NCJ Number
217872
Date Published
2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
After exploring the role of ethics in the social work and legal professions in general, this chapter addresses the role of ethics and law in social work practice.
Abstract
Although both legal and social work professions have similar fiduciary responsibility to their clients, there are significant differences in role and function that may be challenging for social workers and lawyers in interdisciplinary settings. The greatest conflict between social workers and attorneys is often related to defining who the client is. Whereas lawyers typically assume an adversarial role in helping a specified party, social workers adopt more of a mediation role that attempts to reconcile conflicting positions of multiple parties. In such circumstances, the social worker has difficulty defining his/her client. In choosing a course of action for a particular client, the social worker may be faced with choices between two or more competing ethical principles, such as client self-determination and client protection, or maintaining client confidentiality and the need to disclose certain information. In resolving difficult ethical dilemmas, the social worker must take into account both social-work ethics and laws that apply to a particular situation. The chapter presents a paradigm that addresses four possible combinations of interactions between law and professional ethics in social work: conduct that is both ethical and legal (Cell I), conduct that is unethical and yet legal (Cell II), conduct that is ethical but illegal (Cell III), and conduct that is unethical and illegal (Cell IV). The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) developed the ETHIC model to help social workers make ethical decisions as quickly and as effectively as possible. It was developed primarily to help social workers deal with Cell III of the paradigm, i.e., when social-worker conduct is ethical but illegal. 38 references