LESSON 12

Principle and Values of Social Work

Vocabulary List:
• Principles- a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation
for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
• Social Justice is "neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor
anarchy," but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and
economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively
secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the
promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government
of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the competent
elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and
social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community,
constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or
extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the
existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi
est suprema lex. Social justice, therefore, must be founded on the
recognition of the necessity of interdependence among divers and diverse
units of a society and of the protection that should be equally and evenly
extended to all groups as a combined force in our social and economic life,
consistent with the fundamental and paramount objective of the state of
promoting the health, comfort, and quiet of all persons, and of bringing
about "the greatest good to the greatest number.
Unanimity- the quality or state of being unanimous.

CORE VALUES OF SOCIAL WORK

Definition of Values
Values are fundamental norms and preferred behavior patterns, shared by members of a
society or a subgroup which aim at integrating and channeling the organized activities of
the members. A value specifies whether to follow or not to follow a particular behavior.
These values are outlined below:
1. Right to Self-Fulfillment- Each person has the right to self-fulfillment which is
derived from his/her inherent capacity and thrust toward the goal;
2. Responsibility to Common Good- Each person has the responsibility as a
member of the society to seek ways of fulfillment that contribute to common good;
3. Responsibility of the Society- The society has the responsibility to facilitate selffulfillment of
the individual and the right to enrichment through the contribution of
its individual members
4. Right to Satisfy Basic Needs- Each person requires for the harmonious
development of his powers socially provided and socially safeguarded
opportunities for satisfying his/her basic needs in the physical, psychological,
economic, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual realms.
5. Social Organizations required to facilitate individual’s effort at selfrealization – The
notion that individual and society has the responsibility to provide
appropriate social resources, it is the right of the individual to promote change in
social resources that do not serve his/her need-meeting efforts
6. Self-realization and contribution to society- To permit both self-realization and
contribution to society by the individual, social organization must make available
socially-provided devices for need-satisfaction as wide in range, variety, and
quality as the general welfare allows.

These values according to the Curriculum Study sponsored by the Council on

Social Work Education as cited by Mendoza (2002) comprise a minimum
commitment from the social worker and the following concepts are implied in these
values:
1. Concept of human potentials and capacities- This is premised on the belief
that a person is inherently endowed with potentials and capacities.
2. Concept of social responsibility- an individual has the obligation to
contribute to the common good and society.
3. Concept of equal opportunities- This is premised on the ideal of social
justice, two elements of which are fairness and equality.
4. Concept of social provision- This is based on the premise that there will
always be everywhere with unmet needs or problems which are beyond their
own capacity to solve.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) stated that the mission
of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These values include:
service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human
relationships, integrity, and competence (Morales and Sheafor, 1983). These core
values are reflected in the IFSW Code of Ethics’ Preamble:
“Social work originates from humanitarian ideals and democratic philosophy
and has universal application to meet human needs arising from personal-societal
interactions and to develop human potential. Professional social workers are
dedicated to service for the welfare and self-realization of human beings; to the
development of resources to meet individual, group, national and international
needs and aspirations; and to the achievement of social justice (IFSW as cited by
Morales and Sheafor, 1983)

Social Work values focus on three general areas: values about people, values
about social work in relation to society and values that inform professional
behavior (Dubois & Miley, 1999)

The First Value is the conviction in the Inherent Worth, Integrity and
Dignity of the Individual (Friedlander, 1977). When a person fails to perform of
follow what is expected of him to do in a prescribed manner, the person is
considered not worthy and not desirable person by the people in a society. The
person’s dignity is denied and viewed as person with no integrity and inhumanely
treated by the society. People are not interested about why the person has not been
constituting a good performance on his social responsibilities in a suitable and
acceptable way.
This value reminds the social worker that every client that comes (with a
problem) to him is not to be considered as a person having no value and no virtue
because he is in a disadvantageous situation. For a social worker the client is as
worthy as any other person and the client is in that situation because of many other
factors acting upon him. The conviction in the dignity, worth and the integrity of any
individual, enables the social worker to deal with any type of client with a positive
frame of mind (http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/17109/1/Unit-2.pdf).

The Second Value is Belief in Democratic Functioning. It relies on the

democratic process while dealing with the client system. This alludes that
promptness and firmness in deciding is through unanimity and nothing is forcibly
imposed on the client. The worker, the client and others, are all actively participating
in the process of decision making. Similarly, and at the same, the right of the client
in having a preference for the solution is given the highest attainable point.

The Third Value is the Firm Belief in Equal Opportunity for All, Limited
only by the Individual’s Capacities (Friedlander, 1977). This value conveys an
impression the need for social justice. Social work put forth a determined effort
against social injustices giving out to the disadvantaged and defenseless members
of society. Regardless of caste, religion, race, economic status and intelligence.
Each person must have equal access to the resources of our society.

