A Moral Crisis for Social Work: Critical Practice & Codes of Ethics

Questioning the relevance of social work codes of ethics strikes at the heart of professionalism and professional control. Codes of ethics have been reified and upheld as one of the defining aspects of the social work profession (Banks 1995). In recent years however, there have been increasing critiques of codes and their purpose in social work education and practice. This paper presents research which I have undertaken with Carolyn Noble from the University of Western Sydney for more than five years. The project emerged as we questioned the role of social work ethics as an arbiter with students who were floundering during the fieldwork practicum. Since that time our work has taken new twists and turns as we sought to explore perceptions of social work practitioners, educators and students and to look for theoretical insights, particularly from postmodernism. In particular we have questioned the incorporation of universal content in codes of ethics for the social work profession. Our analysis is consistent with a developing critique of universalising approaches which has emerged following engagement with postmodern perspectives in social work (Howe 1994, Leonard 1994, 1997). The exploration has been part of a journey to see the formulation of a more relevant moral framework for the profession. This paper takes the work a step further by applying our reflections to the situation of Indigenous people in Australia, Aborigines and Torres Strait&nbsp