Practising ethically during COVID-19: Social work challenges and responses

Sarah Banks; Tian Cai; Ed de Jonge; Jane Shears; Michelle Shum; Ana M. Sobočan; Kim Strom; Rory Truell; María Jesús Úriz; Merlinda Weinberg

doi:10.1177/0020872820949614

Practising ethically during COVID-19: Social work challenges and responses

Sarah Banks^*
, Tian Cai
, Ed de Jonge
, Jane Shears
, Michelle Shum
, Ana M. Sobočan
, Kim Strom
, Rory Truell
, María Jesús Úriz
, Merlinda Weinberg

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

268 Citations (Scopus)

257 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

This article draws on findings of an international study of social workers’ ethical challenges during COVID-19, based on 607 responses to a qualitative survey. Ethical challenges included the following: maintaining trust, privacy, dignity and service user autonomy in remote relationships; allocating limited resources; balancing rights and needs of different parties; deciding whether to break or bend policies in the interests of service users; and handling emotions and ensuring care of self and colleagues. The article considers regional contrasts, the ‘ethical logistics’ of complex decision-making, the impact of societal inequities, and lessons for social workers and professional practice around the globe. © The Author(s) 2020

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	569-583
Number of pages	15
Journal	International Social Work
Volume	63
Issue number	5
Online published	20 Aug 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820949614
Publication status	Published - Sept 2020
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: A small grant for research assistance was received from Durham University (UK) from the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, reference ES/T501888/1. Thanks to all the social workers, students and academics who took time away from their busy lives to share their insights and experiences; national and provincial associations of social workers for distributing the survey; members of the IFSW Ethics Commission and IFSW staff for their support; Didier Dubasque, Audrey Gonin, Brenda Harvey, Annalisa Pasini, Maria Sanfelia, Sirpa Saario and Viktor Virag for additional translation and interviews; Mariko Kimura and Viktor Virag for work on the Japanese survey; Teresa Bertotti for ongoing support and encouragement; and Durham University for financial assistance. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: A small grant for research assistance was received from Durham University (UK) from the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, reference ES/T501888/1.

Research Keywords

COVID-19
ethical logistics
ethics
inequities
pandemic
social work

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This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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AU - de Jonge, Ed

AU - Shears, Jane

AU - Shum, Michelle

AU - Sobočan, Ana M.

AU - Strom, Kim

AU - Truell, Rory

AU - Úriz, María Jesús

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Practising ethically during COVID-19: Social work challenges and responses

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Policy Impact

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