The Fourth Value is Social Worker’s Social Responsibility towards

Himself, his family and his society (Friedlander, 1977). This value admonishes
the social worker not to neglect himself, his family and the society in which he is
living while in the performance of duty and obligation and professional duties. If he
unsuccessfully performs his obligation and commitment towards himself and his
family, then he himself or his family may fail to carry out their social functioning and
may become omission of performance and failures needing social work intervention.
The Fifth Value is to Transmit Knowledge and Skills to Others (Sheafor
& Morales, 1989). This value provides instruction to the social worker to give the
information that he has, that would enable the client to take care of himself, in case the client
faces connate challenges and problems in the future. This is to guarantee
that the client becomes independent on the social worker throughout his life. Withal,
it also proposes that sharing of information, talent and skills among co-professionals
goes a long way and is hard act to follow in nurturing the capability of the
professional practice.

The Sixth Value is Separating Personal Feelings from Professional

Relationships (Sheafor & Morales, 1989). This value reminds the social worker
that he should not allow personal feelings to intrude in a professional relationship,
as this may make him over concerned or develop a biased prejudiced view about
the client and his problem situation
(http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/17109/1/Unit-2.pdf). The social
worker may have endured the same experiences and been in a resembling social
circumstances in his personal life. Further, it is possible that the social worker might
relate these situations to the present client and may lose his objectivity needed for
social work intervention. As a result, he must be vigilant about any of his personal
feelings are affecting thereby evoking strong emotional response in his professional
relationship.

The Seventh Value assumes High Standards of Personal and

Professional Conduct (Sheafor & Morales, 1989). It accentuates that the conduct
of the social worker should be commendable and exemplary at both personal and
professional levels. As a professional, he should follow the Code of Ethics for Social
Work Practitioners. The achievement of any profession depends on the
virtuousness and character of the professionals actively engaged in a specified
career or way of life. In social work practice situations, clients come with a number
of fears, indecision, skepticism and distrust about everything around them. They
have to profess a number of confidential and emotional information and ardent
emotional information and hope a lot of trust from the social worker. Revealing the
confidential information callously or making fun of the client’s precarious situation
and plight or degradingly looking down upon client does great damage and harm.
Albeit his personal behavior outside practice hours should not only be satisfactory
to people but should also boost him respectability and worthy of respect. The social
worker is estimable member of society and he should not gratify in any conduct or
attitude which is considered wrong or rejected by society. Consequently, it is
significant that a social worker be a person of high integrity, morale and of high
ethical conduct.
Principles of Social Work
Social Work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all
people and it is cultivated by altruistic and democratic principles. Friedlander (1958) and
Biestek (1957) as cited by Mendoza (2002) indicated seven principles adhered by social
workers including the following:

1. Acceptance
- Respecting clients under different circumstances
- Understanding the meaning and causes of client’s behavior
Manifests warmth, interest and concern about the client and her/his situation
- Recognizing the individual or people’s strengths and potentials, weaknesses,
and limitations.
Sometimes, the personal experiences of the worker may come in the way of accepting the
client. For example, a worker who was abused by his alcoholic father during his/her
childhood may find it difficult to accept an alcoholic client who has come for help in
restoring his/her family relationships.in this case, the social worker should not be
influenced by his childhood experience of being abused by his alcoholic father whom he
hated and rejected or show hostility or indifference towards the client. Mutual acceptance
is the beginning of the process of establishing a strong professional relationship towards
working out a solution to the client’s social dysfunctioning

2. Client’s participation in problem-solving

- Client is expected to participate in the process.
- Gathers information in defining the nature of the problem
- Participates in planning ways in resolving such problems
- Identifying resources to solve
- Act through the help of different available resources
3. Self-Determination
- The idea behind this principle is that the clients-individuals, groups, or
communities) who are in need have the right to determine their needs and how
they should be met.
Every individual has the right to assess what is good for him and decide that
ways and means to realize it. It emphasizes that the social worker should not impose
decisions or solutions on the client simply because the client has come to him for help. No
doubt, the client has come to social worker because he could not solve the problem by
himself. The social worker should support and guide the client to develop insights into his
social situation in the correct perspective and encourage and involve him to take decisions
that are good and acceptable to him. In this way, the client is helped not only to realize his
potentialities but also to fell independent and like a person with worth and dignity.
(http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/17109/1/Unit-2.pdf)
4. Individualization
- Recognizing and understanding the client’s own unique characteristics and
using different principles and methods for each client.
- No two clients are exactly alike
- Social interventions differ for each client considering their unique qualities and
situations
The principle reminds the social worker that while dealing with the client it is to be kept in
mind that the worker is not dealing with an inanimate object or inferior being.
(http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/17109/1/Unit-2.pdf) Each individual
responds and reacts to the same stimuli in a different manner and gets into or get out of
different challenges, problem and trouble situations in different ways
5. Confidentiality
- Client should be accorded with appropriate projection, within the limits of the
law, with no any harm that might result from the information given to the social
worker
- The client should be assured that what he or she divulges will be kept in
confidence.
- Moreover, confidentiality entails privacy
6. Worker self-awareness
- Social worker is conscious about her/his role in making use of her/his
professional relationship with the client in a way that will enhance the client’s
development rather than his/her own.
- The social worker consciously examines her/his feelings, judgments, biases
and responses whether these are professionally motivated.
7. Client-worker relationship
- The purpose of client-worker relationship is to help the client in some area of
his/her social functioning in which, at the present he or she is experiencing
some difficulty, and where the worker is in the position to offer help