Social Work Values, Ethics and Anti Oppressive Practice Foluke Blackburn

Date or reference or reference

Aims
Aims of today's session..
To re-visit/re-consider our current knowledge around ethics, values, power & anti-oppressive practice To identity & examine gaps in our knowledge of these issues

To develop and enhance our understanding of the role of values and ethical codes for Social Work

Values
the relatively enduring beliefs i.e. what is right and correct (Congress 2010)

Principles which inform what you do/think

(Thompson & Thompson 2008)

What is right v what is wrong in this practice situation (Rayner 2007) Enable us to test against the real world
(Brookfield 1987:13)
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Values in Social Work

Social Workers - a sense of moral and social justice

(Wilson et al 2008)

Social Work a value based profession (Reamer 1999)

Social Work a moral activity (Pinker 1990; Jordan

1990)

Take a few moments to think about your own values? How easy are they to articulate? Make a note of them for your personal reflection?4

Agreed Social work core values

Respect for persons Self-determination Confidentiality Social justice Human rights Professional integrity Non-discrimination Cultural competence
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(Biestek 1961; Timms 1983)

Ethics, Morals, Values Summary

Morals standards of human behaviour

Values principles, feelings about what is good and of worth

Ethics the process of deciding about and acting upon morals and values. The concious reflection on our moral beliefs (Hugman 2003 p5)

Values & Ethics

Ethics the behaviours that follow from our beliefs i.e. our values in practice (Congress 2010) Professional ethics duty bound rules concerning the right conduct and moral standards of professional social worker (Gray & Webb 2010)

Ethical decision-making

a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives relating to human welfare. (Banks, 2001:71) How to work well towards achieving the goals of social work (Bowles et al. 2006:20)

The process by which we identify right or good objectives and work out how we may best achieve these sometimes choosing between contradictory demands. (Hugman 2003)

Characteristics of Modernity

Most of us believe in human ability to determine truth, and apply truth in appropriate ways, a belief in the Right Way.

Application of The right way

Human nature Government Laws of right action / behaviour Professions are institutions of right ways

 Do you believe in the right way to practice social work? Why? Why not? Why should Social Workers act ethically? What does this mean in practice

Why act ethically? (Parrott, 2006)

My religion instructs me

Act from sense of fairness

Act because people have rights

Why act ethically?

Follow your conscience Act to make the world a better place To be a good person

Social Work has always maintained that values and ethics must be digested and expressed by the Practitioner, because situations encountered in social work are too complex and differ far too much from one individual situation from the next for there to be any encapsulable rules that can be applied to a situation in practice.
From this perspective, the defining characteristics of a profession, and indeed of any ethically sound Practitioner, are to be found in the character of the Practitioner and the nature of his or her relationship with service-users. (Rayner 2007:47)
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What this means in practice

Commitment to rules and duties (eg. human rights and dignity) Commitment to goals and outcomes (eg. social justice) Commitment to being a certain sort of person (eg. integrity, competence, compassion) Fitness to practice

Assumptions of Modernist/Post Modernist Ethics

Modernist (right way)
Essential concepts of good and bad Rational laws can be discerned and applied Contradictions are resolved at the level of first or highest principles Universal principles

Post Modernist (no right way)

Ambivalence of good and bad Non rational an exhaustive set of laws cannot be applied Contradictions are irresolvable Situational principles

Look at the handout on the 3 approaches

Can you locate where your own ethics best fits ?

Modernists need to avoid

Blaming the victims A lack of consideration for structural disadvantage and inequality A reductionist approach

Post Modern ethics needs to avoid

No perspective matters (Nihilism) Only my own perspective matters(Solipsism) The most powerful perspective matters (Totalitarianism)

Compromise / Compete

What is it that compromises ethical practice? What are the conflicting or competing demands that make ethical decision making difficult?

Competing values (Beckett and Maynard 2006)

Other cultural values Other agency values

Societal values

Agency values

Social work tension

Professional values
Values of other professions Other peoples personal values

Personal values

The state, the market and social work

Increase in Public Accountability

Decease in Professional autonomy

The management and business cycle increased scrutiny competition

Social Work
performance indicators contracts

Rational-technical

or

Practical-moral ( ethical) social work

Management by consultation Management by direction Procedurally led services Danger of early legal/procedural intervention Resource focused Emphasis on outcomes Focus on judgement and negotiation between worker and service user to meet need Legal/procedural intervention as last resort

Needs focused
Emphasis on process of social work Recognises negotiation, flexibility and uncertainty

Limit discretion of social work

Ethical dilemmas
(Beckett and Maynard 2005)

Self-determination versus welfare

Valuing cultural diversity versus protecting individuals The needs and wishes of a service user versus needs and wishes of the carer Respecting confidentiality versus good inter-agency communication Self-determination versus the interests of the community The needs of communities versus the needs of individuals

