Summary This article explores social workers’ perceptions of their colleagues’ professional mistakes, and the influences of those opinions. Vignettes in a factorial survey helped to determine whether certain variables related to the social worker or the situation influenced the perception of others’ professional errors and ethical violations. The changed variables included personal characteristics of the offending social worker such as perceived race, gender, and sexual orientation of the social worker, and characteristics of the situation, such as the length of time involved in unprofessional behavior. Findings Licensed social workers in six U.S. states ( n = 5596) read vignettes based on real cases brought before licensing boards ( n = 22,127) and assigned levels of seriousness and importance to discipline. The vignettes rated most highly involved perceived harm to a client or other vulnerable individual. Those on the lower end of seriousness and importance to discipline were those violations against the profession of social work. Analysis of changed variables indicated respondents’ ratings were influenced by several situational factors, but not by personal characteristics of the social worker involved in the vignette. Applications Our findings provide some insight into the decision-making factors important to social workers. The results may be helpful to licensing boards considering the contextual factors of unprofessional behavior and whether to discipline certain actions.

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The purpose of this study is to understand the unique challenges of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) service providers to actively include natural supports in treatment. The qualitative approach was guided by the participatory intervention model and tenets of critical realism. Interviews included focus groups of different stakeholders on ACT teams (e.g., case managers) and individual interviews with ACT clients. Through thematic analysis, we identified themes demonstrating how state funding requirements, demands on staff schedules, and psychosocial barriers make it challenging to include clients’ natural supports. We derived two implications which may enhance future possibilities for natural support inclusion: community-based psychoeducation family groups coupled with state funding streams that better support the ACT model.

By further analysis of a subset of data collected from licensed social workers from six selected states, this article explores the effect of respondents’ licensure state and board membership on their perceptions of professional misconduct vignettes. Using a simplified factorial survey design, 5,388 licensed social workers evaluated versions of vignettes involving social worker misconduct. Respondents rated the vignettes as serious and important to discipline and assigned sanctions to the vignette they viewed as most troubling. The licensure state was a factor in the seriousness and importance of discipline ratings, board membership less so. Results indicated that some factors involved in misconduct are more relevant than others. Respondents generally agreed on the most troubling vignettes and sanctions appropriate to the action. These results may serve as preliminary support for the formation of national licensure standards and processes.