Blogging a task which I have never done nor had any interest
in being part of, my vision of a blogger is someone who has way too much time
and not enough interest in things which are important. However, in talking to a lifelong
friend about my assignment for this class I was told by my friend that he is a
regular blogger about the NHL.
Once I found this out I can now call this person a former friend. Moving on to the task at hand or the
blog at hand I will take a position on the National Association of Social
Workers Code of Ethics. I had
never really thought about the NASW Code of Ethics. I thought only professions that actually provided help
needed to have a Code of Ethics.
Professions such as Medical Doctor’s and Exotic Dancer’s which actually
make a person feel better.
After
fifteen pages of reading the boring National Association of Social Worker Code
of Ethics I found that there is a real purpose behind the ethics set
forth. The mission or goal set
forth by the NASW in its code has as it values things which include service,
social justice, dignity of the individual, importance of human relationships,
integrity and competence. The
thing that I find very admirable is that the NASW Ethics Principle of Service
says that social workers are encouraged to volunteer their professional skills
with no expectation of any financial re-numeration. I think this is something that everyone in the class can
check off due to our involvement in community projects such as the Jeff
Vanderlou event coming up. Social
justice is one area which I think that we as social workers should be very
involved in doing. The NASW says
that social workers should strive for change for the man, woman or child who
are vulnerable or oppressed. As
social workers we need to make sure that information, services and needed
resources are provided to those who are less fortunate. Even though a person may be down on
their luck or a person who has made some questionable decisions the person
needs to treated with dignity and projected by the actions of the social worker
to be a person who has self worth.
Those of us who are down and out need to be strengthened by
relationships that are worthwhile and have a purpose. The integrity of the social worker in my opinion is the most
important service principle. It is
as simple as without integrity a person is has nothing. Competence is the part where the social
worker needs to continue to develop their skill as being a caring and effective
social worker.
In
closing I actually found the Code of Ethics of the National Association of
Social Workers to be very enlightening and informative. I guess we can now be included in the
same discussion as doctors and dancers as being in a profession that actually
helps people.
The Code of Ethics is a bit dry, but I appreciate the straight-forwardness of it. Given how many gray, murky situations we might find ourselves in (morals versus ethics springs to mind, which is something we're covering in our Generalist SW class right now), I appreciate the hard and fastness from the NASW.
ReplyDeleteScott, I was thoroughly intrigued while reading your blog and agreed with many of your statements. I like knowing that the NASW Code of Ethics will guide me as a beginner in the profession. One thing that sets apart a social worker from many other admirable professions is the fact that volunteerism is encouraged as one way to give back to communities. We are all starting off in this profession as different people but we all have an admirable trait in common, which is compassion for others. Many clients that we will work with won't have many trustworthy relationships with others and we will be the ones whom they can count on as an advocate for positive change.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't think it was that dry. I felt it could have been worse - full of jargon and buzzwords. Like Rachel, I appreciate the straightforwardness of it.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that most of it is just common sense, and so I dread being asked to quote a piece or memorize a section.