Ethical Responsibilities and Importance of Social Workers in Social Work Profession

Ethics according to the Turkish Language Association (TDK) Glossary; “It is a set of behaviors that must be adhered or avoided among various professions.”
The ethics of social work is known as regulations that guide social workers in the process of solving ethical problems and making decisions. According to Duyan, ethics refers to the principles that help identify what is good and what is not and what should be done and what should not be done. Duyan states that social workers have ethical rules based on professional values and ethics and values ​​are closely related, but not the same.  (Duyan, 2014). In this context, debates about how social work should be realized for its general acceptance raise the concept of social service ethics.
Social workers involved in social work should take into account the ethical rules of social work, professional principles and standards in the ethical problems they face. The American National Association of Social Workers (NASW), which sees its professional ethics as the basis of social work, has established ethical standards that can be used as a guideline in social work practice for the solution of these problems by stating that there are various ethical problems in the professional practice of social workers in the past.
It is known that social workers perform their roles and responsibilities within the framework of ethical rules and professional values. As a professional profession, there are values ​​and ethical principles at the center of the decisions and activities of social work. Therefore, all decisions and activities within the scope of social services should be carried out within the framework of principles such as not violating the fundamental rights and freedoms of the clients and non-discrimination. In this context, ethical principles play a guiding role by giving light to the practitioners (Ersoy Yılmaz, 2015).
At this point, social workers performing social work profession have ethical responsibilities towards clients, their colleagues and other professional staff and society.
The ethical responsibilities of social workers were approved by the NASW Delegate Assembly in 1996 and revised in 2017. (NASW, 2017; Association of Social Workers).
According to NASW's code of ethics, social workers serve their professional attitudes, decisions and actions for human development based on the following basic principles (Social Work Symposium, 2014):
1. Every person has a particular value and this value requires him to be respected.
2. Every person has the right to develop himself and to contribute to the development of society, provided that he does not infringe someone else's rights.
3. Every society should function for the highest level of benefit of all its members, whatever the form of government; provide the necessary conditions and facilities for their members to improve themselves.
4. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the fundamental human rights of individuals and groups, expressed in other international instruments which derive its source from this Declaration, must be respected.
5. It provides the best possible service to all those who need help and advice from social workers (regardless of gender, age, disability, color, race, social class, language, religion, political opinion and sexual orientation).
6. Social workers fight social injustice in their professional attitudes, decisions and actions. Fort this reason: · Social worker strives to ensure social change, especially on behalf of, or on behalf of, vulnerable, oppressed individuals and groups.; · Social worker primarily focuses on social issues such as poverty, unemployment and discrimination; · The social worker aims to raise the level of awareness and sensitivity of social problems and works to ensure effective participation in the decision process.
7. Social workers have the responsibility of being objective, developing their professional knowledge and skills, and being competent in the areas where they practice.
8. Social workers follow the principles of using confidentiality, privacy / privacy protection and professional knowledge in a responsible manner. Social workers remain committed to the principle of confidentiality even when there is a conflict between principles and country legislation.
9. Social workers work in collaboration with their clients and support them for participation at the highest level. Social workers gives information to the applicants about the benefits and possible risks of their work.  In their work, social workers primarily care for the benefit of their clients and do not disregard third parties.
10. Social workers expect the applicants to cooperate with them and take responsibility in determining the actions that may affect their lives.
In cases where legal forcing may be necessary, the parties' statements should be carefully evaluated if the solution to the problem of a party results in the detriment of the other persons concerned. However, social workers are expected to minimize the use of legal force.
11. Social workers are not directly or indirectly indifferent to the focus of terrorism, torture, or similar people, group, political power or other power.
12. Social workers accept the Ethical Principles and Responsibilities of the Social Work  Profession prepared by the Association of Social Workers and decide on an ethical basis.
 
 
 
Kaynakça
Duyan, V. 2014. Social Work: Fundamentals, Approaches, Intervention Methods. İstanbul: Social Work Publications.
Ersoy Yılmaz, S. 2015. An Evaluation of Social Work Ethics. Süleyman Demirel University Vizyoner Magazine. s. 122-136.
NASW. 2017. Code of Ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English Date of access: 12.12.2018.
Association of Social Workers. https://www.shudernegi.org/?pnum=42 Date of access: 12.12.2018.
Social Work Symposium 2014. “Justice System and Forensic Social Work in Turkey”. https://shsempozyum2014.baskent.edu.tr/files/shuetiksorumlugu.pdf Date of Access: 12.12.2018.
TUFED. 2017. Ethics Guide for Social Workers https://www.shudernegi.org/FileUpload/ds644299/File/etik_kilavuz.pdf Date of Access: 12.12.2018.