https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9468-5108
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ABSTRACT
In this co-authored article, one contributor presents a case story from an interview with a social worker in Slovenia, while five others offer commentaries on ethical aspects of the case. The story comes from a practitioner working with a pregnant young woman, arranging for adoption following birth. The social worker respected the woman’s request to keep her identity secret, hence not registering her in the institutional records. However, whilst the social worker was on holiday, the baby was born and anonymity was not maintained. Commentaries 1 and 2 evaluate the story through its form: as a narrative with a tempo and plot; and as a performance that creates its narrator as an agent with an ethical identity. Commentary 3 uses a normative moral philosophical framework (virtue ethics), while the final two commentaries take a more grounded approach. Commentary 4 views the social worker as using discretion to act in a space void of rules (there is no provision for anonymous birth), whereas Commentary 5 foregrounds the Slovenian code of ethics as a source of ethical standards unremarked upon by the social worker. The article ends with reflections on the value of exploring multiple perspectives and engaging in dialogue in developing ethical understandings and actions.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the social worker whose case is the focus of this discussion and to the Slovenian Research Agency, which funded Author 1, under Grant Z5-7192.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes on contributors
Ana M. Sobočan is Assistant Professor and researcher at the University of Ljubljana, primarily interested in ethical dilemmas in social work practice, decision-making in social work, social work professional identity and research issues, as well as gender issues and diversity/equality issues. She chairs the national committee for ethics in social work and social welfare research.
Sarah Banks is Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Co-Director of the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University, UK. She teaches and researches in the fields of professional ethics, community development and participatory action research.
Teresa Bertotti is Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Trento. She has a professional background in child and family work. Her research interests currently include ethical dilemmas and professional identity, decision-making, child protection policies and social work education. She is currently President of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW).
Kim Strom is the Smith. P. Theimann Jr., Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Professional Practice at UNC and director of policy and ethics for the university. Her research focuses on interpretations of ethical standards for unique practice roles and circumstances, as well as studying the factors that inhibit ethical action. She recently served on the committee to revise the NASW Code of Ethics.
Ed de Jonge (PhD) is associate professor Professionalisation of Social Work at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. His work focuses on practice-based research and educational innovation. His main interests are (the intersections of) professionalism, ethics, and complexity.
Merlinda Weinberg is Professor in the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Research interests include ethics in social work practice, and the impacts of neoliberalism and diversity on professional ethics. She was short-listed in 2008 as the top new researcher in Canada and she was awarded a Senior Fellowship at Durham University in 2017.
Notes
1 Since the end of 2018, courts issue adoption orders.
2 Words that are underlined signify that the speaker emphasised a particular word, and those in bold indicate strong emphasis. A colon (:) indicates a short pause in the speech.