Guidelines for Ethical Practice in Community Organization

Abstract

Community organizers often encounter ethical dilemmas in practice. Most organizers engage on a regular basis with community residents, constituency groups, local institutions, and government decision makers. Consequently, most practice activities occur outside traditional agency settings and are not directly addressed in the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Although community practice principles such as self-determination, informed consent, and protection of confidentiality are identified in the Code, situational factors make their application different than in direct practice. This article identifies the values inherent in community practice, describes ethical issues encountered by organizers, and examines tools available to organizers for resolving common ethical dilemmas.

Hierarchies of Ethical Principles for Ethical Decision Making in Social Work

“…(Hardina 2004, p. 600) While the Dolgoff et al (2009) hierarchy has been used frequently (e.g. Cournoyer 2000;Hardina 2004;Kirst-Ashman & Hull 1993;Linzer 1999;McAuliffe & Ferman 2002;Sheafor & Horejsi 2006), the degree to which social workers accept or agree with this model is unknown.…”

“…However, Dolgoff et al (2009) have presented a hierarchy of ethical principles that has been cited frequently and is often used in social work classes (e.g. Hardina 2004;McAuliffe & Ferman 2002). Loewenberg and Dolgoff (1988) originally based the hierarchy on their perception of what the common consensus among social workers might be.…”

Building the Unsettling Force: Social Workers and the Struggle for Human Rights

“…Moreover, the NASW Code of Ethics (2008) provides little support for social workers who engage in community organizing (Hardina, 2004).…”

Like minds: a case study of child protection workers' shared values

“…Because social work is an especially value-based profession, social workers have developed ethical codes of practice (Carr, 1999;Hardina, 2002). These codes of ethics usually consist of a list of value-driven ethical principles relevant to the practice social workers are expected to adhere too .…”

“…These codes of ethics usually consist of a list of value-driven ethical principles relevant to the practice social workers are expected to adhere too . In other words, ethics are seen as offering directives for action derived from the desired outcomes while values are statements of an ideal that we try to achieve (Hardina, 2002). However, some authors in social work literature have expressed a skeptical view of the general value of codes of ethics claiming that while the codes tend to imply that professionals are given their ethics, it is as least as true that professionals bring their own individual values with them (Banks, 1998;Dolgoff & Skolnik, 1992).…”