Category: Values

Paper Review: Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work : Context, Characteristics, Complications, and Contribution

This post is about this article:

‘Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work: Context, Characteristics, Complications and Contribution, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 37, Issue 2, February 2007, Pages 245–263, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl016 by Tony Morrison

Introduction

This paper looks at the way ’emotional intelligence’ may link to social work practice by aligning it’s use with five core social work tasks ‘engagement of users, assessment and observation, decision-making, collaboration and cooperation and dealing with stress’

Context

The paper starts with a definition of emotional intelligence as

Being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations: to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to emphasize and to hope’

p246 – quoting from Goleman 1996

The author sets up the links between emotional intelligence and social work (specifically social work with children) by explaining different models of emotional intelligence in different settings and applying them to social work. This is a discussion paper rather than describing research so the methodology is based on reflecting on literature relating to emotional intelligence and linking it to social work settings and environments.

Emotional intelligence literature emerged from management and business studies. The author as an academic teaching social work practice, found the literature useful in describing some of the skills and attributes necessary for competent social work. He draws links between literature about emotional intelligence and social work practice and drew this together with a study in the US about nursing practice (Benner 2001) and developing competencies in nursing which found that the emotional state of the nurse could impact on the quality of patient care. It was this ‘intuitive’ aspect of care which the author tries to link with good social work, beyond technical knowledge of practice.

He draws on literature reflecting the danger of social work becoming a series of skills to be learnt rather than a way of understanding to do undertake tasks skilfully. This is linked with the move towards managerialism in social work. Ironic, then, or perhaps not, that there has been the turn to the language and concepts of management.

By presenting emotional intelligence as learnable, it therefore becomes teachable which is key within a social work department in a university.

Learning and gaps

In looking at core social work skills identified by the author, he refers to them in the context of emotional intelligence. With engagement he refers to the lack of choice that people coming into social work services would have and why the initial contact may be filled with ambivalence or fear. Moving to assessment and observation, he relates to the importance on inter and intra-personal skills and the need for sensitive and responsive assessment as poor communication can lead to poor assessment. Part of this process is about understanding and interpreting emotions on both sides of the conversation that is an assessment.

Regarding decision-making, the author refers back to the challenge of objective (or ‘professional’) judgement as if there is a pretence that emotion does not play a role. I’d argue there is no such thing as objective judgement in social work because we have to bring ourselves into every decision we make but that’s more about the research work I am doing and why I chose it. Decisions cannot be made without understanding the place of emotion.

With collaboration and co-operation, he refers to emotion as a representation of the collective experience, including institutional experiences. Social work exists within the institutions in which we work and we need to understand organisational dynamics to work effectively. We also need to work with difference. This is where the author, somewhat tenuously, in my view, brings in the need to work with diverse groups and ensure we tackle and address discriminatory attitudes.

Values and knowledge about discriminatory forces have to be integrated with inter-personal skills, if practitioners are to be able not only to identify, but also challenge, such forces appropriately

p258

Finally, the author turns to the necessarily social work skill of dealing with skill and developing coping strategies. He relates the ability of social workers to seek help themselves when they might be approaching burnout as a key tenet of emotional intelligence. Practitioners who are able to create positive social and professional networks of support will more likely thrive and he links this to relevant research.

Use in practice

This paper is a literature-based study linking the work around emotional intelligence to the attributes needed for social work practice, particularly focusing on social work with children. It is an interesting approach and he has drawn some useful links identifying how the context of writing can be regarded from a different angle to have professional relevance. Personally, I’m not entirely convinced that pulling in management think is always helpful in understanding professional practice within social work. We need to ensure our language and how we describe what we do is not tied up with the latest zeitgeist management talk. However, where there are useful elements to glean it is important that we do not ignore them.

Regarding practical learning from this, there were two aspects that I thought I would take with me from Monday morning. One was about building supportive networks personally and professionally in order to ensure I am looking after my own support and development needs in order to thrive effectively as a social worker and secondly ensuring I have an awareness of the role my emotion plays in my report-writing and assessment as this has an enormous impact on the lives of those I am working with.

