Social Philosophy Has Its Place in Social Work Practice

Social scarper as a discipline concentrates on theoretical and philosophical shoess much(prenominal) as loving justice, equality, and empowerment and these whitethorn be described as philosophies of favorable expire. (Mackie, 2007) historic onlyy du halo hearty works early years, lesson concerns laid the foundations for the development of affable work and the principal set of the profession, with particular tenseness on the significance of person worth and dignity and receipts to humanity (Bisman, 2004).Many of our modern-day professional affectionate work determine and ethics spend a penny been constructed on the basis of Kantian and utile philosophies and although mutually they argon enumerateed as alternatives both theories of are based on the assumption of the human macrocosm as a freely acting individual and indeed the philosophies share and hold the keeping approaches The clean- living value of individual persons as autonomous thinking(prenominal) bein gs The universality of values and principles The possibility of deducing deterrent example laws d unrivaled rational reflection The goal of individual liberty independence and emancipation and in the just parliamentary law of a society.Human rights and friendly justice are clearly draw from Kantian and Utilitarian social philosophies and straightaway are regarded as fundamental principals in the exercising of social work (Banks 2001). In this paper the origin will consider what social philosophy is and what effect if any it has on social work practice in 2011/2012. Political philosophy is influenced by social philosophy which in turn has an impact on the work has carried out by social workers a rigid demarcation between political and social philosophy is impossible, and social philosophers, have influenced recent political philosophy.Social philosophy also deals with philosophical issues relating to institutions much(prenominal) as the family, religion and education. (B unmin, 2004) Philosophers observed that the development of human behaviour was shaped by their social environment and in general competitive in nature. From these philosophical origins collectivism grew into what we now know as collectivistic or socialist theories Kantian deontological ethics is a principle-based ethics wherein occasion is central. Reasons motivate or predispose action. Gray, 2010)Kants honorable system is grounded in the respect owed to individuals because they are rational moral agents. As social workers we work with service users to determine what is the right thing to do. Reasons are seen as more reliable when making moral judgements than emotions. This is non to say that Kant overlooks the importance of emotions, merely that they do not give the moral agent reason for action. Moral motives are attached to moral principles that lead people to do the right thing. (Gray, 2010) Autonomy and exemption are two absolute values for Kant.He believed that since peopl e were rational beings, they had the ability to create universal laws and follow them. Furthermore, people were self-regulated by their own rules/laws because they were free to determine for themselves without laws imposed by others. Thus, the two notions of autonomy and freedom were identical in Kantian theory and interdependently connected (RHODES, 1986). In contrast with other theories on ethics, such as hedonism and utilitarianism, Kant believed that the purpose of ethics was not to teach people to reach for their personal happiness.On the contrary, ethical living for Kant was achieved at the cost of our urges and instincts. However it is necessary for individuals to be aware of their own personal needs and wills. Concerning social work ethics, the Kantian ethic of self-determination is one of the most important ethical commitments of the social work profession. Social workers are educated to intervene in human lives in a way that their actions go forward the right of all human s to determine for themselves.Self-determination is a fundamental value that entails us as social workers to respect the person and encourage the person to act for themselves(Parrott, 2008). Based on the dual focus of the Kantian theory in autonomy and freedom, the ethic of self-determination reflects a belief that everyone is a rational being who can regretside on their own around what is good or bad. Therefore, a rational being can also understand the meaning of punishment when their actions infringe on the freedom and the autonomy of others (Clark, 2000).Furthermore, social workers are also committed to act with respect for ones dignity, and this also demonstrates Kantian sentiment and its absolute ethical obligation to see every person as an end and not as a means (Rhodes, 1986). However social workers need to be conscious, that self-determination in practice may be unclear and can be seen as professional ideologyan inter-related set of values and ideas. The model is derived from a number of ideas and values outside social work, but it appears to have little direct relevance to social work in practice. (SPICKER, 1990) Kants principle of respect for persons, which is very relevant for current social work is as an end in itself, and is tied to his view of individuals as rational beings with autonomy and the faculty to exercise choice (Gray, 2000). It is this condition of human agency that sets the object of moral requirement in send off and places limitations on our actions. It is precisely this view of the individual that social work adopts. It leads to attention being paid to business as the flipside of occupation or obligation and to ethical decision making as a rational activity.The classic utilitarians believe that the ultimate good is something that most people actually desire, such as happiness or pleasure. Specifically, the doctrine of ethical hedonism and most of the modern utilitarians pass water pleasure as the ultimate goal to which we should aim. In its simplest form, utilitarianism states that in any situation where there is a moral choice, which is likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people