Disaster Management

This article draws on findings of an international study of social workers’ ethical challenges during COVID-19, based on 607 responses to a qualitative survey. Ethical challenges included the following: maintaining trust, privacy, dignity and service user autonomy in remote relationships; allocating limited resources; balancing rights and needs of different parties; deciding whether to break or bend policies in the interests of service users; and handling emotions and ensuring care of self and colleagues. The article considers regional contrasts, the ‘ethical logistics’ of complex decision-making, the impact of societal inequities, and lessons for social workers and professional practice around the globe.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0020872820949614

Practising ethically during COVID-19: Social work challenges and responses

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The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Workers at the Frontline: A Survey of Canadian Social Workers

During the first half of 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus had a huge global impact. The physical health of many was (often severely) threatened and affected, resulting in numerous deaths. F...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02615479.2020.1823363

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social work education and practice in the Netherlands

The Covid-19 crisis hit the world at a time when neoliberal politics had systematically eroded social solidarity with their emphasis on unrestrained individualism The collective measures necessary to contain the pandemic infringe people’s autonomy severely, and thereby expose the contradictory polarisation between individual liberty and the ‘common good’ which has arisen ‘Social distancing’ has long become an accompanying feature of globalisation and the crisis threatens to deepen social, economic and political divisions and to herald a retreat to more divisive measures The professional experience social work and social pedagogy have in dealing with the underlying contradictions and their specific knowledge on how to constitute social solidarity in conditions of justice and equality are now more than ever relevant in the post-crisis reconstruction Their core message is that personal autonomy can only be achieved in the context of fair structural conditions, and these professions have a vital role in promoting the constructive realignment of both spheres

The Corona crisis and the erosion of ‘the social’–giving a decisive voice to the social professions/ Die Corona Krise und die Zersetzung ‘des Sozialen’–jetzt zählt die Stimme der Sozialen Professionen/ Il ruolo strategico delle professioni sociali per far fronte alla crisi globale dovuta alla pandemia Covid -19

This report summarises the findings of an international study of the ethical challenges faced by social workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, undertaken during 6th-18th May 2020. 607 responses from 54 countries were received via an online survey, additional interviews and local surveys. Six key themes relating to social workers’ ethical challenges and
responses were identified:
1. Creating and maintaining trusting, honest and empathic relationships via phone or internet with due regard to privacy and confidentiality, or in person with protective equipment.
2. Prioritising service user needs and demands, which are greater and different due to the pandemic, when resources are stretched or unavailable and full assessments often impossible.
3. Balancing service user rights, needs and risks against personal risk to social workers and others, in order to provide services as well as possible.
4. Deciding whether to follow national and organisational policies, procedures or guidance (existing or new) or to use professional discretion in circumstances where the policies seem inappropriate, confused or lacking.
5. Acknowledging and handling emotions, fatigue and the need for selfcare, when working in unsafe and stressful circumstances.
6. Using the lessons learned from working during the pandemic to rethink social work in the future.

Ethical challenges for social workers during Covid-19: A global perspective

This study used the contracting projects of a district branch of the Women's Federation in Guangzhou as case examples to demonstrate both the Chinese state's contractual controls over social work organisations (SWOs) and the pragmatic response strategies of SWOs and professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen participants, including local officials of the Women's Federation and social workers from contracted SWOs. It was found that with the ultimate goal of consolidating the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China, the Women's Federation's dual role in politics and service provision had led to normative, managerial, technical and relational controls over SWOs. SWOs and professionals were generally submissive to these controls, but they employed diverse coping strategies, including compliance, bargaining, transformation and investment in personal relationships. The interactions within the contractual relationship created a pragmatic professionalism that embraced dominant political ideologies, employed de-politicising techniques, and personally depended on individual officials.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02610183221089009

Tian Cai

Papers

Practising ethically during COVID-19: Social work challenges and responses

Ethical challenges for social workers during Covid-19: A global perspective

Contractual controls and pragmatic professionalism: A qualitative study on contracting social services in China