Open Access
Social work beyond the pandemic: exploring social work values for a new eco-social world
(SAGE, 2024) Banks, Sarah; Bertotti, Teresa; Cairns, Lynne; Shears, Jane; Shum, Michelle; Sobocan, Ana M.; Strom, Kimberly; Úriz Pemán, María Jesús; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS
This article draws on a series of international research-focused webinars with social workers in 2022. They were designed to examine the rethinking of professional values during the pandemic in the context of other global crises, particularly the climate emergency. Participants readily shared ethical issues relating to self-care, digital working and reduced bureaucracy during the pandemic and implications for future practice. The need for holistic, community-based approaches integrating social, health and economic aspects of people¿s lives arose, and the importance of seeing humans as part of the natural world (eco-social approaches). Awareness of newer post-anthropocentric and posthuman philosophies was less evident.
Open Access
Practising ethically during COVID-19: social work challenges and responses
(SAGE, 2020) Banks, Sarah; Cai, Tian; Jonge, Ed de; Shears, Jane; Úriz Pemán, María Jesús; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana
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.
Open Access
Slow ethics in an age of fast technology: the ethical implications of Industry 4.0 for social work
(Routledge, 2025-06-16) Banks, Sarah; Bertotti, Teresa; Forlenza, Daria; Gemara, Netanel; Reimer, Elizabeth; Segal, Michal; Shears, Jane; Sobocan, Ana M.; Strom, Kimberly; Úriz Pemán, María Jesús; Yamaguchi, Mai; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS
This paper brings together a range of perspectives on the ethicalimplications for social work of the growing use of digital technologies, big data, artificial intelligence and other features of¿Industry 4.0¿ (the fourth industrial revolution). Drawing on contributions to a workshop co-organised by the Ethics and Social Welfare journal, contributors explore: the nature and importance¿slow ethics¿ in an age of fast technological developments; ethical challenges for social work with the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, which outlaws digital communications; the empowering effect of online meetings for a young person in Italy; and the possibilities and limitations of using algorithms in mental capacity assessments and in ethical decision-making more broadly. Stimulated by these examples, the concluding discussion considers how to maintain a person-centred approach in social work, being pro-active in developing positive uses and resisting the de-humanising and exclusionary impacts of digital technologies.
Open Access
Análisis bibliométrico sobre Ética del Trabajo Social en España (1900-2015)
(CSIC, 2020) Idareta Goldaracena, Francisco; Viscarret Garro, Juan Jesús; Ballestero Izquierdo, Alberto; Úriz Pemán, María Jesús; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana
La identidad del trabajo social es eminentemente moral y en la consolidación de la misma ha tenido mucho que ver la producción científica en materia de ética publicada hasta la fecha. Por ello, el propósito del presente artículo consiste en analizar esta producción científica en el área de ética del trabajo social a nivel nacional. Para ello, se realiza un análisis de carácter descriptivo-observacional de la producción publicada en España en revistas y monográficos del área de ciencias sociales desde 1900 a 2015. El análisis cualitativo da cuenta de los años de mayor producción científica, de las revistas y las editoriales más destacadas, así como de los autores que más publicaciones poseen sobre esta materia. Esta investigación, la primera de sus características en España, confirma la correcta adecuación de la periodización establecida por estudios previos sobre la historia de la ética del trabajo social en este país.
Open Access
What ethical dilemmas do social workers face in the healthcare area in Spain?
(Taylor & Francis, 2022) Viscarret Garro, Juan Jesús; Úriz Pemán, María Jesús; Ballestero Izquierdo, Alberto; Idareta Goldaracena, Francisco; Sociología y Trabajo Social; Soziologia eta Gizarte Lana
The purpose of the article is to identify the types of ethical dilemmas that Spanish social workers face in the healthcare arena (health centers, hospitals and mental health). A quantitative methodology was chosen using the questionnaire prepared by Eileen J. Ain. The questionnaire has been translated and adapted for Social Work in Spain. The statistical analysis shows the correlation between the different areas of intervention in Social Work and the most significant ethical dilemmas that such professionals have to solve (autonomy, confidentiality and informed consent). This article is an essential study on Social Work at the national level that emphasizes the importance of the ethics of Social Work in the Healthcare area.