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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Evolving Ethical Standards In The Digital Age, Frederic G. Reamer
Evolving Ethical Standards In The Digital Age, Frederic G. Reamer
Faculty Publications
Ethical standards in social work have matured significantly since the formal inauguration of the profession in the late 19th century. This article traces the global evolution of ethical standards in social work, focusing especially on current challenges in the digital age. The author discusses changes over time in social workers’ understanding of ethical issues and development of conceptual frameworks and protocols for managing them. Social workers’ increasing use of digital technology poses novel and unprecedented ethical challenges pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, professional boundaries, conflicts of interest, documentation, client abandonment, and professionalism, among others. The article outlines emerging ethical …
Clinical Social Work In A Digital Environment: Ethical And Risk-Management Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer
Clinical Social Work In A Digital Environment: Ethical And Risk-Management Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer
Faculty Publications
Clinical social workers’ use of digital and other technology to provide distance counseling services is proliferating. Increasing numbers of contemporary practitioners are using video counseling, email chat, social networking websites, text messaging, smartphone apps, avatar-based websites, self-guided web-based interventions, and other technology to provide clinical services to clients, some of whom they may never meet in person. The advent of this technology has produced a wide range of ethical challenges related to social workers’ application of traditional social work ethics concepts: client informed consent; client privacy and confidentiality; boundaries and dual relationships; conflicts of interest; practitioner competence; records and documentation; …
The Evolution Of Social Work Ethics: Bearing Witness, Frederic G. Reamer
The Evolution Of Social Work Ethics: Bearing Witness, Frederic G. Reamer
Faculty Publications
The evolution of ethical standards in social work, and conceptual frameworks for examining ethical issues, is among the most compelling developments in the history of the profession. Since the formal inauguration of social work in the late nineteenth century, the profession has moved from relatively simplistic and moralistic perspectives to conceptually rich analyses of ethical issues and ethical guidelines. This article examines the evolution of social work ethics from the profession’s earliest days and speculates about future challenges and directions.
Distance And Online Social Work Education: Novel Ethical Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer
Distance And Online Social Work Education: Novel Ethical Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer
Faculty Publications
Digital technology has transformed social work education. Today’s students can take individual courses and earn an entire degree without ever meeting their faculty members in person. Technological innovations such as videoconferencing, live online chat, asynchronous podcasts, and webinars enable social work educators to reach students whose personal circumstances and geographical locations make it difficult for them to attend school in person. This paper highlights complex ethical issues associated with the proliferation of digital and online social work education. Key ethical issues concern student access; course and degree program quality and integrity; academic honesty and gatekeeping; and privacy and surveillance.
Ethical Issues In Open Adoption, Frederic G. Reamer, Deborah H. Siegel
Ethical Issues In Open Adoption, Frederic G. Reamer, Deborah H. Siegel
Faculty Publications
Total secrecy and confidentiality no longer typify adoption in the United States. Today, most adoptions involve an exchange of information or some form of contact between the birth family and adoptive family - so-called open adoptions. This article provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues associated with various forms of open adoption, including issues of privacy, confidentiality, self-determination, paternalism, conflicts of interest, deception, and truthtelling.We present guidelines for social work practice in open adoptions, based on current ethical theory and ethical standards in social work.