Should Social Workers Retain Strict Ethical Boundaries

In the social work profession, we advocate to empower human well-being by using core values for people of individuals, groups, and families of different needs in social services. Social workers should maintain strict ethic guidelines in servicing clients without crossing ethical boundaries. For instance, is it ethical to pray with a client? To answer the question, it all depends on various reasons to pray with a client. The sympathetic side would agree to pray with clients, but due to the social work code of ethics, we must weigh the pros and cons of the given situation. If presented with the situation, the social worker should pray with the client requested. One should not mention specific, but keep it general that way he or she has offended the client(s) by denying them or introducing a part of my …show more content…
However, praying with he or she may cause a conflict of interest. “Social workers should not take unfair advantage of any professional relationship or exploit others to further their personal, religious, political, or business interests” (NASW, 2008, 1.06b).
There are a lot of “gray areas” when working in social services and the public. The reason being, it all depends on the work settings and allow prayer. Although there is no definite statute for prayer, some federally funded agencies will disapprove because it may cause them to lose money and force to shut down. Another ethical reason is cultural competence and social diversity. “Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability” (NASW, 2008, 1.05c). Otherwise, the client may have a different religious belief that needs respect. According to Storm- Gottfried, “gaining an