Socw 6520 wk 10 responses | SOCW 6520 – Social Work Field Education III | Walden University

SOCW 6520 WK 10 responses 

Respond to the blog post of three colleagues Has to be responded to separately and different responses in one or more of the following ways: Name first and references after every person

Respond to the blog post of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

• Expand on your      colleague’s posting.
• Share an insight from having read your      colleague’s post.

Peer 1: David Jones 

The six core values of social work have ethical principles which are the ideals to which each social worker should strive to meet (NASW,2017). Service happens when a social worker uses his or her knowledge, values, and skills to help those in need. Social justice is when a social worker attempts social change on behalf of those who can’t help themselves (Gallina, 2010). Dignity and worth of the person is showing respect to each client regardless of their social situation. The importance of human relationships is seen by social workers in their efforts to advance, renew, and improve the well-being of families, social groups, and communities. Integrity is behaving at all times in a trusting manner. Competence is basically a social worker knowing his or her job and taking steps to improving their professional expertise (NASW, 2017).

These core values relate to my field education experience, because all the above aforementioned characteristics and qualities emerged full surface, while interacting with clients. Ethics plays a major role in the learning agreement with my agency, one of the competencies is to Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior. This is achieved through watching and interacting the employees at my field, and reviewing the NASW code of ethics. My current field placement has a supervisor, that monitors any ethical situations and/or ethical dilemmas. Garthwait, 2017 states that having a protocol or set of principles to use in this process is both necessary and invaluable. Ethical dilemmas are sure to arise, but as long as social workers are following the principles and practicing within their scope, harm to clients and self can be avoided.

Reference:

Gallina, N. (2010). Conflict between professional ethics and practice demands: Social workers’

               perceptions.  Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 7(2), 1–9.

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper

               Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). 

NASW. (2017)“Read the Code of Ethics: Ethical Principles.”

Social work values and ethics [Audio file].  Retrieved from National Association of Social Workers.

               (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers.

Peer 2: Alicia Simpkins  

As social workers, there is a set of rules and regulations – if that’s the appropriate word for such – that we should strive to adhere to and follow closely. The Code of Ethics is seemingly a set of standards for which the profession sets upon. Within this ‘code’, there are six core values that we should adhere to: service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. When working in an organization, it is important to have clear expectations regarding the NASW Code of Ethics, especially as we are engaging in work with clients from all walks of life, and thus should work diligently to help those clients improve their well-being. We should provide services that promote the welfare of clients while remaining honest and maintaining that level of trust and rapport with our clients. 

The text mentions that there are times where it is “conceivable that practitioners who experience a conflict between professional values and job tasks and feel forced to practice in a way that is not consistent with their ethical values and professional identity experience a dissonance” (Gallina, 2010). In these moments when a challenge such as this does arise, practitioners should “reconcile their perceptions of the realities of the professional environment with their views of themselves as ethical” (Gallina, 2010). Being able to kind of reconcile their perception and understand that ethical situations will arise may help social workers become better prepared to understand and further deal with such situations when they do come about. Personally, in my field placement, we try to take as many steps as possible to avoid ethical dilemmas but of course, we know there are times that they may pop up. As an intern, I know that if I ever find myself in an ethical situation, I will go to my field instructor and we will work together to find a resolution to the situation.

References

Code of Ethics: English. (2020). Retrieved from SoicalWorkers.org: https://www.socialworkers.org/about/ethics/code-of-ethics/code-of-ethics-english

Gallina, N. (2010). Conflict Between Professional Ethics and Practice Demands: Social Workers’ Perceptions. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 7(2).

Peer 3: Amber Hopf  

An explanation of social work values and ethics in your field education experience

           In the social work field, there are six core values (NASW, 2017). The first is service which consists of social workers having a primary goal of helping those in need (NASW, 2017). At my field placement, this social work value is the most noticeable. Everyone is kind and willing to put the well-being of clients and others within the agency above their own needs. We do this often by working together to discuss cases and best possible forms of treatment to help clients meet their needs. The second value is social justice where social workers continue to challenge and address the injustices that many populations face within the community (NASW, 2017). At my field agency, there are many opportunities for employees to advocate and work within the community to help clients and other individuals address these social injustices. The third value is worth of person in which social workers are aware and respectful of the client’s diverse culture. The forth value is importance of human relationships. This value is important as it focuses on social workers being understanding of human relationships and how social workers can strengthen these relationships (NASW, 2017). This value is one that I utilize every day through my continuous work in helping families build positive relationships with each other. The fifth value is integrity where social workers act in a friendly and trustworthy manner (NASW, 2017). This includes social workers being aware of ethical principles and ensuring that they are following these expectations. Within my agency we follow this value very closely due to the small community that we are located in. Lastly, the sixth value is competence where social workers continue to educate themselves on their professional knowledge (NASW, 2017). This is one area that I engage in on a daily basis. I have never worked with foster care or foster services therefore I use this core value to educate myself on different services and resources that I can provide my clients for the best possible care.

           With this being said, ethics provide social workers with the core values to ensure that professionals are engaging with clients in a professional manner. However, social workers may find difficulties in keeping professional relationships due to the usage of internet and social media. In fact, clinicians may have instances in which previous or current clients might find them on social media (Kimball & Kim, 2013). Therefore, social workers are to create online boundaries as well to ensure that they continue to follow ethical roles within their practice. This is a big concern within my agency as well. The clients that I work with are adolescents and therefore use social media for most of the day. There have been times in the past where previous clients have reached out and tried to add me over social media. However, the clients I work with now understand my personal boundaries and therefore do not try to add me on social media. I have found that it is important to add social media into boundary making to make sure that social workers are keeping the relationship on a professional level.

References

Kimball, E., & Kim, J. (2013). Virtual boundaries: Ethical considerations for use of social media in social work. Social Work, 58(2), 185-188.

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from: https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.