Law and ethics are two critical parts of social work. The area of philosophy known as ethics studies the nature, justifications, and guiding principles of moral laws and the systems they form. It brings together moral convictions—a feeling of right and wrong—with a sense of the provider’s obligation to others. Laws are then passed to control human conduct for the good of society. They are made to safeguard people’s rights while preventing harm to others. All social workers must follow the law as well as their ethical codes and behavior. The link between the law and social work principles and ethics, on the other hand, is fraught with difficulties.
For example, the right to privacy is implied by the Constitution, and social workers may be held accountable for privacy invasion if they improperly disclose a client’s information or make unjustified intrusions into a patient’s personal life (National Association of Social Workers, “Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients”). As a result, ethical and legal challenges for social workers operating with families emerge when a child abuse situation arises, which results in a controversy, which is discussed further.
As was mentioned earlier, child abuse might be viewed as a legal and ethical dilemma in social work. As such, parents have rights to privacy and autonomy regarding their personal life. A violation of someone’s right to privacy is called an invasion of privacy. The right to privacy is seen as the ability to live one’s life without having their identity, image, or private matters made public against their will. It also refers to the freedom from undue publicity and exposure to the public gaze. According to the National Association of Social Workers (“Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients”), social workers must respect their client’s right to privacy.
Except for legitimate professional reasons, social workers must not seek private details from or about clients. When private information is exchanged, confidentiality rules apply. It is both ethically and legally required of those who get the most private client information to keep such discussions discreet. The legal obligation results from the law’s recognition of a right to privacy. There is a matching obligation to follow in order to safeguard this privilege.
However, if a child suffers specific damage, their welfare should be considered simultaneously with the legal obligation for parents’ clients’ privacy, which creates ethical and legal conflict. Aside from the professional challenges of working with child abuse and neglect, there is a clear need to advocate for the children who have been abused. Every year, approximately one million children are the subjects of child maltreatment and neglect (National Association of Social Workers, “Law Note: Social Workers and Child Abuse Reporting”).
Moreover, child abuse might be produced by their parents, which, in turn, have a right to privacy regarding their family matters. Namely, if biological parents have any parental rights, they come from their obligation to raise their children until they are mature enough to exercise such rights independently. However, familial privacy, which reporting of social work professionals might violate, has a questionable value and is supported by evidence of misuse (Miller). These issues result in controversy over the child’s interests and their parents when social workers face situations in which abuse is present.
The controversy becomes more intricate when one examines the legal status of children as abuse victims. The uncertainty of children’s legal status is a difficulty for family courts. Despite being portrayed as self-sufficient victims, children are practically dependent to the extent that they need caregivers to establish their legal interests in court (Miller). Nonetheless, children are conceived of as autonomous legal beings whose interests, once recognized, have a significant impact on the result of custody hearings.
Since deciding a child’s best interest interests is such a complex assignment, courts frequently appoint lawyers or care assistants as guardians to represent the child in court. Guardians are exclusively accountable for promoting the child’s own autonomous interests. As a result, the rights of the individualized child are established in contradiction to the rights of parents in the current child welfare system. This tension is expressed in liberal and conservative civil liberties and political discourses.
The problem analysis leads to several implications that are based on the consideration of the well-being of children that social workers should protect. First, according to studies, young people are afraid of being entangled in child protection, which means that if professionals do not involve in cases of child abuse, the individuals would not be able to protect themselves (Matthew et al.). Child abuse is not just a real-world issue; it is also the leading cause of despair, anxiety, and misery in a person’s life. Some individuals cannot trust others, cannot be in close relationships, cannot control their emotions, and will feel useless for the rest of their life. The sooner abused children receive care, the better their chances of healing from their trauma.
Hence, the moral obligation is more extensive and always relevant. There are times when it is necessary or required by law to divulge information. Parents who are accused of injuring their children and are the target of child protection procedures cannot claim that their parental liberties do not conflict with their children. The premise that alternatives to biological parenting are unacceptably poor and that natural parents are ideally fitted to raise their children are generally disregarded (Miller). Moreover, although it is illegal to disregard a patient’s right to privacy, the law mandates that child abuse be reported (National Association of Social Workers, “Law Note: Social Workers and Child Abuse Reporting”). Child abuse includes not only physical and sexual abuse but also emotional abuse and child neglect. While some indicators of child abuse are more obvious than others, there are several fundamental symptoms that social workers may obtain to recognize a case of child abuse.
To conclude, it is the ethical duty of social work professionals to report child abuse for the sake of its prevention. Therefore, care providers should be aware that a child’s well-being, including their physiological, emotional, cognitive, and social health, is impacted by child abuse. Moreover, they should be able to detect physical abuse, sexual violence, emotional abuse, psychological manipulation, physical neglect, and educational abandonment, the main categories of child abuse and maltreatment. People who work with children need to be aware of the regulations governing the required reporting of child abuse. Mandatory reporters are demanded to take action when there is a plausible suspicion of child abuse, but they do not need to have concrete proof of the abuse in order to report it. Thus, the evaluation of the controversy leads to the decision that the child’s interests should come first.
Works Cited
Matthew, Laurie, et al. “Perspectives of Young Child Abuse Survivors on Confidentiality: An Exploratory Literature Review.” Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, vol. 28, no. 3, Informa UK Limited, Nov. 2018, pp. 280–300. Web.
Miller D. “Individualism, Privacy, and Poverty in Determining the Best Interests of the Child.” Honors Papers, 2018. Web.
National Association of Social Workers. “Law Note: Social Workers and Child Abuse Reporting.” National Association of Social Workers. Web.
—. “Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients.” National Association of Social Workers. Web.