Conclusion

This was an accessible paper which drew together strands of literature to extract the core of good social work as separate from the ability to carry out social work tasks or have a good handle on social work skills. In some ways, I see the emotional intelligence as being linked to practice wisdom, as it is sometimes called, the sense of instinctiveness to make judgement quickly and remain open to challenge, learning and change.

The author expresses concern about the growth of managerialism but hope that by capturing the essence of social work in a concept which is basically teachable seeing ways forward for the profession. Personally, I think time and space is needed to develop the capacity for understanding the role emotion and individual subjectivity play in important social work tasks which is why reflection is necessary. Maybe less fast-track and more slow development will build the emotional intelligence necessary for good practice.

Paper Review: Human Rights : Its Meaning and Practice in Social Work Field Settings

This post refers to the following paper :

Julie A. Steen, Mary Mann, Nichole Restivo, Shellene Mazany, Reshawna Chapple, Human Rights: Its Meaning and Practice in Social Work Field Settings, Social Work, Volume 62, Issue 1, 1 January 2017, Pages 9–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sww075

Introduction

As I have covered Australian and British social work papers, I thought I’d turn to the United States with this one and while I have read and learned about human rights in the context of English mental health and mental capacity legislation, the ability to see where the global human rights debate is, was appealing. It has been useful to look at where research is focused in the US where the role of social work has some distinct differences and the cultural context may not be as similar as we sometimes assume.

Context

The research study which was carried out involved interviews with social work students and and ‘field supervisors’ who are experienced social workers as might be obvious, who are supervising students in their initial training placements.

The paper starts with a literature review which covers social work and the role of human rights in social work settings. This has the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as the starting point but diverges by looking at some of the additional principles to cover, what they describe as ‘population-specific’ conventions including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Principles for the Older Person which grew up subsequently. There is also reference to some of the work which has linked human rights with social work in a broader context and where human rights practice crosses with social work. This includes the role of advocacy in social work and an interesting distinction between case-based advocacy and cause-based advocacy. There is also reflection on the role of community based social work as human rights in practice.

It was interesting reading through a UK lens where obviously the European Convention of Human Rights doesn’t figure but also where the UK-based literature on human rights and social work would not have been as relevant to the article. This is very much my ‘little England’ view and a literature review is never going to be comprehensive. However, it also introduced me to a broader understanding of human rights, encouraging me to read further and put my focus on UK human rights into a better global perspective.

Methodology

One thing I noticed in this study which was helpful (to me, as a novice researcher) was that the authors explicitly stated their research questions which were

“What means do social work students and their field supervisors attribute to the concept of human rights as it relates to their work in field settings?” and “How do social work students and their field supervisors describe human rights practice in their own agency meetings?”

Having the research questions clearly established helps with appraising the research which takes place and helps understand decisions made regarding research design.

In this case, the authors took a phenomenological approach. These terms can sound like a different language intended to detach academic world but it only means that it is looking at the experiences of people who have them from their viewpoint. It is not an ‘objective’ study but that would not have been unsuitable for the research questions which are asking about how the participants experience and understand human rights in their practice and so phenomenology fits well.

The study was carried out through online questionnaires. Online surveys were sent out to students and supervisors and they were open for responses for two months. There were, in the end, 35 student participants and 48 supervisors. There was a mix of students on different programmes (Batchelors and Masters) and mix of gender and race which was established in the results. The average age of students was 20 and the average age of supervisors was 45. I noted this only because I can’t imagine the average age of UK students would be so low. So another notable difference.

The survey contained a mix of open-ended and structured questions.

Results

The researchers divide the outcomes into seven themes in terms of identification of human rights issues relevant to practice and five themes under which they described their own practice or observation of practice.

In terms of the human rights overlap with social work, the most common theme identified was poverty, in addition to this was discrimination, participation, self-determination, autonomy, violence (right to live free from violence where violence is expanded to mean abuse), dignity, respect, privacy (including confidentiality) and ‘freedom and liberty’.

