Ethics of Practicing Forensic Social Work

Abstract

Social work ethical codes help to define our profession as well as to provide guidelines for resolving challenging social work dilemmas. Forensic social work is a specialty area that is broadly defined as social work activities involving criminal or civil court proceedings, criminal offenders, victims of crime, or other systems of justice. Forensic social workers are most often involved with adversarial court proceedings and emotionally charged civil cases that require special attention to ethics. The National Organization of Forensic Social Workers (NOFSW) has maintained a Code of Ethics for its members since 1987. As the field continues to evolve a discussion of current ethical dilemmas and a revision of the code of ethics are needed. This article reviews the major ethical challenges faced by forensic social workers, discusses key considerations for practice, and presents a revised edition of the NOFSW Code of Ethics.

Are psychopathy assessments ethical? A view from forensic mental health.

“…Thus, while we should recognize that the different disciplines in forensic mental health practices endorse different ethical frameworks, it remains clear that these disciplines both adhere to the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence: to give primacy to patient well-being and the correlative injunction against causing undue harm (similar commitments are also found in the ethical frameworks in forensic social work and nursing, see Butters & Vaughan-Eden, 2011; Hammer et al, 2013; International Association of Forensic Nurses, 2008).…”

Evaluating asylum claims based on female genital mutilation/cutting for immigration court—Opportunities and challenges for licensed mental health professionals.

“…Psychologists providing services in IC should become familiar with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (American Psychological Association [APA], 2013); the APA’s Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2003); and APA’s Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations (APA, 2008). Finally, in the field of Social Work, the National Organization of Forensic Social Workers has maintained a Code of Ethics for its members since 1987 (Butters & Vaughan-Eden, 2011).…”

Weaponizing Clinical Mental Health in Family Justice Courts: Ethical and Legal Minefields

“…The practice of forensics by mental health professionals generally refers to any subdiscipline (e.g., clinical, developmental, social, cognitive) applying scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge to assist in addressing legal matters relevant to clients and judicial systems (American Psychological Association [APA], 2013; Butters & Vaughan-Eden, 2011;Maschi & Leibowitz, 2017;National Organization of Forensic Social Workers, 2021). The range and scope of forensic duties and ethics include intentional and preemptive techniques for managing biases and alignments, applying specialized knowledge and relevant research, painstaking evaluation of facts, transparent hypotheses that are accepted or rejected explicitly, and clear criteria for informed consent, confidentiality, and record management (Maschi et al, 2019;Roesch, 2015;Zapf & Dror, 2017;Zimmerman et al, 2009).…”