Social Work Practice and Technology: Ethical Issues and Policy Responses

ABSTRACT

With the growing use of technology in social work practice, social workers and their agencies need to update and enhance their policies to promote the highest standards of practice and to manage risks associated with the use of technology. This article provides guidance on developing policies in relation to the potential benefits of technology, confidentiality, informed consent, social worker–client boundaries, client safety, respect, and cross-jurisdictional practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethics
• social work
• technology

Notes

For the purposes of this article, the term “agencies” is used to describe any social work practice setting, including social service agencies, hospitals, schools, institutions, community-based programs, private practices, for-profit agencies, and not-for-profit agencies.

For instance, Sloan, Reese, and McClellan (2012) found that adolescents may be more likely to drop out of some web-based programs than in-person services. Lawlor-Savage and Prentice (2014) found that computer-based cognitive behavioral therapy may be less effective with people who have severe cognitive impairments or who have lower levels of motivation due to depression. They also suggest that the relative effectiveness of clinical interventions also depends on the competence of the mental health provider, including the ability to develop a therapeutic alliance with the client through technology-assisted methods.

Social media policies establish online norms or guidelines that are sometimes called “netiquette.”

In the United States, health and mental health care providers are supposed to conduct a risk review, including a review or technology and confidentiality concerns, every 1 to 3 years, depending on the circumstances of their practice environment (Office for Civil Rights, U.S., 2010). Social workers should consider the sensitivity of the information they are gathering, the types of technology they are using, and the specific security risks that may affect their context of practice.