Ethical Responsibilities of Human Services as a Profession

Reflect & Respond

This module has dealt mostly with ethical frameworks as they apply to each human service professional, yet social work (and by implication, human services) as a profession may have a responsibility to society as a whole as well. Some possible social responsibilities of the profession may be:

to guarantee high quality services through education, certification, and licensure
to meet legal requirements (the legal stance)
to assure justice for all people, especially those who are unable to speak for themselves
to empower the powerless through teaching them to use the scientific methods of the modern world. (the radical social work stance)
to respect diversity by developing inclusive ethical standards based on consensus with client groups (the postmodern stance)
to serve individual clients using the latest helping techniques without concern for the broader society (the technical approach)
to maintain or manage pain and suffering in the most cost effective manner possible (the neoliberal stance)
to please the consumer (the business stance)
to please the funding and regulatory agencies (the bureaucratic stance)

Imagine that you are on the Board of Directors of a professional organization charged with developing a statement regarding the social responsibilities of the profession. Take one of these positions (or another that you have uncovered in your reading) and argue for making it the central focus of the profession’s social responsibility. Be sure to cite arguments from your readings and research outside of the course. Convince us all of the “rightness” of your position.

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Social responsibility to please the consumer (client)

The organization’s social responsibility statement should be social responsibility to please the consumer (client). This is based on the famous phrase, Customer is the king. Some leaders view corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an added work pressure……………..

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