Social Work Values And Ethics

908 Words4 Pages
Running Head: FIELD PRACTICUM REFLECTION AND INTEGRATION Social Work Values and Ethics: Coursework and Practicum Influences FIELD PRACTICUM REFLECTION AND INTEGRATION Social Work Values and Ethics: Coursework and Practicum Influences An essential element of a social work students’ education is learning social work values and ethics. Students acquire a knowledge base about values from a professional, personal, cultural, and societal perspective so that they can identify areas of differences and similarities as they practice the profession of social work. Codes of ethics, which govern the application of values or beliefs, must be learned as well and applied to the practice of social work in the basic areas of professional conduct, human dignity and social justice. Achieving congruence between a student’s personal and professional values and ethical principles is an ongoing process. In the Values and Ethics class, I learned the social work values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and professional competence. These values allow for the empowerment of social work clients that are usually the most oppressed and vulnerable persons-in-environment. I further learned that we as professional social workers must put aside our own personal values and ethics and foremost elevate the diverse needs of the social work clients we serve. I must be self-aware and continuously engage in self-reflection throughout my social work career to maintain firm boundaries between personal and professional values and ethics systems. This self-reflection encompasses careful examination and utilization of the professional Social Work Code of Ethics to promote social justice, diversity and self-determination. Educational tools utilized to teach the Values and Ethics curriculum consisted of discussion boards,
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