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Article Excerpt
The major purpose of the study was to examine the NASW Code of Ethics and the problems it causes social workers in terms of the discrepancies between belief in its tenets and behaviors in implementing it. If belief in the tenets of the code is not matched by behavior that is congruent with the code, social work could face a problem of accountability, especially if such discrepancies are not experienced or recognized as negative stressors.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Social work ethics literature is extensive. However, one can focus this vast array by concentrating on the research that relates to the NASW Code of Ethics itself, the teaching of social work ethics, beliefs about the code, and behaviors in relation to the code. Existing studies distributed within these broad categories assess the adequacy of the code as a guide to professionals, the teaching of social work ethics and the code, utilization of the code, beliefs about ethical and unethical practice, code violations, critiques of the NASW code, descriptive ethical decision-making processes, and prescriptive ethical decision-making models. Reamer (2001) said that in recent years ethicists in all professions have developed ethical decision-making models. Such decision-making models, which prescribe frameworks to assist social workers in making ethical decisions, have become central to our profession.
Absent from the literature, however, is any research on social workers' beliefs in the tenets of the code. Existing literature about belief and the code focuses on beliefs about the adequacy or helpfulness of the code (Ain, 2001; Felkenes, 1980; Gordon, 1984; Reamer, 1987). Congress (2001) studied beliefs about the appropriateness of code-prohibited dual relationships, and others (Jayaratne, Croxton, & Mattison, 1997) have studied broad social work values embedded in the code. Grodney (1990) studied beliefs about behaviors but did not focus on discrepancies between belief and behavior.
The literature reveals that discrepancy between belief in the code and behavior that implements the code is an unexamined area. Although studies have been done that examine code violations (Bullis, 1995; Strom-Gottfried, 2000) and use of the code in resolving ethical dilemmas (Ain, 2001; Kugelman-Jaffe, 1990), nothing has focused on belief in the code and behavior that reflects the tenets of the code.
Also unexamined is the relationship between disjuncture (dilemma-induced distress) and work setting, although Kurzman (1984) suggested there might be differences in "constraints and supports" in different settings. Likewise, there is no study of disjuncture and training in ethics.
Finally, no one has looked at whether social workers agree with Lewis's (1987) contention that ethical teaching can model the teaching of ethics. Rather, the literature focuses on the adequacy of ethics education (Conrad, 1988; Dodd, 2000; Felkenes, 1970) and on how to teach social work ethics (Ain, 2001; Congress, 1993; Joseph & Conrad, 1983; Mishne, 1981; Reamer, 2001). A recent working group assembled at NASW for a Social Work Ethics Summit has concluded that the emphasis in social work ethics should be about ways to incorporate education about the code and its application into the curriculum (Stoesen, 2006). Lewis's concept of ethical teaching that models the teaching of ethics could become one means of incorporating ethics into the curriculum, although such a model might not specifically address education about the NASW Code of Ethics.
GENERAL RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD
Hypotheses
The following four hypotheses were inferred from the unexamined areas that relate to the NASW Code of Ethics identified by the literature review:
1. Social workers experience disjuncture when belief in the code and behaviors that reflect the code are discordant.
2. Higher levels of disjuncture are associated with employment in non-social work or host settings rather than in social work or nonhost settings.
3. Higher levels of disjuncture exist for those who have not taken a separate course in social work ethics.
4. Social workers will perceive that they have learned social work ethics by having experienced ethical teaching.
Definitions of key concepts as variables in the study's hypotheses are shown in Table 1.
Research Design and Sampling Plan
This was a quantitative descriptive study that used descriptive univariate and bivariate statistics. A survey was mailed to an initial random group of 500 social workers throughout the United States, who are members of NASW. This group of social workers was stratified or selected for MSWs, and names were randomly drawn from mailing lists purchased from NASW (2002). Of the surveys sent, 206 were returned, for a response rate of 41 percent. The sampling error for 200 responses from a total population of 153,000 members is [+ or -] 7 percent (American Research Group, 2007).
Data Collection
A cover letter explained the purpose of the survey. A page reviewing some basic code tenets was included with the instrument to bring those social workers who might not have been familiar with the code to a level similar to those who were. There was also an informed consent form that indicated that participants who responded had read the form and agreed to participate.
This questionnaire, which was designed to measure beliefs, behaviors, and disjuncture, was based primarily on the principles and values of the code, with a fair number of questions reflecting the standards of the code. The concept of "behavior" was operationalized by Likert-type scale questions that directly asked social workers about behaviors in which they engaged vis-a-vis the code (for example, "As a social worker, I promote client self-determination in such areas as program admissions, service planning, or discharge planning"). The concept of "disjuncture" was operationalized by Likert-type scale questions that measured the tension that social workers feel as a result of implementing or not implementing behaviors in regard to the code (for example, "I experience stress because I am not always able to protect my clients' rights to privacy and informed consent"). The instrument operationalized the concept of "belief" by incorporating a validated scale, the Professional Opinions Scale (POS) (Abbott, 1988; Abbott, 1999).The short-form POS is a set of 40 items that was later reduced to 32 items as a result of confirmatory factor analysis (Abbott, 2003).The 32-item scale was used in this study.
POS
Abbott (1988) developed the POS as a values scale whose items were inferred from public social policy statements made in 1983 by NASW social workers. Factor analysis resulted in four value factors: (1) respect for basic rights, (2) sense of social responsibility, (3) commitment to individual freedom, and (4) support of self-determination (Abbott, 1999). The professional opinions represent beliefs about values.
Abbott (1988, 1999) developed the 121-item POS by using one sample and achieved replication of the findings of the first sample with two additional samples. According to Abbott, the replication provides support for the validity of the...
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