No abstract

Under contract with the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), Pearson VUE reportedly performs much of the work of developing and administering the social work licensing exams required by most states. ASWB charges substantial fees for such exams and, after paying Pearson, has been able to bank considerable sums. One of the key contributions to the arrangement of ASWB is its supply of draft exam questions -which, after statistical pretesting by Pearson, may ultimately appear on licensing exams. Prior research indicates that students may find it relatively easy to guess the answers to such questions. Independent researchers have been unable to verify whether such questions accurately distinguish qualified from unqualified practitioners. In addition, ASWB refuses to disclose the rates at which various schools' graduates pass licensing exams. Generally, ASWB engages in an unusual degree of information suppression. Such suppression appears inconsistent with ethical obligations but consistent with revenue maximization.

No abstract

The first three, brief sections of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (1999) display striking inconsistency of content and uncertainty of purpose. The decision to incorporate those sections into a single code document along with the lengthy fourth section (Ethical Standards) appears to have contributed to their imperfection. The mission statement and the ethical principles, in particular, may develop better if they are divided into separate documents, each with its own distinct purpose. Such a development might help reduce the extent to which social workers must rely upon individualistic rather than shared wisdom in responding to common ethical issues.

The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers loosely follows the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but provides less protection for professionals. Social workers may benefit by adopting the Model Rules, with contrasting commentary where legal and social work practices diverge. That contrast would highlight social work's ethical advantages and demonstrate the need for nonlegal ethical principles (in economics, for example) that are underrepresented in the NASW Code of Ethics. Development of companion ethical statements (of social work economic ethics, for example) would give social workers improved ethical guidance. Such companion statements, possibly developed through empowered participation by the spectrum of social workers, may ultimately yield an empirically informed statement of definition and mission for the profession.