Definition Of Social Work Ethics

ETHICAL AND LEGAL STANDARDS IN SOCIAL

WORK: CONSISTENCY AND CONFLICT

Introduction

According to Collin Dictionary, ethics is the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophy. For legal is established by or founded upon law. Definition for social work is organized work intended to advance the social conditions of a community, and especially of the disadvantaged, by providing psychological counseling, guidance, and assistance, especially in the form of social services (Free Dictionary, 2011).

Family service agencies, community mental health centers, prisons, schools, medical and psychiatric hospitals, hospice programs, substance abuse treatment centers, the

There are various allocations that provide to social work of the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions. For example, social workers employed in adult and juvenile correctional facilities are predictable to fulfill with constitutional provisions concerning inmates’ protection from unreasonable searches. Social workers in schools must be aware of students’ privacy and free speech rights. Courts have ruled that women have a constitutional right to decide with their doctors to terminate a pregnancy in the first 12 weeks should be made aware of the social worker in health clinic.

The second law is statutory law. There are many federal laws that enacted by U.S Congress by legislatures, affect social work practice. Example for this law is prominent federal law that affects school social workers spells out strict guidelines concerning confidential student records (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 1974, as amended). State laws, for example, prescribe social workers’ obligations when they suspect child or elder abuse and

Social workers need to realize of a wide range of federal, state, and local regulations. Government agencies announced the regulations are legally enforceable guidelines. For example, the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Justice have implemented various regulations that are related to social work, such as regulations regarding eligibility for disability benefits, eviction from federally subsidized housing, distribution of confidential information among federal agencies, and funding of services for people who are HIV positive or who have AIDS. One of the best known federal regulations related to social work concerns the protection of confidential information related to drug and alcohol treatment (Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records, 1987). Other example, every nurse know is the importance of their state’s nursing practice act. It is because the “nursing practice is regulated by each state through a board of nursing established by the state’s government” ( Wright & DeWitty, 2005,p.3) nurse must understand what these laws are and how they dictate their