1.2: Ethics and Values

Ethics and Professionalism

As you consider entering the profession of human services, it is important to think about the role you will play as well as the responsibilities that come with that role. One of the joys and challenges of working with human beings is that unique interactions occur every day. Whether a director, a supervisor, a receptionist, an assistant or a case manager, you will encounter situations that you have not seen before. There is not a set of directions to follow when you work with individuals. When putting together a piece of furniture or preparing a tray of enchiladas you might follow instructions or recipes. You might even deviate a little bit or add your own flair to the project. Working with individuals and families, however, requires a stronger internal set of values and principles. That foundation is one that you build inside yourself using the tools of education, experience, and understanding about ethics.

Image Source: "NOHS logo." National Organization for Human Services.

Human services, social work, psychology, sociology, public health, education, and early childhood education are all similar in that they are all fields that are involved with helping or studying individuals and society. In addition, they are all professions. Professional fields are defined by their need for long-term education and training. Some have licensure systems as well as requiring an undergraduate or graduate degree. In addition professions are distinguished by having a professional association and a code of ethics that members utilize in their work. The National Organization for Human Services holds professional development conferences, has publication resources, and a code of ethics.

Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals

The field of human services was developed in response to human needs and human problems. It is a profession dedicated to helping diverse individuals solve the challenges that they face while valuing each person’s community, culture and self-determination. While doing so, the professional must act with integrity and compassion with social justice in mind. The set of ethical standards, adopted by the National Organization for Human Services in 2015, begins with a preamble that outlines the importance of each professional’s behavior and then goes on to describe 44 separate standards in the seven subject areas: clients, public and society, colleagues, employers, the profession, self and students. Following is a brief description of each section.

Preamble

The preamble contains four introductory paragraphs. The first two paragraphs focus on characteristics of the profession such as helping others and paying attention to the context of individuals and families. It emphasizes the role of education and professional growth.

A key part of the preamble is the acknowledgment of the conflict that may exist between the code and other policies and expectations such as employer policies, credentialing boards, laws and personal beliefs. Each entity has some shared but some differing priorities and this can lead to inconsistencies in what is best in any given situation. We will look at ethical dilemmas later on to help us understand this section of the preamble better.

The last part of the preamble reminds us that professionals as well as students and educators are bound by these standards.

Responsibility to Clients

Clients are the first and most obvious group to highlight. The very first standard describes the responsibility of recognizing and building on individual and community strengths. The prominence of this statement is key to the profession. There are nine total standards which include:

• Be strengths-based
• Obtain informed consent
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Protect from danger or harm
• Avoid of dual or multiple relationships
• Prohibit of sexual or romantic relationships
• Ensure that personal values or biases are not imposed
• Protect of client records
• Utilize technology in legal and confidential ways

Responsibility to the Public and Society

Human services professionals are not focused on a singular client, or discrete clients and families. There is a responsibility in this profession to visualize all of society, to pay attention to social problems and to how laws and policies affect communities. This profession has a social justice mission as these nine standards remind us:

• Provide services without discrimination or preference related to social characteristics
• Be knowledgeable and respectful of diverse cultures and communities
• Be aware of laws and advocate for needed change
• Stay informed about current social problems
• Be aware of social and political issues that differentially affect people
• Provide ways to identify client needs and assets and advocate for needs
• Advocate for social justice and to eliminate oppression
• Accurately represent their credentials to the public
• Describe treatment programs accurately.

Responsibility to Colleagues

• Coordinate, collaborate but do not duplicate services
• Deal with conflict by approaching the person directly; follow up with supervisor if needed
• Respond to unethical behavior of colleagues
• Keep consultations between colleagues private

Responsibility to Employers

• Stick with commitments made to employers
• Create and maintain high quality services
• In conflicts between responsibility to employer and responsibility to clients seek resolution with all involved.

Responsibility to the Profession

• Gain education and experience to work effectively with culturally diverse individuals based on age, ethnicity, culture, race, ability, gender, language preference, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or other historically oppressive groups.
• Know your own limits; serve others within those limits
• Seek help when you need it
• Promote cooperation amongst related disciplines
• Promote continuing development of the profession itself
• Continue to learn and practice new techniques; inform clients appropriately
• Conduct research ethically
• Be thoughtful about self-disclosure including on social media.

Responsibility to Self

• Develop awareness of your own culture, beliefs, biases, and values.
• Develop and maintain own health
• Commit to lifelong learning.

Responsibility to Students

This is the only section of the code that calls out a particular subset of human services professionals: the educators. The final seven standards emphasize the special duty that educators have to students who are in a relationship where power and status are unequal. Educators model the standards at the same time that they are teaching across the breadth of the profession. In particular the structure , quality, and adherence to the code of the class setting, including field experiences, are the responsibility of the educator.

• Develop and implement culturally sensitive knowledge, awareness and teaching methodologies
• Commit to the principles of access and inclusion
• Demonstrate high standards of scholarship
• Recognize the contributions of students to work of educators
• Monitor field experience sites; ensure quality and safety
• Establish guidelines for self-disclosure and opting out
• Awareness of power and status differential
• Ensure students are aware of ethical standards.

An ethical code must be considered within the context of multiple systems. The most complicated are the overlapping cultures that affect us: the cultural context of the individuals and families that are served, the professional’s own culture, and the ways that societal values and policies affect everyone. These are not to be given equal weight, but they are all factors in the work and ethical life of the helping professional. In addition, the practitioner must also consider laws, community practices, and workplace expectations.

The purpose of presenting these interwoven concepts now is to give human services students an introduction to the ideas. There will be opportunities throughout time, education, and experience to consider these ideas and develop your understanding and practice of ethics. Reflect, discuss, act, and reflect again. Having an ethical code is a tool that will serves practitioners, the people serve, and society.

Introduction to Human Services Copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth B. Pearce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.