Obstacles in Formulating a Code of Ethics for Social Workers in Jordanian Institutions

Abstract

The major purpose of the study was to examine the obstacles in formulating a code of ethics for social workers in Jordanian institutions and to identify the personal characteristics and professional behaviours of social workers in Jordan.Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to achieve the objectives of this study. A survey with open and closed questions was distributed randomly to 95 social workers The study found that a substantial numbers of social workers in Jordan (78.6%) from the sample did not belong to any social work associations. The majority of male and female social workers (29.5%) have a BSW degree. The research also revealed the obstacles in formulating a code of ethics for social workers in Jordan; those obstacles are the clients, social work institutions, the experience of social workers, weaknesses in the research, and the cultural obstacles in local communities in Jordanian society.A recommendation arising from the study is that all professional social workers in Jordan need to formulate a national social workers code of ethics as a guide for practice. The code of ethics would have general ethical principles that are based on the core values of social work to be used as a guide for professional behaviour.

An exploratory comparative study of perspectives on non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among social work students in the United States, Greece, Cyprus, and Jordan: Implications for social work practice and education

“…After all, educators are affected by the same community values as the rest of society. For example, in Jordan there is no clearly unified social work code of ethics and religion informs the curriculum (Gharaibeh, 2012), while in Greece and Cyprus social work is informed by sociopolitical factors such as war and dictatorship (Koukouli et al, 2008). Third, factors that may make social work students in Greece/ Cyprus less prepared is that family matters such as divorce, domestic violence, and child abuse are primarily managed within the family, and social work has a limited presence in mental health settings, both factors that undermine the development of NSSI knowledge.…”