Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior
Social workers understand the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant policies, laws, and regulations that may affect practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand that ethics are informed by principles of human rights and apply them toward realizing social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in their practice. Social workers understand frameworks of ethical decision making and apply principles of critical thinking to those frameworks in practice, research, and policy arenas. Social workers recognize and manage personal values and the distinction between personal and professional values. Social workers understand how their evolving worldview, personal experiences, and affective reactions influence their professional judgment and behavior. Social workers take measures to care for themselves professionally and personally, understanding that self-care is paramount for competent and ethical social work practice. Social workers use rights-based, antiracist, and anti-oppressive lenses to understand and critique the profession’s history, mission, roles, and responsibilities and recognize historical and current contexts of oppression in shaping institutions and social work. Social workers understand the role of other professionals when engaged in interprofessional practice. Social workers recognize the importance of lifelong learning and are committed to continually updating their skills to ensure relevant and effective practice. Social workers understand digital technology and the ethical use of technology in social work practice.
Social Workers:
a. make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics within the profession as appropriate to the context;
b. demonstrate professional behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic
communication;
c. use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes; and
d. use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior.
This competency serves as a foundation for us as social workers to practice, that is both effective and ethical. It allows us to make a concerted effort to conduct our skills in the best way that maintains confidentiality and integrity towards our field. This competency engages me by giving me a policy to refer to in most, if not all situations in my professional practice. I will remain committed to practicing this competency by always erring on the side of caution when discussing anything in the professional space of confidentiality. I will also remain committed to being professional and ethical by referring to the NASW code of ethics as it pertains to the role I am serving. This competency challenges me to always seek progress and revisit agency policies periodically.
Evidences
Coursework:
Clifton Strengths Work Analysis
This was an assignment from Networking and Career Development in my Junior year that asked us to list my Clifton strengths for the different jobs and roles that I have had since entering university. I listed each of my Clifton strengths and detailed how I was able to use each strength in my work experience.
This assignment helped me develop knowledge of my Clifton strengths in general but I could further see that I was now aware of how I conduct myself in the workplace with my unique set of strengths. I learned that I very much enjoy leadership but I have a high importance of leading with input from others. I also place a high value in the workplace of anyone that I work with to be in harmony with each other.
I chose this assignment as evidence for this competency because this has and will continue to equip me in the workplace to be professional and ethical knowing how I work with the specific strengths that I have.
Field:
This was a presentation that I gave to Southern faculty about what our department at First Year Experience (FYE) was currently doing at the midpoint of the Fall Semester, ‘23. Having the largest freshman class on record, administration wanted us to present how we as a department were handling so many new students. I learned that our department had many more student-peer mentors this year in particular. This presentation helped me develop a way to engage with my constituents with the information that I had gathered from our agency. I contacted those in enrollment to gather statistics from queries that were run on our student tracking and contacting system.
I chose this because I prepared for this presentation by collecting data from various departments and was representing all of the Student Success Center. I developed skills in how to acquire sensitive information from various departments under a timeline. I practiced professionalism by being expected to present this information.
Further Evidence:
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a faculty trip where several departments on campus travel to schools within the Southern Union to visit students that are interested in attending Southern. I represented the school of social work on this specific trip to Atlanta Adventist Academy. In order to represent the school of social work, I briefed myself on what is most important to tell students about our program that may not know much about the department and/ or field alike. I developed my professionalism as I took what has been my wonderful experience in the social work department and presented it in a way that speaks for all experiences and not mine alone. My professionalism and ethics were on full display as I showed up on time and had all the materials for presenting the social work department to students.
I chose this for this competency because I met with students in a professional setting and I prepared myself to present information about our program.