Sarah Banks - Ethics and Values in Social Work

Published in conjunction with
the British Association of Social Workers

Founding editor: Jo Campling

Social work is a multi-skilled profession, centred on people. Social workers need skills in problem-solving, communication, critical reflection and working with others to be effective in practice.

The British Association of Social Workers (www.basw.co.uk) has always been conscious of its role in setting guidelines for practice and in seeking to raise professional standards. The concept of the Practical Social Work series was developed to fulfil a genuine professional need for a carefully planned, coherent series of texts that would contribute to practitioners skills, development and professionalism.

A comprehensive list of titles available in the series can be found online at: www.macmillanihe.com/series/practical-social-work-series

Founding Editor: Jo Campling

New and best-selling titles

Robert AdamsEmpowerment, Participation and Social Work(4th edition)

Sarah BanksEthics and Values in Social Work(5th edition)

James G. BarberSocial Work with Addictions(2nd edition)

Christine Bigby and Patsie FrawleySocial Work Practice and Intellectual Disability

Suzy Braye and Michael Preston-ShootPractising Social Work Law(4th edition)

Jennifer BurtonPractice Learning in Social Work

Veronica Coulshed and Audrey Mullender with David N. Jones and Neil ThompsonManagement in Social work(3rd edition)

Veronica Coulshed and Joan OrmeSocial Work Practice(5th edition)

Lena DominelliAnti-Racist Social Work(4th edition)

Celia DoyleWorking with Abused Children(4th edition)

Richard Ingram, Jane Fenton, Ann Hodson and Divya Jindal-SnapeReflective Social Work Practice

Gordon Jack and Helen DonnellSocial Work with Children

Tony Jeffs and Mark K. Smith (editors)Youth Work Practice

Joyce LishmanCommunication in Social Work(2nd edition)

Paula Nicolson and Rowan BaynePsychology for Social Work Theory and Practice4th Edition

Michael Oliver, Bob Sapey and Pam ThomasSocial Work with Disabled People(4th edition)

Joan Orme and David ShemmingsDeveloping Research Based Social Work Practice

Terence OsullivanDecision Making in Social Work(2nd edition)

Terence OsullivanSupporting Families

Mo Ray and Judith PhillipsSocial Work with Older People(5th edition)

Michael Preston-ShootEffective Groupwork(2nd edition)

Robin SenEffective Practice with Looked After Children

Jerry TewWorking with Mental Distress

Neil ThompsonAnti-Discriminatory Practice(7th edition)

Alan TwelvetreesCommunity Development, Social Action and Social Planning(5th edition)

Sarah Banks

Fifth Edition

Sarah Banks, under exclusive licence to Macmillan Education Limited 1995, 2001, 2006, 2012, 2021

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This edition published 2021 by
RED GLOBE PRESS

Previous editions published under the PALGRAVE imprint

Red Globe Press in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Education Limited, registered in England, company number 01755588, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Red Globe Press is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 978-1-137-60718-8 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

To social workers and social work students
around the world, as a small contribution
towards your ethical struggles for individual
and social justice

List of Figures

Lists

Tables

Case examples

Cases for discussion

The Introduction to the first edition of this book, published in 1995, started with the statement: Social work is currently in a period of change. I retained this statement in the second and third editions. However, by the time I reached the fourth edition, I replaced it with: Social work is the kind of occupation that is always in a state of change, as it is linked so closely to social welfare systems that shift with global economic trends and in response to government social and economic policies. I see no reason to change this statement in the fifth edition as it reflects a perennial truth. This is why new editions will always be required and why social work ethics is such a challenging and contested area of study.

While I was working on this fifth edition, in June 2019, I visited Hong Kong, hosted by social work academics and social workers at the Caritas Institute for Higher Education, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Christian Family Service Centre. At this point, the large-scale protests against a proposed new law allowing extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China were developing momentum. Social workers and social work academics played a key role in these protests, through mobilizing and supporting citizen activists and documenting citizens struggles and escalating police violence. Many regarded their roles as activists and reporters as important ways of living out and defending the democratic values of social work.

By the time I came to finalize the book in March 2020, not only were Hong Kong and mainland China facing a new challenge from the COVID-19 virus outbreak, but the whole world was affected as the infection became a global pandemic. While public attention focused on the vital role of healthcare workers in tending the sick, and scientists in developing epidemiological models, vaccines and tests, the social workers battled on another frontline: that of social and community care. Here they faced many daily dilemmas and challenges: entering peoples homes without adequate protective clothing; attempting to source food for isolated people; supporting people discharged from hospital to free up beds; and doing their best to ensure children and vulnerable people were protected from abuse, psychiatric problems and homelessness. Many of the ethical dilemmas they experienced relate to familiar themes, such as risking ones own safety versus offering vital support to someone in need; or acting quickly in an urgent situation versus following protocols. However, these challenges were played out in unfamiliar contexts more akin to working in crisis, disaster or war zones, where individual creativity, commitment and moral courage are called upon to respond in the best way possible at the time.