In conversation with a case story : perspectives on professionalism, identity and ethics in social work

Sobočan, Ana Marija (author), Banks, Sarah (author), Bertotti, Teresa (author), Strom-Gottfried, Kimberly (author), De Jonge, Ed (author), Weinberg, Merlinda (author)

In this co-authored article, one contributor presents a case story from an interview with a social worker in Slovenia, while five others offer commentaries on ethical aspects of the case. The story comes from a practitioner working with a pregnant young woman, arranging for adoption following birth. The social worker respected the woman's request to keep her identity secret, hence not registering her in the institutional records. However, whilst the social worker was on holiday, the baby was born and anonymity was not maintained. Commentaries 1 and 2 evaluate the story through its form: as a narrative with a tempo and plot; and as a performance that creates its narrator as an agent with an ethical identity. Commentary 3 uses a normative moral philosophical framework (virtue ethics), while the final two commentaries take a more grounded approach. Commentary 4 views the social worker as using discretion to act in a space void of rules (there is no provision for anonymous birth), whereas Commentary 5 foregrounds the Slovenian code of ethics as a source of ethical standards unremarked upon by the social worker. The article ends with reflections on the value of exploring multiple perspectives and engaging in dialogue in developing ethical understandings and actions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: social work ethics, professional identity, virtue ethics, narrative ethics, discourse analysis, code of ethics, ethics case story
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FSD - Faculty of Social Work
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2020
• Number of pages: Str. 331-346
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-147460
• UDC: 36:17
• ISSN on article: 1749-6535
• DOI: 10.1080/17496535.2020.1726982
• COBISS.SI-ID: 14714371
• Publication date in RUL: 05.07.2023

SOBOČAN, Ana Marija, BANKS, Sarah, BERTOTTI, Teresa, STROM-GOTTFRIED, Kimberly, DE JONGE, Ed and WEINBERG, Merlinda, 2020, In conversation with a case story : perspectives on professionalism, identity and ethics in social work. Ethics & social welfare [online]. 2020. Vol. 14, no. 3, p. 331–346. [Accessed 11 April 2025]. DOI 10.1080/17496535.2020.1726982. Retrieved from: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=eng&id=147460

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Ethics & social welfare
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1749-6535
• COBISS.SI-ID: 3166565

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: etika, socialno delo, profesionalna identiteta, etika v naraciji, diskurzivna analiza, poklicna identiteta

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: Z5-7192
• Name: Etična praksa in odločanje v socialnem delu