Accounting for Ethical Difficulties in Social Welfare Work: Issues, Problems and Dilemmas

Banks, S.; Williams, R.

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary exploration of social welfare practitioners’ accounts of ‘ethically difficult situations’. It describes variations in the ethical vocabulary and form of these accounts. Analysis of practitioners’ own accounts (as opposed to ‘textbook’ cases) draws attention to the ways they construct events, actions and qualities of character as ethically significant and highlights the qualitative distinctiveness of ethical dilemmas, where seemingly irresolvable choices leave a residue of moral loss, regret or guilt.

Citation

Banks, S., & Williams, R. (2005). Accounting for Ethical Difficulties in Social Welfare Work: Issues, Problems and Dilemmas. The British Journal of Social Work, 35(7), 1005-1022. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch199

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2005
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2008
• Journal: British Journal of Social Work
• Print ISSN: 0045-3102
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-263X
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 1005-1022
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch199
• Keywords: Ethics, Social welfare work, Accounts, Dilemmas.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1600664