Everyday ethics in social work practice

This paper will serve as an introduction to the symposium: 'The practice of ethics in social work - new insights from research'. It will draw on the concepts of 'empirical ethics' and 'experimental ethics' as developed in... [ view full abstract ]

This paper will serve as an introduction to the symposium: 'The practice of ethics in social work - new insights from research'. It will draw on the concepts of 'empirical ethics' and 'experimental ethics' as developed in moral philosophy, which shift focus away from abstract theorising based on ethical principles towards examining how ordinary people frame situations as ethically salient and make contextualised ethical decisions. It will also draw on the concept of 'everyday ethics', as a way of viewing ethics in professional life as deeply embedded and embodied in the minutiae of daily practice (as opposed to focusing on dilemmas and difficult decisions or on regulation through codified ethical standards).

Based on interviews with UK social workers and written case examples from social workers around the world, this presentation will introduce the concept of 'ethics work' and consider its relationship to ethical theory. ‘Ethics work’ refers to the effort social workers put into seeing ethically salient aspects of situations, developing themselves as good practitioners, working out the right course of action and justifying who they are and what they have done. It involves the work of framing situations, taking on roles, developing and performing identities, working on emotions and reasoning.