Rujla Osmo

Professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles

We explore social workers’ perception of the importance and rank ordering of ethical principles. Do they have a generally agreed upon hierarchy of ethical principles? Do they apply similar hierarchies of ethical principles when facing different cases? Are their professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles similar? The findings based on a structured questionnaire indicated that while social workers attach high importance to most ethical principles closely associated with social work, they do not hold a universal hierarchy of ethical principles. Social workers change their ethical hierarchies in different professional situations but there is no difference between their professional and personal ethical hierarchies. Implications for practice and education are discussed.

A conceptual tool: Making social workers' assumptions explicit

This paper emphasizes the importance for social work practitioners of making their assumptions about human nature explicit and of taking responsibility for the clinical consequences of using these assumptions. More specifically, it proposes a conceptual tool to help practitioners examine both the assumptions that guide their deliberations and the practical implications of these assumptions. This conceptual tool is based on nine fundamental assumptions about the human condition pertaining to matters such as freedom-determination, subjectivity-objectivity, proactivity-reactivity, and so forth. Each assumption is presented on a continuum along which practitioners can locate themselves. By deliberately placing themselves on each of the nine continua, the practitioners are encouraged to articulate their clinical concepts. This articulation enables them to maintain a critical dialogue with themselves about the ideas they use to understand and help their clients and makes the underlying concepts, and the decisions that stem from them, more amenable to the practitioners conscious evaluation and control. The framework can also be used to compare the assumptions of practitioners to different theoretical approaches and can thereby help practitioners to better understand their own theoretical predilections. Finally, I propose that this framework be employed as an educational aid for the professional development of students and practitioners in social work education.

Uses of support in an evolving war event

Examines the relationship between sources and functions of support in the context of an evolving stressful event – the Gulf War. Data were obtained through questionnaires filled out by 261 parents sampled throughout comprehensive schools located in two different areas of Israel (damaged and undamaged by missile attacks). Respondents assessed the extent of support received from a list of sources, designated three preferred sources, and rated the amount of informational, instrumental and/or emotional support provided by these referred sources, at three different periods of the event: waiting, impact and recovery. Findings indicate that different sources of support, fulfilling different functions, were utilized over the course of the event, and that changes in sources and functions were related to the changing circumstances of the war. Gives empirical validation to the concept of matching the evolution of a stressful event to specific uses of social support. Considers implications for social work practice.