‘Rogue’ Social Workers: The Problem with Rules for Ethical Behaviour

This article explores one aspect of increased managerialism, the impact of the expansion of rules in organizations. Discussing findings from a recent large-scale Canadian research project with social workers, this paper addresses some of the effects of the proliferation of rules, including their ethical implications, and considers the usefulness of different theoretical accounts of the rule-bending individual. The research indicated that although rules did serve as technologies to regulate and normalize practitioners’ behaviours, they were not monolithic in their consequences. Typologies which divided individuals in terms of their responses to rules were useful but insufficient explanations of the observed effects. The paper suggests that practitioners will use discretion to deal with the complexity of situations, the contradictory nature of the rules, and to resist being positioned as subjects in ways they found problematic, outcomes which support Lipsky’s classic premises. Other findings were that the increase of rules, through their complexity and contradiction, promoted ‘rogue’ or rule-bending behaviour. A further outcome was that practitioners who perceived part of their responsibility to be change agents towards societal transformation encountered particular difficulties, because the expansion of rules impacted negatively on the availability of their time and energy

The Mother Menagerie: Animal Metaphores in the Social Work Relationship with Young Single Mothers

In a qualitative study, social workers compared young single mothers to animals. I believe the metaphors illustrated some of the paradoxes and tensions in the helping relationship. The analogies served to deal with workers’ ambivalences about aspects of power inherent in their positioning as agents of disciplinary practices. Despite evidence of empathy, the animal metaphors also exposed worker disapproval and emotional distance. The clients were viewed as out-of-control, with poor judgment, difficult to engage, and unable to protect themselves or their children. By these comparisons, the differences between workers and clients were polarized, reinforcing an existing hierarchy of morality, normalcy, and worth

A case for an expanded framework for ethics in practice. Ethics and Behavior

Using a case vignette as an illustration, an expanded framework for examining ethical issues in human service practice is proposed. The article argues that the helping relationship is multiply constructed through discursive fields, rather than being a given, and that the lens of ethics must be widened to understand both the highly contradictory nature of practice, with its accompanying paradoxes, and the broader structures that constrain and influence practitioners. The article draws on the centrality of the concept of ethical trespass to recognize the inevitability of some level of harm in the application of human service work, despite intention or skill. At the same time, investigating workers' uses of resistance to the dominant discourses is suggested as a means to edge toward the reduction of trespass

Structural Social Work: A Moral Compass for Ethics in Practice

This paper, utilizing case illustrations, argues that structural theory is a necessary but insufficient analytic device for social workers concerned with social justice. Because it is a moral theory (concerned with unearthing underlying causes for social problems and suggesting what kind of society should be constructed), it offers direction about the values social workers should adopt. It corrects modern liberal humanist thinking by broadening the discussion of ethical concerns beyond the dyadic relationship to wide-ranging political issues. It provides a measure of certainty in the paradoxical area of ethics in practice, countering the relativism of post-structuralism

EXACERBATION OF INEQUITIES DURING COVID-19: ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS

COVID -19 has upended the known world and the profession of social work has been on the frontlines responding to the human suffering. A global research study was conducted to survey the ethical challenges faced by social workers during the pandemic. This paper explores one theme from the Canadian data, namely the ethical implications for social workers arising from the greater risks, hardships, and inequities for those most marginalized in our society. Two populations of service users will be utilized as examples of the ethical dimensions of the problem: the elderly and those who are Indigenous.La COVID-19 a bouleversé le monde tel que nous le connaissons et la profession du travail social s’est trouvée aux premières lignes en réponse à cette souffrance humaine. Une étude mondiale a été menée dans le but d’étudier les défis éthiques auxquels sont confrontés les travailleuses sociales et les travailleurs sociaux pendant la pandémie. Le présent article explore un thème issu des données canadiennes, soit les implications éthiques pour les travailleuses sociales et les travailleurs sociaux liées aux risques, difficultés et inégalités accrus pour les personnes les plus marginalisées de notre société. Deux groupes de personnes utilisatrices de services seront utilisés comme exemples des dimensions éthiques du problème : les personnes âgées et les Autochtones

The ideological dilemma of subordination of self versus self-care: Identity construction of the 'ethical social worker'

Abstract Discourse analysis, while under-utilized in social work, is useful for understanding the social construction of identity as negotiated in talk with others. The article has twin aims. First, the author argues that identity is a fragmented co-construction, changing moment-to-moment in context with others. This argument is supported by analyzing an extract from a research study on ethics in social work practice, in which a practitioner struggled with an ideological dilemma. How 'ideological dilemmas' differ from the more commonly used notion of 'ethical dilemmas' in social work is addressed. The second goal is to heighten awareness of the utility of both discourse analysis and 'ideological dilemmas' for use as theoretical tools for social work. The particular ideological dilemma the worker had to negotiate to be seen as an 'ethical practitioner' was that of the subordination of the self versus self-care

‘Rogue’ Social Workers: The Problem with Rules for Ethical Behaviour

This article explores one aspect of increased managerialism, the impact of the expansion of rules in organizations. Discussing findings from a recent large-scale Canadian research project with social workers, this paper addresses some of the effects of the proliferation of rules, including their ethical implications, and considers the usefulness of different theoretical accounts of the rule-bending individual. The research indicated that although rules did serve as technologies to regulate and normalize practitioners’ behaviours, they were not monolithic in their consequences. Typologies, which divided individuals in terms of their responses to rules, were useful but insufficient explanations of the observed effects. The paper suggests that practitioners will use discretion to deal with the complexity of situations, the contradictory nature of the rules, and to resist being positioned as subjects in ways they found problematic, outcomes that support Lipsky’s classic premises. Other findings were that the increase of rules, through their complexity and contradiction, promoted ‘rogue’ or rule-bending behaviour. A further outcome was that practitioners who perceived part of their responsibility to be change agents towards societal transformation encountered particular difficulties, because the expansion of rules impacted negatively on the availability of their time and energy

Practising Ethically in Unethical Times: Everyday Resistance in Social Work

This article considers the challenges faced by social workers struggling to act ethically in what we characterise as the ‘unethical climate’ of neoliberalism. We offer a brief account of the current context, including the increasing managerialism and marketisation of welfare services, exacerbated by cuts in welfare provision following the 2008 financial crisis. We discuss the concepts of ‘ethical resistance’ and ‘ethics work’. We illustrate this with three case examples drawn from accounts given by social workers in Canada and England in the context of two research studies. These accounts feature social workers struggling to be ethically good and to do what they consider to be the right actions in difficult circumstances. We interpret their accounts of their actions largely in terms of everyday ethical resistance to organisational pressures of regulation of practice and rationing of resources. We conclude that everyday ethical resistance is not enough to ‘make good’ the unethical climate, but is an important precursor to social and political resistance

Microaggressions Experienced by LGBTQ Academics in Canada: \u27Just Not Fitting In… It Does Take a Toll\u27

Given contemporary attention to diversity and inclusion on Canadian university campuses, and given human rights protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, it is tempting to believe that marginalization is a thing of the past for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) academics. Our qualitative study (n = 8), focusing on everyday experiences rather than overt discrimination, documents numerous microaggressions, the often-unintended interactions that convey messages of marginality. With colleagues, students and administrators, participants reported isolation, tokenism, invisibility, hyper-visibility, dismissal, exoticization, and lack of institutional support. Maintaining constant vigilance and caution was taxing. The everyday microaggressions that lead to isolation and a sense of dis-ease in pervasively cisgender-normative and heteronormative institutions are very difficult to challenge, as they are not the kinds of experiences anti-discrimination policies and procedures are designed to address