Youth Work Ethics

567 Words3 Pages
Ethical Conduct In Youth Work The ethical conduct in youth work is ethical guidelines rather than a set of rules set by the national youth agency, which all youth workers must follow. It is widely argued that the code of conduct should be more detailed and rule-based in order to make it easier for youth workers to understand and have a set of structured rules that they can follow. However as all youth workers work in many different situations and environments this would be difficult for youth workers to follow. As Jackson (1994) cited in McCulloch and Tett (1999) points out, since practice always takes place in a specific environment, it is difficult to conceive of a common set of standards that would be espoused and interpreted in exactly the same way by the entire profession. Furthermore as stated in The National Youth Agency Statement of Principles (2000) the ethical code of conduct aims to primarily develop ethical awareness and to encourage reflections the basis for ethical conduct rather than to tell youth workers exactly how to act in particular cases. Furthermore, the ethical code of conduct in youth work also outlines the importance of ethics in youth work stating that usually ethical issues are about matters of human wellbeing or welfare. The ethical conduct in youth work outlines in section 5 a statement of principles that act as guidelines for youth workers to follow in there practice. Within the statement of principles it covers ethical principles with outline how youth workers should treat young people, for example how to behave around young people and how to respect their views and choices. However it could be argued that this may be difficult for youth workers to follow as each young person is different and has different needs. Moreover youth workers are also required to promote and ensure the welfare and safety of young people by ensuring
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