Poverty identified reflected the resources that link to access to housing and healthcare. This obviously has a different context where healthcare is mostly on an insurance basis but presented another layer of the economic and social human rights which occupy the social justice element of social work and embed social work as a human rights profession.

The interesting point the researchers made about discrimination was that students primarily focussed on discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ groups whereas the supervisors more often referred to cultural competencies and gender based discrimination.

The themes of participation, self-determination and autonomy emphasised the right to have the means to determine ones’ own destiny, including refusing or discounting professional advice.

The group of supervisors who referred to ‘freedom and liberty’ were non-descriptive. It is an interesting expression of a more abstract concept as a right.

In terms of practice and how they saw human rights expressed within the agency there were five themes determined. These were advocacy, service provision, assessment and relationships.

Advocacy was reflected in both individual practice with clients and in terms of challenges within organisations. The researchers distinguish themes of case advocacy versus cause advocacy. Cause advocacy was more heavily emphasised by students. Service provision included areas like psychoeduction and providing direct support to groups of people that had specific needs. I’m not sure of case management as human rights but that might be about my prejudices and understanding of the term rather than the way it is meant by the participants.

Assessment was seen as a human rights engaged activity as a process in order for ‘needs and wishes’ to be met. I think this may be a bit tenuous at best because I prefer ‘conversations about needs’ to ‘assessments’ but that might be my issue with the language. Sometimes, assessments need to be assessments. Do they always lead to resources that are necessary? Perhaps not.

The relationship was interesting as it was presented as being key to human rights in practice including the honesty and transparency of the connection. For the purposes of the paper, treating people with dignity, care and in a way that is free from discrimination were part of the relationship.

Key learning for practice

There were a couple of interesting elements that I took from this paper. It was fascinating to read about human rights from a non-European perspective. It made me itch for more exposure to international research. Struggling to match human rights in principle to work that social workers apply on a day to day level can be a challenge and this research addresses this by asking about both conceptual and practical visions of human rights.

The language of human rights was measured in the research and it can make us think about the language we use in practice. Do we talk about assessments meeting wants and needs or about assessments as processes to be completed? Do we distinguish and action both case and cause advocacy? We might not be able to to both but do we recognise it when we do it.

One of the things I thought I could do as a result of this, was self-audit some of the small actions and conversations I have and records I write in each week, meetings I attend and consider how human rights legislation and principles are enacted in practice.

Reflections and gaps

I enjoyed reading this paper and enjoyed particularly seeing the process of a research project including research questions being described. Of course, the study was based on students and practice supervisors. It would have been interesting to see the outcomes if it had been practitioners at various stages of their careers. The different areas of practice were not also clearly differentiated so it wasn’t clear how many worked with adults or children and in what settings, for example. This might have produced further interesting results. It was a relatively large sample (I thought) and the survey was an interesting way of collecting data, particularly large tracts of data but I wondered about how useful (or different) interviews might have been.

Conclusion

One of the things that struck me (and possibly the authors as well) was the lack of reference to race and discrimination on the basis of race and culture particularly by the students who were interviewed. This was something I wondered about in terms of teaching within social work settings as well. The authors speculate that this might align with gaps in the teaching curriculum although discrimination in the LGBTQI+ community was more heavily referenced by students.

Poverty came up as a strong theme in discussion but in practice it wasn’t always clear how this was challenged and addressed. This is more about where some of the cause advocacy might focus, perhaps.

Paper Review: An Australian perspective on Community Treatment Orders

A review of  ‘Using Social Work Theory and Values to Investigate the Implementation of Community Treatment Orders, Australian Social Work, 66:1, 72-85, DOI: 10.1080/0312407X.2011.651727‘ Lisa Brophy and Fiona McDermott 2013

Introduction

By looking at this paper, I am reviewing some of the content to make it more accessible and combining a summary of what I find to be the key points, with my own understanding and interpretation. I am no expert and I am no academic. I am interested and with that proviso, I will continue.

I came across this paper as I was looking at the way that ethics and values reflect on social work decision-making and while my focus is more on decisions made about best interests and mental capacity, there is a clear line in comparison with studies completed in other areas, particularly the use of compulsion in social work and how we, as practitioners respond to it. I found the explanation of the methodology and the theoretical approach clear and helpful in my own thinking on two levels.

