Practice Social Justice (Research on Social Work Values and Ethics)

Author: Xie Shuguang, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: Social work is a helping profession with altruism as its. Values and ethics are known as the "lifeline" of this profession. "Values and Ethics" has always been a hot topic in Western social work theoretical research. This book focuses on discussing the theoretical origins of Western social work values, the system construction of social work values in China, and ethical issues in social work practice. The fields involved and the viewpoints proposed are all original, and it also translates and introduces some foreign works, partially filling the gaps in domestic research on this topic. As the first monograph in China on the issue of "Social Work Values and Ethics," this book can provide theoretical references for professional researchers, practical guidance for frontline workers, and serve as a textbook and scientific reference for social work professional courses on "Values and Ethics," with broad application value. In the process of practical work, the problems faced by social workers can be mainly categorized into two types: technical problems and value and ethics problems. Among them, technical problems are relatively objective, clear, and easy to grasp, while value and ethics problems involve subjective factors and are often ambiguous and difficult to handle. The ability to appropriately address value and ethics problems becomes the key to determining the success or failure of practical work. At the same time, social work is a profession guided by altruism and aimed at achieving social justice, and social workers are called "moral practitioners." This strong value relevance and ethical nature make value and ethics problems in practical work inherently prior to technical problems: the selection and application of technical means must be based on consideration of relevant value and ethics issues. Therefore, value and ethics problems are inevitable in the process of social work achieving professionalization, occupationalization, and localization. This book primarily discusses social work values and ethics issues around the professional mission of "practicing social justice." The book is divided into six parts.
Part 1: Tracing the ideological origins of social work professional values. Social work, originating in the Western industrial era, necessarily roots its values in Western social values. It is a continuation of traditional Western values, a microcosm of modern values, and an advancement of contemporary values. Among the theories and thoughts with value significance in Western modern times, the direct theoretical sources of social work professional values are Protestant ethics, humanism philosophy, social justice theory, and social welfare thought. Systematically reviewing and analyzing these theories from the perspective of their influence on social work values is the premise for a deep and correct understanding of social work values and the foundation of social work value research.
Part 2: Reflecting on the existing views of social work professional values. This section presents different versions of professional values and analyzes the existing professional values from aspects such as levels, categories, and core concepts. On the basis of clarifying the basic connotations of professional values, it focuses on discussing two aspects: On one hand, it argues that social work professional values are undergoing a modern transformation from individual perspectives to holistic perspectives, from rational perspectives to emotional perspectives, and from utilitarian perspectives to service perspectives. On the other hand, it analyzes the horizontal (external) and vertical (internal) contradictions of social work professional values.
Part 3: Prospecting the prospects for the localization of Chinese social work professional values. Localization is a major issue faced in the development of professional social work in China, and the localization of values is the key to achieving social work localization. This section focuses on outlining the overall approach to the localization of social work values in China from aspects such as basic principles, traditional cultural background, and social reality platforms. On the basis of summarizing and refining the values of traditional Chinese helping activities, it proposes the core concepts for constructing localized social work professional values: scientific concepts of benevolent family affection, reasonable concepts of social justice, and enduring concepts of serving the public.
Part 4: Reviewing the general issues of social work professional ethics. As a branch of professional ethics, social work ethics is guided by professional values and is based on the theoretical foundations of general ethics. This section analyzes the internal connections between social work ethics, values, general ethics, and professional ethics theory, and focuses on discussing the embodiment and impact of general ethical views such as utilitarian ethics, deontological ethics, compassionate ethics, and caring ethics in social work practice. At the same time, it provides a summary of the premises, functions, limiting factors of social work ethics, as well as the purpose, functions, and basic content of social work ethics codes.
Part 5: Warning about ethical issues in social work practice (Chapters 5 and 6). Ethical issues, arising from conflicts and contradictions in professional values, mainly manifest in social work practice as ethical dilemmas, ethical choices, and ethical crises. This section discusses the characteristics, causes, basic and specific ethical dilemmas in social work practice and their countermeasures, the connotations and characteristics, principles and basis, models and procedures of ethical choices, and the types, triggers, coping models, and high-risk areas of ethical crises.
Part 6: Analyzing the basic issues of social work values and ethics education. I believe that strengthening professional values and ethics education is the fundamental guarantee for maintaining professional characteristics, the prerequisite for effectively carrying out other professional education, a basic means of stabilizing professional teams, and an important approach to achieving quality education goals. However, the current state of values and ethics education in China's social work education is not optimistic. This section aims to raise academic attention to values and ethics education issues through discussions on the goals, models, dimensions, and approaches of professional values and ethics education, and to contribute to cultivating moral practitioners with a high sense of professional responsibility.