展督导模式以及勇于督导反思五个方面探索了如何做一名新的专业实习督导老师及其持续发展。     

Social Exclusion, Inequality and Social Work

This paper sets out the environment of inequality in which social work and the poor have recently operated. It explores pragmatic and idealist arguments concerning whether or not the poor need social work. Finally, policy solutions developed in consultation with social service users and carers are suggested in relation to poverty and social exclusion. Social exclusion can be linked to relative poverty as exclusion from economic and social norms. However, there is a wider brief in our own government’s publications and those of Europe, of examining how people are excluded from actions and policies of agencies who are there to support them. This paper will retain the concepts of poverty as lack of material income, and inequality as the gap between the rich and the poor, while being aware of the policy implications for social service users and carers of the more comprehensive process of being shut out partially or fully from social, economic, political and cultural systems. The debates around social work, social exclusion and inequality that follow establish: that some of the poor do need social work; that the poverty of social service users is related to policies that have restructured welfare in Britain; that the reason for individuals approaching or being referred to social services are complex but are likely to include financial deprivation as a key contributory factor; that if the poor do need social work, advocacy is essential rather than social work being seen as concerned only with social control—taking children into care, mentally ill people into hospitals, and advising the DSS on the suitability of claimants for benefits. Finally, the discussion turns to new policy agendas on social exclusion instigated by the Labour government. What positive difference can such policies make for social service users, their carers and social workers?.     

浅析个案社会工作方法介入社区矫正

社区矫正是我国正在探索的一种刑罚执行制度,是让符合法定条件的罪犯在社区中执行刑罚。但目前这一制度往往过于强调社区矫正的刑罚性质,而容易忽视服刑人员继续社会化的需求。有必要将个案社会工作方法介入到社区矫正工作中。本文拟从个案工作方法、个案工作过程、个案工作与矫正体系建立,以及个案工作对于专业社区矫正工作者的培养四个层面具体分析个案社会工作介入社区矫正的功能,以验证个案社会工作介入的科学性,并进一步提出改进提升我国目前社区矫正工作模式和方法的可行性措施。     

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.     

Social Work and End-of-Life Care

Abstract

This paper reviews the professional literature with respect to the social work profession's involvement in end-of-life care. The search process was conducted by entering key words in various combinations to electronic databases. Eligible articles were required to address one of the following: roles and activities of social workers in providing end-of-life care; core principles valued by social workers in the provision of end-of-life care; and barriers to provision of effective end-of-life care. The literature from 1990 through July 2004 was searched most rigorously. Based on this review, suggestions for where the profession of social work should focus its energies are offered. These key areas include focusing on generating empirically-based knowledge for practice and policy analysis and developing a system of social work education that addresses the unique knowledge and skills needed to participate in end-of-life practice as competent and informed professional practitioners. Current initiatives with regard to critical areas are summarized.