or the to the lowest degree harm to the world as a whole.Therefore, everyone ought to obey the laws that ensure the balance between the good for the individual and for the society as a whole (Rhodes, 1986 Clark, 2000) However focusing on a utilitarian arithmetic mean loses sight of the individual and their values and the riots that took place in England over the summer highlights this. The government blamed a broken society for the wave of rioting and looting that spread through London http//www. guardian. co. k/social- mete out-network/2011/dec/09/live-reading-the-riots-social-careand there was a loud national outcry to deal robustly with the people that that took part in the riots and to give them sanctions like i. e. eviction from social housing, loss of state benefits, jail sentences How ever there were no considerations made for individuals and rhetoric like social fight back gave such a combative position from the government. The summer riots emphasised the need for social workers to adhere to the GSCC codes of practice and to hold fast to ethics and values that under pin the discipline in the face of the moral panic.As emphasised by Theresa Mays and David Cameron recent speeches The riots werent about protests, unemployment, cuts, she said. The riots werent about the future, about tomorrow. They were about today. They were about now. They were about instant gratification. Because all the riots in reality come down to was money. Parts of the state and its agencies had become demoralised from a moral collapse that has seen children without fathers and alienated, livid young people. The riots were not about race or poverty, but about behaviour and moral partitioning and people without proper boundaries. http//www. guardian. co. uk/social-care-network/2011/dec/09 /live-reading-the-riots-social-care This highlights the challenge that social workers face in contemporary social work, as agents of the state how do we work with these service users and empower them to make their own decisions when the current government belittles their frustrations and dismisses the inequalities that they be on a day to day basis and ignore their feelings of powerlessness, voicelessness and under-representation.The government outlook does not take into consideration the evidence which suggests that rioters were generally poorer than the country at large. Analysis of more than a 1,000 cost records suggests 59% of the England rioters come from 20% of the most deprived areas of the UK. Other analysis carried out by the subdivision for Education and the Ministry of Justice on young riot defendants found that 64% came from the poorest fifth of areas and only 3% from the richest.This viewpoint makes it difficult for service users to not regard social workers with an air of suspicion social workers have always been viewed by some people, on the far left of the political spectrum, as part of the social problem because they are agents of the state. This perspective sees social workers role as a sop for the poor and the marginalised by a brutal capitalist system. (Okitikpi, 2011) Although this may be difficult for some service users, ultimately as part of their code from The British Association of Social Workers (BASW, 2002) social workers have a duty to ring to the attention of those in power and the general public, and where appropriate challenge ways in which the policies or activities of government, organisations or society create or contribute to structural disadvantages, hardship and suffering or militate against their sculptural relief (BASW, 2002, Section 3. 2. 2. 2. a. ). This a code that social workers adhere to as many social workers were initially actuate to join the profession by their desire to work for social justice and to have di rect circumstances relationships. Cree, 2007)study reinforces the point that practitioners see their role as being that of an enabler and facilitator working alongside people. The entrenchment of user-involvement in all areas of the profession has also done much to reinforce practitioners perception of the centrality of the caring aspects of their role. A greater emphasis should be placed on social workers to practice feminist ethics feminist ethics of care attempts to provide a more complete view of morality and ethics in social work of care (Gray, 2010).This eschews more abstract ethical perspectives and requires social workers to look at themselves and their capacities for empathy, courage and compassion. Virtue theory insists that its misguided to expect reason to be able to establish some infallible moral doctrine which is compulsory and often counter to human nature and emotions. Perhaps morality is not about conforming to rules, but more about being trained to see problemati c situations in a moral way. Morality may not be the rational control of the emotions but, more appropriately, the cultivation of wanted emotions (Phoca, 1999). Hugman, 2005)argues there is a growing interest in placing emotions at the heart of ethics. The helping relationship is one where the emotional content is often silent in the discussion of ethics. Feminists regard this approach as subtractive in its presumptions about the overriding importance of duties and obligations, and rules and principles in moral behaviour. This implies that social workers keep clients confidence, for example, merely because it is their duty to do so. For feminists, there is much more to morality than this we keep confidentiality because we care about our clients. Gray, 2010) Social workers are bound by the GSCC codes of practice there is an obligation to have regard for inequalities within society and to consider the many forms of difference service users encounter on a regular basis. disparity i s explained by Thompson (2007) he describes discrimination with the use of his Personal, Cultural and Structural (PCS) model the Personal refers to the psychological characteristics of discrimination and how such personal experiences impact upon our attitudes Cultural makes reference to perceived societal norms our shared socially