Competency Presentation 2

EP2.1.2: Apply social work ethical principles

to guide professional practice

 EP2.1.2: Apply social work ethical principles

to guide professional practice
Social workers have an obligation to conduct
themselves ethically and to engage in ethical
decision making. Social workers are
knowledgeable about the value base of the
profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law.

Practice Behavior 2.1

Recognize and manage
personal values in a way
that allows professional
values to guide practice.

Many of our clients are

elderly, disabled, and
living in poverty. Their
homes are sometimes run
down, unkempt, and even
infested with vermin. It is
important to understand
this as a social condition
and not a personal failure.

Practice Behavior 2.2

Make ethical decisions by
applying standards of
NASW/IFSW/IASSW Ethics
in Social Work, Statement
of Principles

SWs at agency are guided

by these principles.
Seeing them put ethical
principles into practice
with their caseload helps
me to see Ethics in
practical, rather than
theoretical, terms.

Practice Behavior 2.3

Tolerate ambiguity in
resolving ethical conflicts.

Some SA/IH clients have

mostly recovered from
the original medical
condition which made
them eligible, but SWs at
agency keep them on the
program to enhance their
quality of life. This is part
of putting clients first.

Practice Behavior 2.4

Apply strategies of ethical
reasoning to arrive at
principled decisions.

For example, SWs at

agency have arrived at
the reasonable conclusion
that sometimes accepting
small tokens of
appreciation from clients
is a way of respecting
their culture, even if a
technical violation of
agency policy.