I’m interested in research design and comparing the robustness of the evidence gathered and different approaches taken, and secondly, when looking at how I integrate theory, both social work theory and broader social research theories into both my own practice and my research work, the most useful learning is reading papers where it has been done and other doctorate level theses available through EThOS (British Library free repositary of over 500,000 theses – and worth checking).

Background to the study

This is a paper written for Australian Social Work. It is looking at the use of community treatment orders specifically in the state of Victoria, Australia. It seems that CTOs have a longer history than their use in the UK and at the time of writing, the authors claim that there are around 5000 current CTOs. The paper looks at how compulsion links with social work values and practice particularly around theoretical perspectives. It is useful as it links the use of theory to practice in a setting where compulsion is used and reflects the tensions in the social worker’s role. It was definitely something that spoke to me, not just in terms of the research, which is useful for my own work in this area, but more interestingly, perhaps, for me when I go to work on Monday to consider with people I work with who do not choose to work with me and, indeed, are compelled to do so.

Methodology

Looking at the methodology, it is a mixed methods study. This means that there are both qualitative and quantitative aspects to the study. I tend to enjoy reading the methodology parts of papers. To me, it is what distinguishes research from opinion and most of the papers I read are pure qualitative studies, not by design, but because I am trying to learn more about qualitative research so approach this by reading more papers where these approaches have been taken.

This project started with a broad-ranging cluster analysis of 164 people who were on the community treatment orders used in Victoria, Australia. Cluster analysis is a specific quantitative methodological approach to using statistics to establish common ‘clusters’ of data, in this case, types of people who would be subject to community treatment orders. The specific methodology may be related to creating clustering algorithms and assigning different features so that the types or clusters emerge from the data. With some biographical and socioeconomic factors being allowed to emerge from the data, this allowed researchers to use the emerging key ‘clusters’ to identify a smaller group of people, reflecting some of the key ‘clusters’ identified, to be interviewed in more detail using semi-structured interviews. This was followed up with additional interviews of family or carers, case managers (presumably, although this is not explicit, who would be for the most part, social workers) and doctors involved.

There were then follow up interviews conducted after 6-12 months with people involved around the use of CTOs including those subject to them, professionals involved in working with them and family or carers. Additional interviews were undertaken with those involved in tribunal (or equivalent) hearings, senior managers and those involved in policy.

This is a brief summary so does not include all the complexities but it does reflect the thought process behind the choices of methodologies involved and reflects back how social work theories have led to each of these steps, including the involvement of people who are subject to these orders being at the heart of the process of researching about them.

Outcomes

The paper identified ‘significant clusters’ relating to being ‘connected’, ‘young males’, ‘chaotic’. The research team used these differing clusters to recruit for the interview stages of the research study.

The researchers, linking back to previous studies which had looked at the use of CTOs, identified five principles which could improve practice based on the interviews. While, they identified that these principles reflected some of the guidance currently in use in practice, the difference that the research was able to tap into was to highlight diversity within the groups of people subject to CTOs. I think these principles are valuable to reflect on and while this research is about a specific intervention in Victoria, Australia. It isn’t an enormous leap to see how they may reflect some potential to improve practice in areas where compulsion is used by and with social workers.

The following are identified on p78 of the paper:

  • Use and develop direct practice skills
  • Take a human rights perspective
  • Focus on goals and desired outcomes
  • Aim for quality of service delivery
  • Enhance and enable the role of key stakeholders

Theoretical perspective

The paper establishes it’s focus on the framework of critical theory, which allows a discussion about the role of power in social work and particularly in areas of social work where compulsion is used. This is also carried through to understanding the role of power within research. The authors have acknowledged this and reference their awareness of the principles of emancipatory research by ensuring that those who are subject to CTOs have been central to the research design. One of the principles the authors reflect, is that of empowerment and by giving people a voice through research carried out about them, it is enabling change to be made.

