Frederic G. Reamer

The Concept of Paternalism in Social Work

The phenomenon of paternalism-interfering with an individuals freedom for his or her own good-is prevalent in contemporary social work. Despite its visibility, however, the concept has received little attention in the professions literature. This article examines the philosophical origin and evolution of the concept of paternalism and discusses its relevance to the practice of social work. Particular attention is given to the problems of justifying paternalistic actions in social work and establishing criteria to determine when paternalism is warranted.

Distance and Online Social Work Education: Novel Ethical Challenges

Digital technology has transformed social work education. Todays students can take individual courses and earn an entire degree without ever meeting their faculty members in person. Technological innovations such as videoconferencing, live online chat, asynchronous podcasts, and webinars enable social work educators to reach students whose personal circumstances and geographical locations make it difficult for them to attend school in person. This paper highlights complex ethical issues associated with the proliferation of digital and online social work education. Key ethical issues concern student access; course and degree program quality and integrity; academic honesty and gatekeeping; and privacy and surveillance.

Conflicts of Professional Duty in Social Work

Social workers frequently encounter conflicts of duty in their work with individuals, families, communities and organizations, and in the design and implementation of social welfare policy. They need to carefully assess these divided loyalties before judging that some ethical obligations take precedence over others.

Ethical Issues in Open Adoption: Implications for Practice

Total secrecy and confidentiality no longer typify adoption in the United States. Today, most adoptions involve an exchange of information or some form of contact between the birth family and adoptive family–-so-called open adoptions. This article provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues associated with various forms of open adoption, including issues of privacy, confidentiality, self-determination, paternalism, conflicts of interest, deception, and truth-telling. We present guidelines for social work practice in open adoptions, based on current ethical theory and ethical standards in social work.

Nontraditional and Unorthodox Interventions in Social Work: Ethical and Legal Implications

Social work interventions with individuals, families, couples, and small groups have evolved over time. Traditional casework methods associated with social works pioneers during the early and midtwentieth century–-such as Mary Richmond, Florence Hollis, Harriett Bartlett, Grace Coyle, and Helen Perlman–-have been transformed. Todays social workers are more likely to discuss and debate the use of such approaches as dialectical behavior therapy, narrative therapy, hypnosis, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, art and dance therapy, radical cognitive therapy, and Internet-based therapy, among others. Clinicians now have access to a staggering array of clinical options that would be unimaginable to social works earliest practitioners and scholars.

A Response to Pardeck: From the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Social Work Education

of legitimate points with respect to the membership of social work journal editorial boards, particularly concerning the extent to which their own journal articles are cited in the literature. In several places, however, Pardeck’s claims are too sweeping and unqualified for my taste. Let me be more specific. I am willing to trust Pardeck’s (1992) data analysis (i.e., I do not want to get entangled in debate about whether the data analysis used in this article is more or less appropriate than the parametric data analysis used in the author’s earlier publication of these data), and I am willing to conclude, as Pardeck does, that according to the frequency-ofcitations measure, members of social work journal editorial boards lag behind members of psychology journal editorial boards. Frankly, this does not surprise me. It also does not concern me a great deal. I say this because I am not sure Pardeck (1992) has made the most appropriate comparison or a particularly compelling argument. My sense is that in general, psychology educators and social work educators have rather different professional priorities and responsibilities. I do not say this to be critical of either group; rather, I think their respective missions and traditions differ somewhat (certainly there are many similarities), and I believe this

Fundamental Ethical Issues in Social Work: An Essay Review

Discussions of social work ethics have traditionally been concerned with identifying values considered central to the profession and establishing guidelines for relationships between social work practitioners and their clients, colleagues, and employers. This article considers the implications of Gewirths Reason and Morality as it applies to the justification of social work values and the professions ethical guidelines. Questions are raised concerning how ethical guidelines are established and the application of particular ethical principles in social work practice.

Letters) Discussing the NASW Code of Ethics

A professional code of ethics should be a living, dynamic document—a tool for practitioners, who represent the breadth of a professions roles, to use for guidance in professional decision making. Authors Freud and Krug critique and comment on the NASW Code of Ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 1996) in two articles (Families in Society, 2002, pp. 474-482, 483-492). Their perspective is that of clinical social workers and NASW Massachusetts Chapter representatives who provide consultation to Chapter members regarding their ethical dilemmas and questions.

Social Services in a Conservative Era

As the Reagan administration shifts responsibility for services to state, local, and private arenas, new problems appear for social workers. The goals of the changes are examined as well as difficulties that may emerge in terms of increased expenses and diminished services.

Moral Philosophy Meets Social Work: Commentary on Alan Gewirth’s “Confidentiality in Child‐Welfare Practice”

In recent years, social workers have become increasingly aware of ethical dilemmas in practice. Beginning especially in the mid-to-late 1970s, social work’s literature has included a steady stream of reflections on difficult moral choices involving conflicts among professional duties and obligations (Loewnberg and Dolgoff 1996; Congress 1998; Reamer 1998, 1999). To what extent do clients have the right to engage in self-harming behavior without interference? How should social workers allocate scarce or limited resources such as emergency services, shelter beds, funds, and even their own time? Is it ethically permissible for social workers to violate laws and regulations they believe to be unjust? Ethical choices involving confidentiality—in particular, conflicts between clients’ prima facie right to confidentiality and social workers’ duty to protect others, and sometimes clients themselves, from harm—exemplify the hard moral decisions that social workers now recognize as an inevitable component of practice. Social workers in a wide variety of practice settings are all too familiar with these exceedingly challenging judgments (Dickson 1998). Under what circumstances are social workers obligated to override a client’s wishes and share confidential information with an individual the client has threatened to harm? How should a social worker respond to a court order to disclose privileged information that the client does not want shared in open court? Does a minor have a right to expect a social worker to withhold