Ethically bounded practice

doing the best we can in the circumstances

The process of reconciliation, negotiation and redefinition of ever-present conflicting values.. to reach a resolution that satisfies the needs of service users, the organisation, law and policy, the worker, colleagues, and ultimately the community at large. (Bowles et al 2006:43)

Explicit argumentation

Logical presentation of the reasons that support a conclusion Showing how these reasons lead to the conclusion Justification of your position you have taken all the circumstances into account, considered everyones interests (evidence) Valid reasoning the reasons lead to the proposed conclusion Deduction drawing conclusions about a specific case from known facts and general data (evidence)

 Collecting data seeking out special information in order to justify reasoning Communication more time is spent on organising thoughts, involves thinking out loud sharing their thoughts with others Network thinking = more decisions made in respect of a single problem Stability of decisions less of a tendency to change the themes of decisions, more consistent and less likely to radically change direction of a decision

Strategic thinking skills

(adapted from Dorner1992 in Banks and Nohr 2003)

Sufficient analysis of the situation avoid reactive emotional responses Identify causes multiple, near and far The effects over time of decisions made Question practice approaches identify automated practice, reflect on ritualistic practice Avoid quick fix solutions ad-hocism projectism, jumping from one solution to another

Anti discriminatory Practice

Given our commitment to ethical practice, if we work in the aforementioned ways does this ensure our practice is anti discriminatory? What is anti discriminatory practice? What is anti oppressive practice? Is it ok to say that some people are more oppressed than others?

Oppression
Oppression is the devaluing of people who they are and what they have to
offer others. It is structured into social relations through the creation of binary dyads that presuppose difference and a differential evaluation of the dyads constituent parts.in these binaries, one part of the dyad is ascribed superiority and the other inferiority. (Dominelli 2009:116)
The disempowerment of oppositional thinking(Fook 2002) A world view based on these binary dyads of superiority and inferiority. Retains dominance if un-critiqued (Dominelli 2009)

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Oppression. Exploitative exercise of power over others dominance economically, politically and culturallyCreating and maintaining marginalisation through rules and structures (Clifford & Burke 2009) Hardship/Injustice brought about by the dominance of one group over another; Disregarding the rights of an individual or group (Thompson 2001) Many forms of dominant & oppressed groups, in relation to gender, social class, race disability, sexuality, age, religion, health, physical/mental healthetc
(Clifford & Burke 2009) 29

Oppression:
British society is saturated in oppression social work practice recognises oppression not simply in the behaviours, values and attitudes of individuals and groups, but in institutions, structures and common sense assumptions

(Mitchell 1989:14)

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Complex, diverse, manifold oppressions

(Langan 1992:1)
Using one aspect of ourselves to define the whole Is destructive and fragmenting

(Lorde 1984:120)
There should be no perceived hierarchy of oppressive experiences but a recognition of the cumulative effect of racism, sexism and disablist practices.. (Stuart 1992:2)
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If it can be argued that all forms of oppression are dehumanising and therefore unacceptable, it than becomes as meaningless to speculate who is either more oppressed or less oppressed, as it would be to give consideration to concepts of being a bit pregnant or very dead. Any speculation of how much? in relation to another individual or group, becomes a fatuous notion in all instances. People are either pregnant or not, dead or not dead, oppressed or not oppressed, and it is oppression itself in all its forms that must be challenged
McDonald & Coleman (1999) Social Work Education: Vol 32 1 18,

Development of anti-oppressive/discriminatory practice.

Practice which seeks to reduce, undermine, eliminate, eradicate discrimination and oppression from our own and others practice and institutions
(Thompson 2001)

Knowledge of self Of majority social systems Of different groups and cultures Ability to challenge and confront (on personal & structural level) Commitment to action & change.

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Dominelli 2009 Personal, Institutional & Cultural levels

P - (individual beliefs actions and behaviours) I - (normalised legislation, policies and practices) C - (values and norms of society, embedded inequalities)
(Interactive, feed off each other)

AOP is good practice operating at each of these personal, institutional and cultural levels
(Dominelli 1993:11)

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References
Banks, S (2006) Ethics and Values in Social Work 3rd. ed, Basingstoke, Palgrave Banks, S. and Nohr, K. (2003) Teaching Practical Ethics for the Social Professions, FESET www.feset.dk Beckett, C. and Maynard, A (2006) Values & Ethics in Social Work, London, Sage Bowles, W. Collingridge, M. Curry, S. Valentine, B. (2006) Ethical Practice in Social Work, Maindenhead, Open University Press Hugman,R (2003) Professionaol ethics in social work: living with the legacy, Australian Social Work Vol 56:1, Australia, EBSCO publishing Osmo,R & Landau,R 2001. The need for explicit argumentation in ethical decision making in social work. Social Work Education Vol 20:4 Taylor Francis Parrott, L. (2006) Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice, Exeter, Learning Matters