The Search for Virtue

ABSTRACT

Sixty accredited MSW programs were surveyed to determine whether there were significant differences between those programs offering discrete ethics courses and those not doing so on a number of ethics education related variables. Results suggest virtually no significant differences on the variables examined, with the exception that programs offering discrete courses more often expose students to literature on the broad topic of moral philosophy. Also examined was the extent to which all of the programs surveyed were following the pedagogical recommendations of the ethics education literature reviewed. The results suggest that many MSW programs are not following these recommendations in a number of respects. The implications of these findings are discussed, and specific suggestions are offered for those faculty concerned with the ethics component of their course offerings.