Summary
Ethical principles as part of the normative relations with clients regulate the moral rules and judgments on which it is necessary to rely while choosing a behavior model. Those principals serve for specific ethical prescriptions and performance evaluation, ensuring safety and a positive impression of business relations on both sides. The Code of Ethics includes many standards concerning social responsibility to clients, colleagues, and society. This paper will review the most important ethical principles, the legal consequences of their violation, and potential problems arising in a contracting process.
Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities as Professionals
The social worker’s behavior model with clients should be based on honesty, fairness, and respect for dignity. Considering these aspects, not only recommendations for behavior are established, but also prohibitions, violations of which will threaten the client’s security and lead to legal consequences for the worker. One of the fundamental ethical principles is the prohibition of employees from participating in dishonesty, fraud, or deception (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). The worker will be held responsible for organizing a fraudulent scheme and its connivance or any evidentiary connection to the scheme mentioned. This category includes modest and superficial forms of deception as well as more common forms. As a result, any manifestation of fraud is toxic and harmful both for the client and the social work profession. It leaves a negative mark on the reputation of the company in which the fraud was committed and, in the long term, on the social sphere as a whole.
Social workers who are engaged in the implementation of fraudulent schemes may be prosecuted for violating the provisions of the Criminal Code. In milder fraud cases, social workers risk being mentioned in court claims related to reimbursement of expenses during the fraud. The victim of fraud can also file a complaint with the licensing board not only against the social worker but also against the organization, which will lead to the maintenance of liability with judicial consequences. Since this ethical standard affects compliance with state law and is the basic right of the client to receive social services, no problems can arise when contracting. Without the ability to provide legal services that protect the rights and legal security of the client, social workers cannot enter the market and benefit from their work.
Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients
Another essential ethical principle in working with clients is the cultural competence of the employee and the basic respect for others’ worldviews. This aspect assumes that workers should be able to demonstrate skills in providing services based on cultural traditions. In addition to awareness and cultural humility, the employee must also take action against oppression, racism, discrimination, and inequality and recognize personal privileges (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). The code recommends engaging in critical self-reflection, understanding biases and stereotypes, and self-correction to achieve high results in this ethical standard. A respectful attitude not only expands the range of possible clients but also helps normalize societal and ethical standards.
In the context of legal consequences, violation of cultural competencies is likely to lead to a complaint from the client for discrimination. Thus, a social worker may be involved in dismissal as part of a discriminatory system that violates the honor and dignity of minorities. During the contracting process, the cultural diversity of customers can lead to many potential problems. Misunderstanding of the language and the difference in the communication style of different cultures, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior become an obstacle to the high quality of the implementation of services. As a result, even with an honest and open process of discussing the contract, misunderstandings may arise, leading to poor-quality compliance of the employee with the client’s requirements. Moreover, the problem may occur if the worker relies on intuitive or personal points of view rather than on systematic decision-making processes (Brownlee et al., 2019). In this case, weak self-reflection will lead to a conflict of interests between the two parties.
Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to the Social Work Profession
The last but not least important ethical factor is the profession’s integrity as part of the employee’s responsibility to the profession of social work. This aspect regulates the quality of services provided by establishing and maintaining a high standard of practice. Since research plays an important role in the activities of a social worker (Faulkner & Faulkner, 2018), everyone should be ready to engage in such activities to improve the level of service. The key task of a social worker is to promote the values and mission of the profession, including preventing unauthorized and unskilled work. Social workers should fully adhere to the professional obligation to encourage and facilitate the evaluation of research about the job, as it becomes an integral part of knowledge development (Long, 2018). Thus, an employee should contribute knowledge about social work and promote it among colleagues.
A conscientious attitude to work primarily affects the positive reputation of the organization and the high quality of the services provided. Violating this aspect may lead to the client’s demand to reimburse the payment for the work done in bad faith, but it is unlikely to have critical legal consequences on the company’s work. Potential problems arising when contracting will also mainly affect the client’s expectations or the employee’s ambitions. For example, an employee’s excessive dedication to maximizing productivity can lead to arrogance and violation of the client’s initial requirements. As a result, high-quality service will not be provided and will lead to further disappointment of customers in the social sphere as a whole.
Ethical Decision-Making
When making an ethical decision affecting the contracting process with a client, it is necessary first to identify potential threats to the violation of the organization’s honesty and beliefs. This aspect covers the issues of the transaction’s legality, security, and openness to the client and all company employees. Analyzing the available resources and professional recommendations is necessary to achieve all three factors. Conducting cases in accordance with the highest standards of practice becomes the best protection against complaints and court proceedings related to abuse of official position (Barsky, 2020). Moreover, in order to comply with ethical standards, when making decisions, it is necessary to rely on the company’s policy, which most often works in favor of the client. It can serve as a good reminder to all social workers about the integrity of the contracting process.
The Code of Ethics protects the rights of both clients and workers, minimizing the chance of complaints and litigation. Compliance with all the ethical principles presented will ensure the success of the social sphere not only for specific companies but also in the long term. Such an attitude to the customer base will also contribute to the establishment of a trusting relationship between the social worker and the serviced. Potentially, it will make the process of contracting as comfortable as possible for both parties.
References
Barsky, A. E. (2020). Ethics Alive! Responding to NASW’s Professional Review Process. New Social Worker, 27(1), 4-6.
Brownlee, K., LeBlanc, H., Halverson, G., Piché, T., & Brazeau, J. (2019). Exploring Self-Reflection in Dual Relationship Decision-Making. Journal of Social Work, 19(5), 629-641.
Faulkner, S. S., & Faulkner, C. A. (2018). Research Methods for Social Workers: A Practice-Based Approach. Oxford University Press.
Long, D. D. (2018). Practice-Informed Research: Contemporary Challenges and Ethical Decision-Making. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 15(2), 15-22.
Read the Code of Ethics. (n.d.). National Association of Social Workers. Web.