Ann P. Conrad

Teaching Social Work Ethics for Contemporary Practice: An Effectiveness Evaluation

Although courses in professional-ethics are taught at only a few schools of social work, there is interest in their inclusion in the curriculum across the continuum from the BSW to the doctoral level. This article presents an empirical study designed to compare the effectiveness of two models of teaching professional ethics at the masters level: the pervasive method–an integrated approach whereby ethical content is infused throughout the curriculum–and a discrete course. The findings suggest that the pervasive model is not adequate for teaching systematic ethical analysis and decision making.

Ethical Considerations in the Psychosocial Process

The author presents and discusses the findings of a research study on ethical issues identified by clinical social workers at all phases of the social work process. Results indicate the need for ethical skills in the role-coping repertoire of practitioners and suggest content for training in ethical problem solving.

Developing an ethics review process in a social service agency

Ethics review committees have become important mechanisms for ethical decision making in the field of health care and have begun to emerge in social work settings. This article reviews the health care experience and considers its implications for the development of processes for ethics reflection and decision making in social service agencies. The design of explicit models for ethics review in social work should contribute to the integrity of the profession and its accountability to the community.

A Parish Neighborhood Model for Social Work Practice

Natural helping networks, such as the parish neighborhood community, are becoming important links in the service delivery system and provide a rich matrix for creative and innovative practice. The integrative model presented in this article is conceptually coherent for use with both ecological and life model approaches.

Ethical problem solving skills in social work practice

This paper discusses the findings of research on the way issues were dealt with in clinical social work practice. Significantly, practitioners made limited use of ethical skills in identifying and resolving ethical conflict and most often dealt with these conflicts through the use of lay or technical practice skills. These findings point to the need for the inclusion of ethical tools in the role coping repertoire of the practitioner and the importance of preparation for ethical problem‐solving in professional education for social work as well as in the continuing education of the experienced social worker. They also have implications for agencies in planning staff development programs in this area.

Catholic families and their parishes

For the first time, we now have some information about the relationship between American Catholic families and their parishes from a number of empirical studies, conducted during the 1980s. These studies vary in scope, ranging from a national study of Catholic parish life to a small study of the relationship between families and their parishes in three suburban neighborhoods. As such, not all the data reported below is generalizable. But together, they draw an emerging picture to help us construct a model of three activities comprising the parish family ministry. After summarizing the information from the studies conducted in the 1980s, this article presents the three activities of the parish family ministry model: listening to families; initiating needed new programs for vulnerable families; and beginning a regular and systematic assessment of parish ministries from a family perspective, utilizing the process of family impact studies. The article concludes by describing the process of conducting such stu...