Additional reflections and gaps

I think of this research both in connection to my own studies and my own work. The first thing that jumped to my mind is that the need to have an international perspective when it is relevant but to be aware of the differences as well. This study is very much about one system of compulsion within mental health with adults. I don’t know the age range or diagnosis types of those who were interviewed and didn’t need to for the scope of the study. One thing that struck me, which may, very well reflect differently to a social worker based in London, is the analysis of race. This is not as a criticism of this study but one which might have different focus in different settings. Critical theory looks at the differing, sometimes competing and often co-existing ‘labels’ determined by studies and organisations to typify people who receive different types of input and I am particularly interested in where internal biases from professionals might impact outcomes.

Learning for practice

The key learning that I have taken from this study is an understanding of how we work within paternalistic frameworks of compulsion as social workers and I found some of the discussion around theoretical approaches and particularly the use of critical theory, to be most useful in both identifying this tension and acknowledging some of the hypocrisy between values which say they promote empowerment but work within frameworks which can be the most oppressive. The authors acknowledge this tension in trying to pull out ‘best practice’ guidance using the input of those subject to these interventions, while also acknowledging the purpose of the study was not to challenge the existence of CTOs and frameworks of compulsion, but that doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t, indeed, we should, continue to constantly challenge the way we work with compulsion in mental health care and look at other options.

Regarding the specific good practice identified, as listed above, some are about organisational needs, such as ensuring that social workers have specific training and space to reflect on the use of compulsion in practice, rather than just being expected to ‘pick it up on the job’. As social workers in the UK, if we are trained as AMHPs, there will be a focus on this as part of the training, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more learning as this training is not necessary to work with people who are compelled to work with social workers. And it is not enough in itself to give people training at key points and then leave them too it. This is the way one can become overly familiar with compulsion as a tool and desensitised to it. We need to guard against this which can be done through supervision and reflection.

An interesting aspect of the human rights perspective, was identified as well – which recommended ensuring people who are under compulsion are aware of their rights and why the limitations to liberty have been imposed. The study refers to procedural fairness and thoughtful decision-making being a key factor. This phrase is something we can always work harder on.

Involving other stakeholders, and in my role, I am thinking particularly of family members, friends, carers, is something that I can always do better. It is true that sometimes the conversations are not easy and there are issues of confidentiality around information sharing but support can be offered and must be in order to work best for people. There are other stakeholders in the form of commissioners, regulators etc but for my own work ‘on the ground’ the involvement of those people around the person I am working with is the key learning.

Finally, the importance of being able to deliver a quality service when people are compelled to have treatment is something that I might not be able to change individually, but it is key factor and it certainly reflected my concerns as an AMHP when I was practising as one (I am no longer warranted). If we compel someone to a hospital admission but the hospital care is poor, we can be complicit in harm rather than help. It is difficult to justify compelling someone to treatment when the treatment is of a poor quality. This is something we must always challenge and complacency can be easy.

Conclusion

I am no academic, but sometimes finding papers which can speak to me in practice can provide a real motivation to the value of research and the importance of being aware of what research is and has happened around the world that can lead to better outcomes tomorrow. What’s more, we can tell our managers that we can link our need for additional training (for example) to evidence.

I’m not pretending my analytical skills are on a par with any academic, they aren’t. But by trying to portray what I can take from this paper, I am hoping that it will encourage others to read more where the papers are accessible, at least, and learn about the profession and how it has and will continue to grow.

I’m absolutely sure as I’ve read through this paper, there are key points I’ve missed, misunderstandings and poor analysis. I am not setting myself up as a font of knowledge but rather, in my ramblings, hoping to take an opportunity for others to try to learn with me but the original research is always the best place to start, rather than any commentary I might be able to ramble through.

Reflecting on ethics and social work practice

We all think we act ethically. Whatever the context, we are able to justify our actions to ourselves. As part of my research, I am interested in understanding the different ways that we interpret values, as well as our personal values and where they come from, the professional values which are more explicitly expressed. I have done some reading about this but wanted to write about the thoughts I have had rather than referencing particular articles and books which have led to my thinking. This is not the ‘academic’ way to write but I think by expressing these thoughts and where I am at the moment, I can take my ideas through as more of a ‘work in progress’.

