Direct, Facilitate, Enable—the Juxtaposition of the Duty of Care and the Duty of Disclosure in Social Work Field Education

Abstract

This article examines the significance of field education placements within contemporary social work field education, particularly considering the increasingly complex issues of the duty of care (to student, agency and field teacher) and the duty to disclose (to student, to field teacher) which schools of social work must negotiate. The dilemmas facing schools and field educators, and the steps taken to resolve them at the University of Melbourne (Australia), are considered to highlight the ongoing liability and accountability difficulties which continue to face social work education.

Keywords:

• Fieldwork
• Field Practice
• Duty of Care
• Legal Liability
• Disability
• Social Work Education

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented by the authors to the joint international conference of the Australian Association of Social Workers and the International Association of Social Workers, Global Social Work 2004: Reclaiming Civil Society, Adelaide, Australia, in October 2004. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr Lynda Campbell and Dr Louise Harms, School of Social Work, the University of Melbourne, and the assessors for SWE, in commenting upon the draft of this article.