Social Work as a Value-Based Profession: Value Conflicts ...

1 Social Work as a Value -Based Profession: Value Conflicts and Implications for Practitioners' Self-Concepts Derek Chechak, MSW, RSW. Candidate, Memorial University of Newfoundland Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, Volume 12, Number 2 (2015) Copyright 2015, ASWB. This text may be freely shared among individuals, but it may not be republished in any medium without express written consent from the authors and advance notification of ASWB. Abstract At a broad level, values are a reflection of society's Scholars have consistently posited that the Social ethical principles (Gambrill, 2011, p. 40), but more work profession's commitment to its values and specifically, they are a profession's principles.

2 And ethics is unlike any other profession. Central to while virtually all professions assert their preferred the mission of the profession are these principles, outcomes through Value statements or ethical codes, which direct the profession's priorities. However, what follows is the argument that few professions, Social work professionals bring their own diverse if any, emphasize their values and ethics to the same worldviews and personal values to practice, degree as Social work. Having acknowledged this and must anticipate the eventuality of personal- position, this paper is organized around the follow- professional Value incongruence. This paper ing question: How does Social work's emphasis on examines the concept of Value incongruence with values and ethical practice differentiate it from other attention to the role of the self-concept.

3 Using professions, and how do Social workers maintain the Value conflict resolution model proposed by this emphasis in contemporary practice? It incor- Spano and Koenig (2007), implications for Social porates a discussion of the role of the self-concept workers' personal-professional Value incongruence (Rogers, 1947), and suggests how Social workers is discussed. can use this theoretical approach to address the challenges associated with maintaining an ethical Keywords: Value -practice conflict, self-concept, framework in contemporary practice. personal-professional conflict, worldview 2. Social Work as a Value -Based 1. Introduction Profession Throughout Social work discourse, few Reamer (2006), one of the most prominent topics have been as meticulously discussed as the Social work ethics scholars, argued that since the relevance of values and ethics to the profession.

4 Profession's inception Social workers' atten- Indeed, the crucial role that values play in guid- tion was focused primarily on cultivating a set ing the mission of the profession and establish- of values upon which the mission of Social work ing practitioners' priorities have been articulated could be based (p. ix). Over time, the profession by membership bodies and ethics scholars alike has nurtured and refined a set of values that given (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], meaning and purpose to generations of Social 1996; Reamer, 2006). Values are used to articulate workers' careers (Reamer, 2006, p. ix). Today, our goals and outcomes, identify preferred means of enduring commitment to vulnerable and oppressed attaining them, and support policy decisions at people, individual wellbeing, and Social justice, various levels of practice (Gambrill, 2011, p.)

5 40). are all based on what Reamer (2006) appropriately Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, Fall 2015, Vol. 12, No. 2 - page 41. Social Work as a Value -Based Profession: Value Conflicts and Implications for Practitioners' Self-Concepts termed the profession's rich Value base (p. ix). In Even within Social work's brief history as fact, this longstanding commitment to ethical prac- a formalized profession, this changing perception tice and Value exploration has positioned Social of values is evidenced by four distinct periods of work among the most Value based of all profes- ethical practice (Reamer, 1998d, cited in Reamer, sions (Reamer, 2006, p. 3), a contention shared by 2006).

6 Each period, with its unique Social milieu, the NASW (1996) which wrote that professional necessitated Social workers to emphasize new ethics and core values provide the foundation of and changing values and priorities to guide their Social work's unique purpose and perspective. practice. The morality period, characterized by a In his assessment of the inception and de- paternalistic preoccupation with the poor, aimed velopment of the profession, Reamer (2006) noted to strengthen the[ir] morality or rectitude. Dur- that historical accounts routinely focus on ing the latter part of this period, signified by the the compelling importance of Social work's Value Great Depression, Social workers realigned their base and ethical principles (p.)

7 4). These beliefs priorities to address the need for structural Social served, and continue to serve, as the foundation reform to address problems related to housing, for the profession's mission (Reamer, 2006, p. 4). health care, sanitation, employment, poverty, and Not surprisingly, therefore, with such historically education (Reamer, 2006, p. 5). Next occurred engrained Value statements, Social workers are apt the values period, during which emphasis on client to encounter a seemingly endless host of ethical morality declined slowly as Social workers focused dilemmas and Conflicts . Moreover, expectations more on the direction of the profession and its from clients, colleagues, employers, and regulatory areas of expertise.

8 Significant efforts during this bodies to resolve these Conflicts further illustrate period were made to develop core professional val- the inherent challenge of maintaining Value -based ues, especially as they pertained to controversial practice. Tensions between Social workers' simul- and divisive issues (Reamer, 2006, p. 5). The first taneous commitment to individual well-being and formalized codes of ethics were adopted first in the welfare of the broader society (Reamer, 1994, 1947 by the Delegate Conference of the American p. 200), their own personal values and the profes- Association of Social Workers and then in 1960 by sion's espoused values (Reamer, 1994, p.)

9 201), the NASW (Reamer, 2006, p. 6), and considerable and challenges against the legitimacy of Social attention was paid toward the ethical constructs of work's core values (Reamer, 1994, p. 203) iden- Social justice, rights, and reform (Reamer, 2006, tify just a few examples of this conflict. Changing p. 6). Social workers were trained to uphold a practice contexts, including the influence of the prominent set of values focused on Social equity, medical model and proprietary or entrepreneurial welfare rights, human rights, discrimination, and models of practice (Siporin, 1989, p. 44, cited oppression (Reamer, 2006, p. 6). Levy (1976), in in Reamer, 1994, p. 203) and society's changing what was arguably the profession's most ambi- values further add to the complexity.

10 Fortunately, tious conceptualization of the subject (Reamer, scholars in the field of applied ethics, who are 2006, p. 7), propelled the discussion of Social work devoted entirely to identifying and exploring pro- ethics into the third period. fessional ethics/ Value Conflicts , can provide some During the 1970s, the Social work profes- direction and support, but an overreliance on ex- sion underwent another significant transformation ternal disciplines and professionals is insufficient. in its concern about values and ethical issues as As Reamer (2006) contended, contemporary diverse professional disciplines began to devote Social workers must be acquainted with advanc- sustained attention to the subject (Reamer, 2006, ing knowledge related to the profession's values p.)