This thesis explores the ethical development of social workers and the role of supervision in that development. It begins with an examination of the social work context for the study, including the early history of social work and the ways in which it was influenced by the major social and cultural movements of the late 20th century, concluding with a discussion of both the threats posed and the possibilities emerging for social work in the 21st century. It then considers the ethical context for the study. It investigates the ethical theories and traditions that have contributed to the development of social work ethics and the role of professional ethics (including codes of ethics). It then proposes that a pluralist approach to social work ethics is the most appropriate way forward. This is followed by an examination of ethical development and the importance of reflection. Various models of ethical decision-making are compared and an inclusive, reflective model is found to be the most appropriate for social work in terms of both particular dilemmas faced and the overall development of workers as ethical decision-makers. The focus of the thesis then moves to supervision, exploring its history, its central place in social work and some of the problems that can arise for both supervisors and the social workers they supervise. It is argued that the reflection required to develop as ethical decision-makers is most logically located within the relationship and processes of supervision and that supervisors have an important role in guiding that reflection and development. The next part of the thesis describes the qualitative and action research strategies employed and examines the results emerging from the data. Participants in the focus groups were social workers who supervise other social workers, and they each met for two sessions, six months apart. Between the two sessions, they were asked to trial in supervision a framework for reflection on practice. The data emerging from the groups reflected the theoretical development begun in the early chapters, including the importance of reflection and the role of supervision in assisting the ethical development of workers, particularly in terms of deconstructing dilemmas and being able to articulate the reasons for decisions made. The thesis concludes that no one ethical theory is sufficient to support the ethical decision-making required for the practice of social work. Rather, a pluralist approach that allows a dilemma to be considered from a number of theoretical perspectives is more appropriate. Alongside this, an inclusive, reflective model of ethical decision-making reflects that pluralist approach and supports the ethical development of the individual worker. Supervision is vital in guiding the reflection required to make justifiable ethical decisions and to develop as ethical decision-makers.

Dying is not only a highly personal topic, but we cannot forget that it is also a social theme, because people who are near death are always affected not only by other people but by society as well. Social workers and those in services that help the dying to live a meaningful, dignified, and painless existence in the interim must make a number of decisions, many of which being uneasy or uncomfortable, even in some cases where they have no clear solution. It is these problematic cases that these workers meet in their daily life. This thesis is therefore focused on the dilemmas faced by social workers that work with the dying. The theoretical part introduces problems of social work in the context of the dying. In order to understand a particular context, it must be something about the problems of dying to know why their work occasionally works as terms like dying, death and palliative care. As a crucial part of the work is the problem of dilemmas, where I come from Musil (2004) concept of everyday dilemmas. The theoretical part is devoted only dilemmas that research has not been proven. Other dilemmas are more specified in the empirical part. In the empirical part, I am setting one main goal, in which I try to find out what some of the dilemmas are that the staff working in social services with the dying people experience (such as in hospices, nursing homes, and retirement homes) and how to solve those dilemmas. To that end, I set two main research questions and six sub-research questions. To collect my data I chose the qualitative research method of questioning through semi-structured interviews. For the research sample, I chose the method of random selection. The research had to meet a set of predetermined criteria. For my data processing research, I chose the method of case studies. The research occurred in phases, where the first stage was partial, and then subsequently I conducted my own research. My goal in this work was to identify the problems experienced by people who provide social services to the dying, and how these are solved. The results have shown that they are indeed faced with many challenges. The research revealed nine such examples, while some individual workers had repeated instances. Further research showed that workers in most cases solve dilemmas as best as their knowledge and conscience permit. Accumulated experience is probably the most valuable asset in dealing with such situations, and the majority of respondents considered it important to discuss the issues faced by a multidisciplinary team. I believe that my work goals were met successfully and the research questions provided answers. My work could serve as a basis for a conference or for a technical article dealing with these issues in more detail.

