Principles and Core Values in Social Work, Summaries of Sociology

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Principles and Core Values Principles of Social Work The Policy, Ethics, And Human Rights Committee of The British Association of Social Workers (2012) has the following principles that apply in general to other professionals in the social work profession.

1. Principles Relative to Respect for Human Rights Upholding and promoting human dignity and well-being. Social workers should respect, uphold, and defend each person’s physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual integrity and well-being. They should work towards promoting the best interests of individuals and groups in society and the avoidance of harm. Respecting the right to self-determination. Social workers should respect, promote, and support People's dignity and rights to make their own choices and decisions, irrespective of their values and life choices, provided that this does not threaten the rights, safety, and legitimate interests of others. Promoting the right to participation. Social workers should promote the full involvement and participation of people using their services in ways that enable them to be empowered in all aspects of decisions and actions affecting their lives. Creating each person as a whole. Social workers should be concerned with the whole person, within the family, community, societal, and natural environments, and should seek to recognize all aspects of a person's life. Identifying and developing strengths. Social workers should focus on the strengths of all individuals, groups, and communities, and thus promote their empowerment. 2. Principles Relative to Social Justice Change discrimination. Social workers have irresponsibility to challenge discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as ability, age, culture, gender or sex, marital status, social economic status, political opinions, skin color, racial or other physical characteristics, sexual orientation, or spiritual beliefs. Recognizing diversity. Social workers should recognize and respect the diversity of the societies in which they practice, taking into account individual, family, group, and community differences. Distributing resources. Social workers should ensure that resources at their disposal are distributed fairly according to need. Challenging unjust policies and practices. Social workers have a duty to bring to the attention of their employers, policymakers, politicians, and the general public the situations where resources are inadequate or where distribution of resources, policies, and practices are oppressive, unfair, harmful, or illegal. Working in solidarity. Social workers, individually, collectively, and collaboratively have a duty to challenge social conditions that contribute to social exclusion, stigmatization or subjugation, and work toward an inclusive society.

3. Principles Relative to Professional Integrity Upholding the values and reputation of the profession. Social workers should act at all times in accordance with the values and principles of the profession and ensure that their behavior does not bring the profession into disrepute. Being trustworthy. Social workers should work in a way that is honest, reliable, and open, clearly explaining their roles, interventions, and precisions, and not seeking to deceive or manipulate clients, their colleagues, or employers. Maintaining professional boundaries. Social workers should establish appropriate boundaries in their relationships with service users and colleagues, and not abuse their position for personal benefit, financial gain, or sexual exploitation. Making considered professional judgments. Social workers should make judgments based on balanced and considered reasoning, maintaining awareness on the impact of their own values, prejudices, and conflicts of interest on their practice and on other people. Being professionally accountable. Social workers should be prepared to account for and justify their judgments and actions to people who use their services, to employers and the general public. Core Values of Social Work The core values of social work serve to provide consistency in the fulfillment of social welfare delivery and in the general promotion of the well-being and quality of life of all people. However, special attention or priority is given to those who suffer from forms of exclusion from receiving social services. These are the core values of social work according to Du Bois and Miley 2008; Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner 2005: Compassion can be considered an important value for all humankind but in social work, it occupies a special impetus to the functioning of the profession. It is the basis for someone to go out and become a voice to the voiceless and a friend to the people who need it most. Service , as a value, directs social workers to go beyond purely performing a service for a pay and allows them to be generous with their time period their work borders on charity and professional service. Without a special interest in pure service, much of the social work could not be properly accomplished. Social justice , as a value for social workers, is a basis of their understanding of the need to ensure that everyone gets service and a share of what the community possesses in material and non-material assets.

Dignity and worth of the person is a value that provides the determination and drive for social workers to seek the marginalized in all forms without much regard as to whether such problem is self-inflicted or socially imposed. At the heart of social work is the belief that all humans have dignity and worth regardless of their acts and status in life. Importance of social relationships , as a value, makes it possible for social workers to do their job as most human situations they seek to address require collaborating with so many other professionals and individuals with a stake in the issue. It is about relationships. After all, it is in the context of relationships where people find themselves broken and marginalized. A relationship is the context of social marginalization and inclusion. Integrity is necessary in all human endeavors. In social work, nothing can be accomplished without integrity. A social worker will have difficulties being accepted by the people receiving services and by those he or she needs to collaborate with to facilitate problem solving and empowerment of an individual or a group. Competence is a very important value for social work because it separates social caregiving from social work professional practice. Through special training karma is social worker becomes separated from all common sense, culture, and religious based care.