Personal ethics

What makes us who we are? We draw our values from our biographies – our upbringing. Thinking of this, as someone who was raised in a religious background, part of my ethical make up is very much based on my living and learning about Jewish culture, heritage and history. I took religious studies (because it was compulsory) in my school and it was exclusively learning about the Old Testament, Talmud, Mishnah and the other, more recent commentaries and debates. There is a Jewish tradition of ‘argument’ which I don’t think I understood fully, as being ‘different’ until I left home and studied philosophy, including philosophy of religion, at university. There is no one line that can’t be improved by arguing it out.

This was around how my ethics were formed and why I moved away from religion after school as well. I disliked hypocrisy and the religion that birthed me and raised me is couched, like many, I suppose but don’t know better, in contradictions that didn’t make sense to me.

How could religious people, who really believed and had faith, be (objectively in my child-like eyes) be ‘bad’ people. Surely, the purpose of religious codes of ethics is to teach people to be ‘good’ but then going to the religious services and hearing the same people gossip about who was wearing the nicest clothes/house and who was going through relationship difficulties etc, didn’t strike me as a ‘good’ thing.

While the religion no doubt, formed a basis of personal values, this was augmented by experiential knowledge. I saw that people who told webs of lies, got caught out. I knew that when I was mean or did things that did not link with my personal ethical code, I felt guilty which was not a feeling I enjoyed. There was a selfishness in my personal ethical values and there still is. I don’t want to feel bad about myself so I try not to do things that will make me feel bad. This isn’t altruism, it’s selfishness. I think it’s possible to extrapolate this to my working life as a social worker. I went into this line of work because I want to make the ragged edges of state intervention in the most personal and difficult moments of that person’s life to be as gentle and as clearly explained as possible. It won’t always be possible to soften the pain and it isn’t always my job to do so but it is my role to make the interaction with social work as straightforward and as clear as I can. When I do ‘good’ pieces of work, which make someone’s life easier or less harsh, I go home feeling better.

Saying that, I don’t know if my values are the ‘right’ ones. Indeed, to many people they would not be. I am sure I do make many mistakes of judgement that can have hideous or painful consequences and fundamentally at work, in a resource and time-limited world, I have to prioritise some work over other work. Which means prioritising some people over others. That is why my values are important to my work.

Professional ethics

When we learn to practise our trade, specifically with other people who will not, for the most part, choose to be in a room with us and will not have a choice of which social workers they are allocated – although there are areas of social work outside statutory settings, and those who may have more scope – there are few people who would decide, if all options were available, to engage with social work (fostering and adoption may be an exception).

I tend to see this as an additional responsibility as our role is very much linked, intrinsically to the power we wield with an ID badge around our necks. We can be representatives of The State or The Agency including those of us working in the third sector. Our professional forebears were the religious communities, the benevolent societies, the ‘saviours’ of those who had fallen on bad times or misfortunes. This is the root of social work and it is very much key to the way we need to interpret our roles today and how we are perceived. This power relationship with people who work with us is unavoidable. We cannot work ethically if we do not acknowledge our power. I have written about this previously but it is the core of what social work ethics are.

Looking at the definition of social work and the way that ethics interact with practice, we have this from the International Federation of Social Workers as a definition:

“Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work.  Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social workengages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing. The above definition may be amplified at national and/or regional levels.”

International Federation of Social Workers (accessed 26/12/19)

And this from the British Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics

Ethical awareness is fundamental to the professional practice of social workers. Their ability and commitment to act ethically is an essential aspect of the quality of the service offered to those who engage with social workers. Respect for human rights and a commitment to promoting social justice are at the core of social work practice throughout the world.

British Association of Social Workers (accessed 26/12/19)

Of course, I moved immediately from this to the ‘social justice’ phrase, I’ll come back to human rights later, but I think, I try to adhere to this. But if there’s something this last electoral cycle has taught me, it’s that my interpretation of ‘social justice’ is something that is specific to me. I think I am committed to social justice but don’t we all? This is part of my concern about the way that professional ethics are held up as being something specific to social work – my hope and, to be fair, my experience is, that many nurses, doctors, occupational therapists and psychologists I work with are committed to these values, as much, if not more than social workers.