Critical literature on social work ethics and practice in the current neoliberal context identifies the complex tensions generated for practitioners by the restructuring of increasingly residual public programs and by the market-modelled organizations in which they work. Pressed by employing organizations’ expectations to narrow and standardize their practice, social workers face collisions between their own values and the managerial and budget-driven requirements that dominate their organizational worlds. Building on the growing body of literature in this area, the research reported here examined how social workers articulate their own values and ethical commitments, understand the value collisions they experience, and work to navigate them in the interest of those they seek to serve. A small qualitative study was conducted to explore these questions. In semi-structured interviews, five social workers were invited to share their experiences of ethical tensions generated in their organizational settings. The members of the sample all held social work degrees; their ages and length of practice experience ranged considerably and they spoke from experiences in a wide array of service sectors and settings. Analysis of participants’ experiences illuminated the texture of their struggles and their efforts to covertly and overtly challenge or evade organizational requirements that were at odds with their values and their conceptualizations of good practice. Their accounts point to the importance of politicized understandings of social work ethics. They also suggest the importance for social work education and professional development programs to foster dialogue on the complexities of ethical action and support the development of the analytical and practical skills that enable practitioners to find the ‘cracks’ in dominant neoliberal structures and create spaces for change. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Ability and willingness to act ethically is the basis of the quality of the service in helping professions. This thesis deals with the fact which ethical principles are considered to be the most important in work of health care professionals and social workers of the civic association Prevent. In the theoretical part it is dealt with professional ethics, specifics of ethics in health care and social work, about the ethical codes of health and social workers and ethical principles of these professions. Ethics is a philosophical science that seeks to identify and justify the common and general bases which are connected with morality (culturally and historically conditioned by moral standards). The most common approach to the professional ethics is to determine generally formulated ethical principles. The formulation of the ethical principles of the profession can help to understand better the goals that have to be fulfilled. They are defined freely, so they can be acceptable to all. Their freedom is also their weak point - the acceptance of the principle does not give the instructions for a particular act, in addition to the generally accepted principles often come into dispute among them. The basic principles of medical ethics are considered the principles of non maleficience, beneficence, autonomy and justice. Banks defined similar principles for social work ? respect to the right to self-determination, support of well-being or welfare, distributive justice and equality, in the sense of non-discrimination. The practical part of the thesis presents the results of the research. Its goal was to find out which ethical principles are considered by health care professionals and social workers of the civic association Prevent the most important in their profession and how they apply these principles in practice, next to find similarities and differences in the responses of both professional groups and their clients. To achieve the goal the qualitative research was chosen. Interviews, semi-structured interview technique were used to gain the data. The sample was made up three health care professionals, three social workers and three clients civic association Prevent. The research results show that the area of ethics for health care profesiionals and social workers is a difficult topic. The interviewed professionals and clients do not realize the difference between ethics in the health and social work. All interviewees rather see the difference between professionals working with drug users, who are judged as professional and respondents are satisfied with their ethical behavior, and professionals outside the field of addiction, where they met with unethical approach ? prejudices, not respecting of the dignity, condemnation due to addiction. The social workers and health care professionals mention a number of principles which they consider relevant and important to their work. The matching answers to five basic bioethical principles and the principles of social work (non maleficience, beneficence, autonomy, justice, equality-nondiscrimination) has shown that the answers of the respondents of both professions at the same time meet the basic ethical principles of social work and bioethics. Nonmaleficience principle, which is not referred in the literature as the ethical principles of the social work, which two of the three paramedical workers and two of the tree social workers mention in their answers. The principle of the equality, is not mentioned among the basic bioethical principles, two of the three paramedical workers and two of the three social workers. Also the interviewed clients think that it is also very important and significant, the main client requirement in the area of ethics for both professions is the respect for the client, the access without prejudices. The interviewed health care professionals and social workers agree that the main way of solving ethical problems is the intervision in the team and a supervision.

