Introduction
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is an international organization for professional social workers. The institution operates to improve the professional development and growth of social workers by creating and maintaining operational standards and advancing good social policies. NASW was founded in October 1955 by Nathan Cohen and began operation with Joseph P. Anderson as the executive secretary (National Association of Social Workers (NASW), 2023a). NASW’s code of ethics is a collection of standards that formulate social workers’ professional behaviors. The code of ethics was created in October 1960 and has been revised at least 45 times (NASW, 2023b). NASW’s code of ethics includes values, standards, and principles that regulate social workers’ conduct. It is structured into four sections; the preamble, purpose, principles, and standards (NASW, 2023c). NASW’s code of ethics is significant for social workers to guide their habits during their practices.
Ethical Standards and Examples of Violation Behaviors
The first ethical standard is social workers’ responsibilities to their clients. It is divided into 17 subsections that define how social workers should relate to clients (NASW, 2023c). Amongst the divisions include a commitment to clients, social worker determination, informed consent delivery, cultural competence, conflict of interest, sexual relationships, and access to records (NASW, 2023c). An example of behavior that violates this ethical standard is a social worker engaging in sexual activities with a client, either physically or through communication.
The second standard highlights the ethical responsibilities of social workers to their colleagues. Social workers should respect their colleagues, practice confidentiality, avoid disputing, seek counsel and advice, and avoid sexual harassment and relationships with fellow workers (NASW, 2023c). The workers should also consult with incompetent colleagues to offer help and discourage unethical behaviors among themselves. An example of unethical behavior is a worker exposing the personal information of another worker to the entire institution through gossip.
Another ethical standard formulates social workers’ ethical responsibilities in their practice settings. This ethical standard is subdivided into ten sections, requiring workers to have and show adequate skills in supervision and consultation (NASW, 2023c). Educators and trainers offer knowledge only in their specialization and maintenance of clients’ records in paper and electronics (NASW, 2023c). A violation of conduct in this perspective would be faking bills by recording nonexistent expenses in the billing records.
Social workers also have ethical responsibilities to act as professionals by showing competence, avoiding discrimination, being honest, and acknowledging credit where it is worth. The professionals should control their private matters, so they do not interfere with their duties (NASW, 2023c). Furthermore, they should avoid solicitations, misrepresentation, and fraud (NASW, 2023c). If a social worker asked and collected money from a client so that they could serve them, it would be considered a violation of this ethical code.
The fifth ethical standard is social workers’ responsibilities to the social work profession. Social workers must practice high integrity, research and evaluate work policies, while monitoring the implementation of various programs (NASW, 2023c). They should learn and keep up with emerging knowledge regarding social work. When conducting research, the workers should operate within the professional guidelines of participants and the whole process (NASW, 2023c). An example of violating this standard would be conducting a study without providing informed consent to the participants.
The last ethical standard is social workers’ responsibilities to the general society. The workers are mandated to promote the welfare of the local, national, and global society. They should advocate for those living in poor conditions through public participation and the implementation of professional policies (NASW, 2023c). An example of unethical behavior would be social workers failing to attend to a slam community suffering from severe disease outbreaks.
Ethical Principles and Their Importance to Social Workers and the Practice Service
Social workers’ performance is based on six values: service, social justice, dignity and worth, the essence of human relations, integrity, and competence. The primary goal of social workers is to help the vulnerable by addressing their social needs (NASW, 2023c). They deliver service to their clients without considering their self-interest. Service delivery is important to social workers and because it is the best way to show compassion to the community. For the social work practice, service is critical in meeting the mission of the profession.
Social Justice
Social workers challenge social injustices by demanding fair and equitable distribution of resources, privileges, and opportunities in the community. They pursue social change for the poor, oppressed, and vulnerable groups (NASW, 2023c). Seeking social justice for social workers is significant in promoting knowledge and sensitivity about oppression and cultural diversity. For social work practice seeking justice for the society is important as a way of protecting the community.
Dignity and Worth of a Person
The social workers are expected to respect individuals’ worth and inherent dignity by treating each other with respect and being mindful of cultural and ethnic diversity. Through respect and giving worth, the social workers enhance the clients’ capacity, thus enabling them to address their personal needs (NASW, 2023c). They solve clients’ conflicts socially and responsibly by observing the client and society’s interests (NASW, 2023c). The value is essential to social workers because it is the way to show self-determination. Showing dignity and worth of a person is essential to social work practice for giving regard to the society.
Importance of Human Relationships
Social workers recognize and understand the central essence of human relationships. They should understand that human relations are critical in driving change in the community. Therefore, social workers engage others in helping those in need (NASW, 2023c). Through such understanding, the professionals strengthen relationships to promote and maintain ethical practices. This ethical principle is vital to social workers because human relationships enable working. The social work practice regards the importance of human relationships because it is through them that people unite.
Integrity
The professionals should conduct themselves in a trustworthy manner. They should be aware of and uphold the institution’s mission, ethics, and values in their consistent practice. It promotes ethical practices amongst themselves and the general society (NASW, 2023c). Integrity is significant to social workers because it upholds the respect of the workers. It is also important for social work practice in attaining professional regard and respect.
Competence
The last ethical principle requires social workers to work within their fields of competence by developing and improving their professional expertise. They are expected to actively increase professional skills and knowledge and apply them to work (NASW, 2023c). Improving and exercising competence is vital for the workers because it enables effective service delivery. Competence is essential to social work practice for effective implementation of policies.
Conclusion
When I am unsure about any content in the code of ethics, I should consult my superior and fellow colleagues for the right action to take. When a social worker violates the concepts of code of ethics, they may receive disciplinary actions from the association and sometimes receive lawsuits. Social workers need this code of ethics to deliver their duties effectively. The codes are important because it guide the workers’ behaviors during their practices, thus serving with dignity. Through the various values and ethical standards, social workers behave socially, thus making their responsibilities acceptable to the community. The ability to conduct oneself unquestionably is the most important about the codes of ethics to me.
References
National Association of Social Workers. (2023a). About NASW. Web.
National Association of Social Workers. (2023b). History of the NASW code of ethics. Web.
National Association of Social Workers. (2023c). Read the code of ethics. Web.