What is it about this definition that specifically makes it about social work? Promoting social change and development? How do I do that in my role with individuals? Do I do this? Am I a social worker at all, or am I someone who undertakes social work tasks that actually can be trained. Am I paid for the tasks I complete or the learning and experience I have in order to make decisions about how to prioritise my tasks? When I undertake a social work task, am I making different decisions to another social worker? In that case, why is ‘my’ social work decision-making better or worse?

We need to be able to broaden and not restrict social workers to those who define social work ethics narrowly. I know I believe I work ethically. but anyone would say that if asked – and if they wouldn’t, they shouldn’t be anywhere near a person who needs social work interventions.

Lipsky’s Street-level bureaucracy first published in 1980, reflects on the importance of the power left in the hands of individual practitioners, like social workers and the impact the those ‘small’ decisions of prioritisation can have on practice and impact on individuals who have far less power in the world which is defined by actions and interactions with organisations that hold power. Any social worker who feels disempowered should pick up a copy of this book where much of it still holds true, despite talk of levelling hierarchies.

I don’t have an answer to what it means to practice ethically and the influence that professional ethics and our understanding and interpretation of these ethical standards, but I am interested in the way that these values and ethics, impact on our practice. Will a person get a different service to someone who interprets their professional responsibilities in a different way from me? How do our conscious and unconscious biases come into play?

I’m going to veer into politics briefly here and say that Corbyn doesn’t believe he’s ever been anti-racist in his life. Ask the majority of the British Jewish community and they might have a different opinion. Is this about understanding unconscious bias, perhaps? This is why we always need to question our own values and ethics and be constantly challenged on the biases we may not be aware we have.

Organisational ethics

This is a difficult one to see, sometimes from the outside, especially if you haven’t had experiences in different organisations. Most large organisations will be able not reel off lists of values that they claim to live by. I went for an interview at an NHS trust (I didn’t get the job) about a year ago and I was asked, in the interview, what the trust values were – I hadn’t remembered, so I invented some of the usual ones, like involvement, excellence, integrity – because they can be a bit ‘cut and paste’ but how do organisations evidence ethical practice, especially large organisations? From the view of the service user/patient, it will be the impact of the individual member of staff.

From the member of staff working within the organisation, it’ll be their immediate manager and possibly more senior management staff. But one part of an organisation can have very different values to another. One ward of a hospital can have a different ethical approach to another ward next door. It might be about interpretations of guidance and policies, it might be about individual interpretations of values in practice. This is why good governance processes are essential within a well-run organisation.

How does this inform and change our practice as social workers? It’s about the value placed on professional development, supervision, training needs and space to reflect and understand how to improve our practice. It’s about the value placed on the voices of people who use services and how well-embedded co-production is, beyond a tick box which needs to be completed to meet a need.

Good governance is something that perhaps isn’t something that comes into our focus as social workers in direct practice but it is the key to establish an organisational culture that works.

Final thoughts

I have no answers. The thing I learnt in my studies of philosophy is that sometimes the value of questions isn’t finding answers, as there may be no answers, but it is asking the right questions in order to aid enquiry. And this leads me back to the previous post about research questions. Currently, I think I’m where I want to be with some of my questions but when I go to work tomorrow with the aim of ensuring ethics guide my practice, I’ll not ever know if I am getting it right or not.

Social work is not a profession which has sufficient confidence to challenge itself regarding the fundamental ethics of some of the practices that have persisted, although some of it happens around the edges. While I hope this will inform some of my research work, I hope that I don’t ever end a day or a week, without thinking, how did I ensure that I thought about the actions and priorities I took and considered this within an ethical framework, whether utilitarian, Kantian or virtue ethics.

We have to understand the decisions we make, ethically, in the context of the decisions we don’t make but we have to know that our values can never be pure, perfect or altruistic. We wobble and we need to know, for the sake of those who rely on us, how to wobble less.

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