The profession of a social worker has a significant role in the society context. The task of the social worker is to help people to solve their problems, cope with difficult everyday life situations, provide courage for active solutions and reinforce the responsibility for one's own life. This thesis presents the social worker's profession and it is divided into six main chapters. In theoretical segment social work is defined in the first chapter. The second chapter contains information on history of the social work and analyses the current state of it. The third chapter is devoted to the ethics of social work, ethical dilemmas, ethical code and professional values. The fourth chapter defines the social worker's profession, mentions the required personal qualities and competences as well as its roles. Furthermore, it describes the characteristics of the profession itself and professional identity, studies the prestige of the profession and education of social workers. The practical part starts with the fifth chapter and it maps the opinions of social workers about their profession. The research strategy, the selection of the respondents and course of the survey and the data evaluation methods are described there. The final chapter interprets the collected data and provides their graphical depictions.

This thesis deals with The International Code of Ethics of Social Work. The first part focuses on the origins, history, updates and criticism of ethical codes. It is followed by the analysis of various principles of the International Code of Ethics. This analysis was based on the scientific literature of social work and the articles published in the Czech Republic. Subsequently, for each principle the results of the research among social workers in the South Region were processed. They reveal how social workers perceive the different principles. The analysis is concluded with a brief insight into the ethical theories.

This dissertation deals with the ethical context of violence against seniors in the point of view of social workers. The theoretical part devotes with problems of old age and aging in contemporary society. The next section presents the violence, with an emphasis on institutional violence. The third charter reflects the theme of violence from the perspective of social work and ethics. The target of the practical parts was to map out knowledge and attitudes of workers in social services for violence against seniors, and to establish the circumstances that contribute to the potential threat of violence in the institutionalized elderly care. This part contains the basic results of empirical studies and case studies.

<p>Social work is a social phenomenon, existing in most societies, that has given rise to a multitude of special organizations and professions. For that reason social work is dealing with a complex identity. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how social workers and the scientific discourse interpret the concept of social work. In addition to that the study intends to show similarities and differencies. The research process containes two studies, one based on qualitative interviews with five social workers and the other consisting a surway of academic litterature. To enable a comparison of the results the studies start out of some, deliberatly choosen, themes. These are “definitions of social work”, “socialworkers”, “society, law and organization” and “ethics”.</p><p>In summary, the results, reviled a surprising unity in the interpretations of social work. Social workers, as well as the scientific discourse, manifest social work as a profession that promotes social change and problem solving in human relationships. The differencies concern social work beeing interpret normative by the social workers and more descriptive by the scientific discourse.</p>

Social work is a social phenomenon, existing in most societies, that has given rise to a multitude of special organizations and professions. For that reason social work is dealing with a complex identity. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how social workers and the scientific discourse interpret the concept of social work. In addition to that the study intends to show similarities and differencies. The research process containes two studies, one based on qualitative interviews with five social workers and the other consisting a surway of academic litterature. To enable a comparison of the results the studies start out of some, deliberatly choosen, themes. These are “definitions of social work”, “socialworkers”, “society, law and organization” and “ethics”. In summary, the results, reviled a surprising unity in the interpretations of social work. Social workers, as well as the scientific discourse, manifest social work as a profession that promotes social change and problem solving in human relationships. The differencies concern social work beeing interpret normative by the social workers and more descriptive by the scientific discourse.

Helping professionals help people to achieve optimal functionality and fulfillment in the physical, psychological, emotional and intellectual domains. Well-defined ethical standards for practitioners are crucial to such a vital endeavor. This study analyzes the official codes of ethics produced by the professional organizations of five of the helping professions: librarianship, psychology, social work, nursing, and education. In the ethics codes is sought interpretation of four moral principles—respect for autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence—and four professional responsibilities—fidelity, veracity, privacy, and confidentiality. These are grounded, respectively, in the “common morality” or the core norms exercised by all morally serious people, and the “professional morality,” or the core norms exercised by all moral professionals. How do the professions define, interpret, and express the principles and responsibilities? This interdisciplinary study clarifies and allows comparison of the expressed values of each profession. It is a critical examination of professional codes of ethics, and an argument for their explicit grounding in a larger morality. / text