Professional Ethics and National Association of Social Workers

This immense need of professional ethics in the society prompted for the formation of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). The association was founded in 1995, with its headquarters in Washington DC for the sole purpose of providing guidance and advocacy against professional malpractice. As it is outlined in the NASW code of ethics, a sufficient article of professional ethics should entail aspects like honesty and integrity of workers, confidentiality of information. Additionally, there should be transparency and accountability towards the organization’s resources, respect for coworkers and clients, and loyalty to the senior officers (McClure, 2005). An example in real world practice, is where doctors are always required to assent to the Hippocratic Oath which guides their practice and modes of conduct.

When assigning duties, employees should not be delegated tasks with varying complexities and fixed timelines due to their religion, culture, race or political affiliation. However, it is a common practice that the most powerful managers are always oppressing their staff and make them feel inferior just because of their varying characteristics. It is important to note that a progressive organization is one in which the contribution of every employee is appreciated regardless of their physical attributes. Also, in relation to the exercise of power, senior executives should be warned that it is only acceptable if they cautiously utilize their privileges without infringing the rights of others. Managers should also strive to accomplish the regulations of NASW which prohibits any malpractice resulting from discrimination and marginalization of minority groups (Woodcock, 2011).

Some of these codes are usually outlined in the organization’s chatter while others are contained in the letters of appointment. Through educative forums, employees can also be trained about the importance of diversity in the workplace such that, those who consider themselves as superior groups can learn to peacefully coexist with the perceived minority. In usual practice, people may affiliate themselves according to various attributes such that any individual may be considered inferior at any one point. For instance, a white employee may be proud of working in a company comprised majorly of his race. However, this person might turn out to be politically affiliated to a minor group, or that his sexual orientations are highly disregarded by majority of employees in then firm.

Therefore, junior employees need to form welfare associations for protecting themselves against oppressions by mangers who misuse power and privileges. As a matter of fact, the interchange between power, privileges and oppressions is just a linked process within the structure of an organization (Woodcock, 2011). This is because, employees with exclusive powers enjoy the highest level of privileges while low-ranking workers are entitled to little power and limited privileges. In exercising their authority, the senior executives normally oppress the junior workers who have limited powers. Therefore, a solution to this system can be simply achieved through implementation of NASW policies of equality and fairness. When then government retains all the rights to production and trade activities, it should be a clear indication that the general public is at risk of exploitation.

Consequently, organizational managers who control the exclusive operational rights of an organization might be no different, because their major aim is to retain the powers and privileges. As it has been observed, in an economy with less restrictions on legal trades, citizens become encouraged to diversity their entrepreneurial skills thus boosting economic performance (Payne, 2015). Therefore, the same techniques should be applicable in a company’s management in which employees are included in managerial functions and decision-making activities of the firm. This will reduce instances of discrimination and encourage peaceful coexistence in the workplace. Under this philosophy, production activities and economic regulations are transferred from then central government to the private sector, but with a close monitoring for ensuring that corporations do not exploit the poor.

In modern governance, neoliberalism can be implemented in order to improve social and economic empowerment by introducing free trade and eliminating unnecessary restrictions that may hinder public participation. This economic strategy is usually preferred because it influences the paradigm shift from a controlled market to an open trade for interactions. Under the traditional governance, leaders could express full authority and supremacy of control in every social and economic activity. This made it difficult to perform any assessment in the proper functionality of the government or equitable distribution of resources. In medical practice, regulation theories are implemented to reinforce the professional ethics of healthcare practitioners. This hinders them against harmful intentions that may cause more injuries or subsequent death of a patient.

Doctors are usually required to take a Hippocratic oath which confines them to strict observance of medical practice (Antoniou et al, 2010). Amongst the fundamental provisions of the oath include; the declaration to uphold the highest standards of healthcare like patients’ confidentiality and abstinence any wrong-doing that may endanger the life of a patient. Additionally, doctors must acknowledge that it is inappropriate to assist any woman in conducting an abortion. In some countries, there exist statutory bodies that are assigned a responsibility by the national government to oversee proper practice of the regulatory provisions aimed at protecting an organization’s workers and clients from exploitation. Conclusion Professional ethics are significant practices that need to be appropriately implemented for an organization to improve its productivity.

Danovitch (2013) also in his article regards professional ethics as a set of laws relevant to different professionals and established by the professional members of such a professional organization. Good professional ethics is worth put into consideration by any individual as it is a central part in the success of a business, organization or personal achievements. Ethics alone to break down is a structure of good values governing the proper conduct of an individual or a group, maintaining good ethical values is being steady with the principles of proper moral conduct persistently. The major role of ethics in any society is to classify suitable human behavior in realizing the kind of actions, consequences and limits of human actions as well as their adequacy.

Ethics do play a critical role especially in shaping the individual’s behavior within a society and therefore is an important virtue in any society. An employee may demonstrate an appropriate behavior outside regular working hours in a way which may benefit the employer for instance by routinely reading and responding to work emails as well as making work-related calls outside of the office. However, there is no single law which puts into consideration an employer’s rights in conjunction with employee’s conduct outside the their workplaces and therefore the employee must be careful when taking part in this and request for compensation from the employer if possible for the spend work time which benefits the employer (Schwartz, M. S.

This has been one of the major areas of scrutiny in the ethical point of view. Additionally, other appropriate conduct outside the workplace includes showing high levels of discipline, honesty, not harassing co-workers and also not disclosing their organization’s secrets anyhow. On the other hand, good conduct and excellent ethical decisions have a positive value and good performance of the employee. Workers who feel practicing proper ethical values and adhering to the set rules and regulations will not stir them at the top of the organization sometimes feel unmotivated which finally leads to a poor performance (Beeri 2013). It is therefore of great importance to make best ethical decisions not only at the workplaces but also in the society at large because failure to which does more harm than gain.

Additionally, poor ethical decisions may make one to face severe legal actions that may result in deaths of people, huge court fines and penalties with sometimes possible jail of the culprit. It can also result in a decrease in the productivity levels, loss of respect by employees to their boss as well as the organization losing its public credibility. Lastly, graduates since they undergo various challenges while transitioning from the graduate study into the workplace, they have to stay focused and ready to learn new things that will introduce them to the new environment and make them adapt easily References 1. Sommers-Flanagan, R. , & Sommers-Flanagan, J.  Becoming an Ethical Helping Professional, with Video Resource Center: Cultural and Philosophical Foundations. John Wiley & Sons.  Transplantation, 95(11), 1306-1312.