Abstract
This is an edited book comprising three main sections: Part I – Past and Present: Moral Practices with Children and Families; Part II – Ethical Tensions? Ambivalent Ethics and Adult Social Work; and Part III – Contesting Modernisation. This book critically examines a multiplicity of ethically complex practice situations for social workers in areas such as mental health, child care, the ‘Family’, vulnerable adults and social research. Specific topics such as the use of touch in social work and social care settings (Chapter 4), questioning whether cultural sensitivity is always a good thing (Chapter 3), and problematising carer and service user participation in social work education (Chapter 9), are also examined.
The comprehensive chapters focus on how ethical dilemmas arise in all areas of social work and offer practical examples of how to navigate and overcome such ethical difficulties. By practical, the reader should not assume that this is an ethics ‘by numbers’ text. The editors and authors are careful to accentuate the complex aspect of ethical dilemmas in social work, eschewing simplistic prescriptions, promoting (dis)comfort with uncertainty, and most chapters provide a series of searching questions to deliberate upon in the application of ethical theories in social work. The book is unflinching in being constructively critical – employing an ethical lens – of agencies, social policies, practice, research and the profession of social work (in particular Chapter 1). Readers seeking to (re)engage with a critical tradition within the profession and the core tenets, principles and themes of social work, social justice and relationship-based practice, will find much to like.
The introductory chapter lays out the core themes of the book and provides, drawing on Houston (2012), an overview of four key theories of ethics: utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, ethics of care. These theories underpin the analysis in subsequent chapters. For example, in Chapter 3, the authors highlight the difficulties and the strengths of both a universalist and relativist approach to ethical practice in their examination of cultural sensitivity. The authors argue for a universalist approach, considering that relativism may lead to oppression. Chapter 4, the most ‘practical’ of the chapters, highlights the dilemmas and ambiguities of using ‘touch’ in social work and social care. It provides a number of practical examples and offers advice on how touch could be used ethically as means of benefiting the client, while also recognising how touch could be overused and cause harm. Chapter 5 provides detailed practical examples of the application of ethical principles relating to utilitarian and deontological (Kantian) theories towards the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). In one of the most stimulating chapters in the book, the authors explore how different ethical theories can be used to support and refute elements of the Mental Health Act, and examine the complex ethical dilemmas associated with social work’s role in the field of mental health. Chapter 6 continues this theme with a critical reflection on the relationship between social workers and users of mental health services, and it also provides a highly engaging and thoughtful examination of the criticisms of psychiatry and the ‘medical model’ within social work.
The final part of the book examines ‘the many ethical problems generated through the on-going modernisation agenda and its numerous related yet often paradoxical initiatives such as privatisation and participation’ (p. 16). In the final chapter, Baines examines the vexed issue of practitioners who seek to retain their commitment to the values of the profession and a commitment to social justice, in managerialist environments within the voluntary sector. The chapter argues for ethical practice through the recognition of social work as a political endeavour whereby to maintain personal and social integrity, good social work practice must be based on the values of social justice.
The conclusion of the book is that complex situations in social work can be improved for the benefit of service users and practitioners by focusing on ethical practice and theory. Furthermore, it is argued that an engagement with ethical theory focuses the gaze back on the role of social work in society and its role in the moral regulation of citizens. This is a very well written and intellectually and professionally stimulating book that will be of benefit to practitioners, students, academics and policy makers. While the introductory chapter provides a concise and very readable overview of ethical theories, the book would have been strengthened by the inclusion of a more comprehensive examination of these theories. The book is comprised mostly of authors from universities and practice contexts in the United Kingdom, with a few contributors from Ireland, Canada and Australia. This should not be read as a criticism of the quality of the chapters, which were excellent; but a greater diversity of countries could have helped to illuminate complex ethical dilemmas through a more international flavour of social work practices. An interesting sub-theme throughout the book was a critical examination of the ethical implications and utility of codes of ethics for social work developed by regulatory and professional bodies. A dedicated chapter critically examining their use in practice could have drawn together and deepened the analysis of this important theme.
While this book may be of interest to other disciplines, it is principally a social work resource. If one measure of a good book is the amount of times we paused to recommend a chapter to a colleague or make notes about how a chapter could assist with teaching and practice, then this book will make a very good addition to your library.