Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social WorkersApproved by the 1996 NASW Delegate Assembly and revised by the 2008 NASW Delegate Assembly
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Preamble
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.
Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. “Clients” is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions to individuals’ needs and social problems.
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6 Core Values for social workers
- service
- social justice
- dignity and worth of the person
- importance of human relationships
- integrity
- competence.
6 guiding principles for social workers
6 Ethical Standards for social workers
SOCIAL WORKERS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO CLIENTS
1.01 Commitment to Clients: Social workers’ primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of clients. In general, clients’ interests are primary. (Examples include when a social worker is required by law to report that a client has abused a child or has threatened to harm self or others.)
1.02 Self-Determination: Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals.
1.03 Informed Consent: Social workers should use clear and understandable language to inform clients of the purpose of the services, risks and limits of the requirement of a third-party payer, relevant cost, reasonable alternatives, clients’ rights to refuge or withdrawal consent and the time frame covered by the consent. This is also important to inform consent before audiotaping or videotaping clients or permitting observation of services to clients by a third party.
1.04 Competence: Social workers should provide services and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience. Another strategy for Social workers should provide services in substantive areas or use intervention techniques or approaches that are new to them only after engaging in appropriate study, training, consultation, and supervision from people who are competent in those interventions or techniques.
1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity: Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures. This is important for Social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients’ cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups.
- take unfair advantage of any professional relationship or exploit others to further their personal, religious, political, or business interests.
- engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client.
1.07 Privacy and Confidentiality: Social workers should respect clients’ right to privacy. Social workers should not solicit private information from clients unless it is essential to providing services or conducting social work evaluation or research. Social workers should protect the confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of professional service, except for compelling professional reasons.
1.08 Access to Records: Social workers should provide clients with reasonable access to records concerning the clients or may cause serious misunderstanding or harm to the client.
1.09 Sexual Relationships
1.10 Physical Contact
1.11 Sexual Harassment: These things should be avoided with clients or clients’ relatives nor there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client.
1.12 Derogatory Language: Social workers should not use derogatory language in their written or verbal communications to or about clients. Social workers should use accurate and respectful language in all communications to and about clients.
1.13 Payment for Services: There should be fair, reasonable, and commensurate fees for the services.
1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity: When social workers act on behalf of clients who lack the capacity to make informed decisions, social workers should take reasonable steps to safeguard the interests and rights of those clients.
1.15 Interruption of Services: Social workers should make reasonable efforts to ensure continuity of services in the event that services are interrupted by factors such as unavailability, relocation, illness, disability, or death.
1.16 Termination of Services: Social workers should terminate services to clients and professional relationships with them when such services and relationships are no longer required or no longer serve the clients’ needs or interests.
SOCIAL WORKERS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO COLLEAGUES
2.01 Respect: Social workers should treat colleagues with respect and should represent accurately and fairly the qualifications, views, and obligations of colleagues. Social workers should avoid unwarranted negative criticism of colleagues in communications with clients or with other professionals. Unwarranted negative criticism may include demeaning comments that refer to colleagues’ level of competence or to individuals’ attributes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability. Social workers should cooperate with social work colleagues and with colleagues of other professions when such cooperation serves the well-being of clients.
2.02 Confidentiality: Social workers should respect confidential information shared by colleagues in the course of their professional relationships and transactions. Social workers should ensure that such colleagues understand social workers’ obligation to respect confidentiality and any exceptions related to it.
2.03 Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Social workers who are members of an interdisciplinary team should participate in and contribute to decisions that affect the well-being of clients by drawing on the perspectives, values, and experiences of the social work profession.
2.04 Disputes Involving Colleagues: Social workers should not take advantage of a dispute between a colleague and an employer to obtain a position or otherwise advance the social workers’ own interests. Social workers should not exploit clients in disputes with colleagues or engage clients in any inappropriate discussion of conflicts between social workers and their colleagues.
2.05 Consultation: Social workers should seek the advice and counsel of colleagues whenever such consultation is in the best interests of clients.
2.06 Referral for Services: Social workers should refer clients to other professionals when the other professionals’ specialized knowledge or expertise is needed to serve clients fully or when social workers believe that they are not being effective or making reasonable progress with clients and that additional service is required. Social workers who refer clients to other professionals should take appropriate steps to facilitate an orderly transfer of responsibility. Social workers who refer clients to other professionals should disclose, with clients’ consent, all pertinent information to the new service providers. Social workers are prohibited from giving or receiving payment for a referral when no professional service is provided by the referring social worker.
