Social Workers (NASW) Code Of Ethics

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics is a set of guidelines that social workers are expected to practice while working. There is a lot to know and follow when pursuing a career as a social worker. Most of the standards are typically self-explanatory. There are six ethical values and principles that are broadly used as a basis of “service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence.” (Workers, 2008, p.3). There are also six ethical standards that have numerous subheadings covering just about any aspect of the particular standard you can think of. The ethical standards involve “(1) the social workers’ ethical responsibilities to clients, (2) the social workers’ ethical responsibilities to colleagues, (3) the social workers’ ethical responsibilities in practice settings, (4) the social workers ethical responsibilities as professionals, (5) the social …show more content…
4) seemed to be the most comprehensible. It discusses the social workers dedication to ensuring that the client is receiving the help needed to function on his or her own. The code of ethics ensures that there are no conflicts of interest between the client and social worker. It notifies social workers that their client’s privacy is protected and confidential. Although I feel that this ethical standard is relatively straightforward, it does have some gray area that was a bit perplex. In the subheading of conflict of interest it states that a social worker is not able to partake in dual relationships with current or former clients, but in the sexual relationships subheading it only says that the worker should refrain from sexual relations with current clients. I found that to be very odd because a social worker would not be able to be friends with a former client, but they could have a sexual relationship with a former