2.07 Sexual Relationships
2.08 Sexual Harassment: Both strictly prohibited in social work practice (Relationship with clients or clients’ relatives)
2.09 Impairment of Colleagues: Social workers who have direct knowledge of a social work colleague’s impairment that is due to personal problems, psychosocial distress, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties and that interferes with practice effectiveness should consult with that colleague when feasible and assist the colleague in taking remedial action.
2.10 Incompetence of Colleagues: Social workers who have direct knowledge of a social work colleague’s incompetence should consult with that colleague when feasible and assist the colleague in taking remedial action. Social workers who believe that a social work colleague is incompetent and has not taken adequate steps to address the incompetence should take action through appropriate channels established by employers, agencies, NASW, licensing and regulatory bodies, and other professional organizations.
2.11 Unethical Conduct of Colleagues: Social workers should take adequate measures to discourage, prevent, expose, and correct the unethical conduct of colleagues. Social workers who believe that a colleague has acted unethically should seek a resolution by discussing their concerns with the colleague when feasible and when such discussion is likely to be productive.
SOCIAL WORKERS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN PRACTICE SETTINGS
3.01 Supervision and Consultation: Social workers who provide supervision or consultation should have the necessary knowledge and skill to supervise or consult appropriately and should do so only within their areas of knowledge and competence and be responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries. Social workers should not engage in any dual or multiple relationships with supervisees in which there is a risk of exploitation of or potential harm to the supervisee.
3.02 Education and Training: Social workers who function as educators, field instructors for students, or trainers should provide instruction only within their areas of knowledge and competence and should provide instruction based on the most current information and knowledge available in the profession. Social workers who function as educators or field instructors for students should evaluate students’ performance in a manner that is fair and respectful. Social workers who function as educators or field instructors for students should not engage in any dual or multiple relationships with students in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the student. Social work educators and field instructors are responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries.
3.03 Performance Evaluation: Social workers who have responsibility for evaluating the performance of others should fulfill such responsibility in a fair and considerate manner and on the basis of clearly stated criteria.
3.04 Client Records: (a) Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure that documentation in records is accurate and reflects the services provided and store records following the termination of services to ensure reasonable future access. Records should be maintained for the number of years required by state statutes or relevant contracts.
3.05 Billing: Social workers should establish and maintain billing practises that accurately reflect the nature and extent of services provided and that identify who provided the service in the practice setting.
3.06 Client Transfer: When an individual who is receiving services from another agency or colleague contacts a social worker for services, the social worker should carefully consider the client’s needs before agreeing to provide services. To minimize possible confusion and conflict, social workers should discuss with potential clients the nature of the clients’ current relationship with other service providers and the implications, including possible benefits or risks, of entering into a relationship with a new service provider. If a new client has been served by another agency or colleague, social workers should discuss with the client whether consultation with the previous service provider is in the client’s best interest.
3.07 Administration: Social work administrators should advocate within and outside their agencies for adequate resources to meet clients’ needs. Social workers should advocate for resource allocation procedures that are open and fair. When not all clients’ needs can be met, an allocation procedure should be developed that is nondiscriminatory and based on appropriate and consistently applied principles. Social workers who are administrators should take reasonable steps to ensure that adequate agency or organizational resources are available to provide appropriate staff supervision.
3.08 Continuing Education and Staff Development: Social work administrators and supervisors should take reasonable steps to provide or arrange for continuing education and staff development for all staff for whom they are responsible. Continuing education and staff development should address current knowledge and emerging developments related to social work practice and ethics.
3.09 Commitments to Employers: Social workers generally should adhere to commitments made to employers and employing organizations. Social workers should work to improve employing agencies’ policies and procedures and the efficiency and effectiveness of their services. Social workers should act to prevent and eliminate discrimination in the employing organization’s work assignments and in its employment policies and practices.
3.10 Labor-Management Disputes: Social workers may engage in organized action, including the formation of and participation in labour unions, to improve services to clients and working conditions. The actions of social workers who are involved in labour-management disputes, job actions, or labour strikes should be guided by the profession’s values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. Reasonable differences of opinion exist among social workers concerning their primary obligation as professionals during an actual or threatened labour strike or job action. Social workers should carefully examine relevant issues and their possible impact on clients before deciding on a course of action.