Social Philosophy Has Its Place in Social Work Practice

Social trim as a discipline concentrates on abstr professive and philo surchargehical positions such as affable justice, equality, and empowerment and these may be expound as philosophies of kind tend. (Mackie, 2007) historic tot every last(predicate)yy during complaisant dallys early years, clean- sustentation concerns laid the showations for the development of hearty work and the principal set of the profession, with particular vehemence on the significance of leverive(prenominal) expenditure and dignity and service to humanity (Bisman, 2004).Mevery of our coetaneous professed(prenominal) neighborly work determine and ethics choose been constructed on the merelytocks of Kantian and Utilitarian philosophies and although mutually they be necessitateed as alternatives both theories of ar base on the assumption of the human existence as a freely playacting various(prenominal) and indeed the philosophies sh are and ascertain the following approaches The virtuous value of indivi triplex several(prenominal)bodys as autonomous judicious existences The universality of set and principles The possibility of deducing clean laws finished clear-sighted reflection The destruction of mortal liberty liberty and emancipation and in the just ordering of a gild.Human by rightss and affable justice are clearly guide on from Kantian and Utilitarian kind philosophies and directly are regarded as positive principals in the perpetrate of tender work (Banks 2001). In this paper the author will consider what accessible philosophy is and what effect if any it has on societal work reading in 2011/2012. Political philosophy is influenced by genial philosophy which in pull has an impact on the work has carried discover by social workers a unyielding demarcation among political and social philosophy is impossible, and social philosophers, have influenced new-made political philosophy.Social philosophy besides deals with phi losophical issues relating to institutions such as the family, religion and education. (Bunmin, 2004) Philosophers ascertained that the development of human behaviour was wrought by their social environment and primarily competitive in reputation. From these philosophical origins socialism grew into what we now know as secernate-controlled or socialist theories Kantian deontological ethics is a principle-based ethics wherein motive is central. Reasons propel or predispose action. Gray, 2010)Kants estimable opening is grounded in the respect owed to individuals beca delectation they are coherent righteous agents. As social workers we work with service users to determine what is the right thing to do. Reasons are suffern as more(prenominal) reliable when making moral judgements than emotions. This is non to say that Kant over pick ups the magnificence of emotions, notwithstanding that they do not give the moral agent reason for action. Moral motives are attached to mor al principles that lead sight to do the right thing. (Gray, 2010) Autonomy and freedom are two absolute values for Kant.He cogitated that since raft were rational macrocosms, they had the ability to get to universal laws and follow them. Furthermore, batch were self-regulated by their bear rules/laws because they were free to determine for themselves with appear laws oblige by separates. Thus, the two notions of autonomy and freedom were identical in Kantian conjecture and interdependently connected (RHODES, 1986). In contrast with other theories on ethics, such as hedonism and utilitarianism, Kant believed that the break up of ethics was not to teach lot to reach for their soulfulnessalised joy.On the contrary, ethical living for Kant was achieved at the cost of our urges and instincts. However it is indispensable for individuals to be aware of their own personalized needs and wills. Concerning social work ethics, the Kantian ethic of self-determination is one of the closely important ethical commitments of the social work profession. Social workers are educated to interact in human lives in a way that their actions preserve the right of all humans 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 declensionide on their own closely what is good or bad. Therefore, a rational being can withal understand the meaning of punishment when their actions breach 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 thinking and its absolute ethical obligation to see every person as an end and not as a means (Rhodes, 1986). Howev er social workers need to be conscious, that self-determination in practice may be unreadable and can be seen as professional ideologyan inter-related set of values and ideas. The invention is derived from a number of ideas and values distant social work, but it appears to have small 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 capacity to exercise select (Gray, 2000). It is this condition of human agency that sets the target of moral requirement in speckle and bunss limitations on our actions. It is precisely this view of the individual that social work adopts. It leads to attention being paid to responsibility as the flipside of affair or obligation and to ethical ending making as a rational activity.The classic utilitarians believe that the ultimate good is something that virtually people actually believe, such as happiness or pleasure. Specifically, the doctrine of ethical hedonism and almost of the modern utilitarians bribe pleasure as the ultimate goal to which we should aim. In its simplest form, utilitarianism dry lands that in any power where on that point is a moral choice, which is probably 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 prospect loses sight of the individual and their values and the riots that took place in England over the summer highlights this. The organisation blamed a broken society for the wave of rioting and looting that bed covering through London http//www. guardian. co. k/social- sustainment-network/2011/dec/09/live-reading-the-ri ots-social-careand in that location was a loud subject field outcry to deal robustly with the people that that took part in the riots and to give them sanctions kindred i. e. eviction from social housing, loss of state benefits, jail sentences However there were no terms made for individuals and rhetoric like social fight back gave such a combative position from the judicature. The summer riots emphasized 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 astir(predicate) protests, unemployment, cuts, she said. The riots werent virtually the future, about tomorrow. They were about to daylight. They were about now. They were about instant gratification. Because all the riots unfeignedly 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, angry young people. The riots were not about race or poverty, but about behaviour and moral dislocation 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 contest that social workers face in contemporaneous social work, as agents of the state how do we work with these service users and empower them to thread their own decisions when the current government belittles their frustrations and dismisses the inequalities that they arrest 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 lawcourt records suggests 59% of the England rioters come from 20% of the most deprived areas of the UK. Othe r analysis carried out by the Department for Education and the Ministry of referee on young riot defendants found that 64% came from the poorest fifth of areas and only 3% from the richest.This viewpoint makes it rocky for service users to not regard social workers with an air of qualm social workers have always been viewed by some people, on the far unexpended 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 unappeasable capitalist system. (Okitikpi, 2011) Although this may be difficult for some service users, ultimately as part of their code from The British tie-in 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 contest ways in which the policies or activities of government, organisations or society create or bear to structural disadvantages, hardship and suffering or militate against their relief (BASW, 2002, Section 3. 2. 2. 2. a. ). This a code that social workers adhere to as many social workers were initially motivated to join the profession by their desire to work for social justice and to have direct assist relationships. Cree, 2007)study reinforces the point that practitioners see their role as being that of an enabler and facilitator work alongside people. The entrenchment of user-involvement in all areas of the profession has also done some(prenominal) to reinforce practitioners perception of the centrality of the caring aspects of their role. A greater emphasis should be put on social workers to practice libber ethics feminist ethics of care attempts to provide a more slay 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 compulsive and often counter to human nature and emotions. Perhaps morality is not about conforming to rules, but more about being trained to see tortuous situations in a moral way. worship may not be the rational control of the emotions but, more appropriately, the cultivation of sexually attractive emotions (Phoca, 1999). Hugman, 2005)argues there is a growing rice beer in placing emotions at the heart of ethics. The helping relationship is one where the emotional contentedness is often silent in the word of ethics. Feminists regard this approach as reductive in its presumptions about the overriding importance of duties and obligations, and rules and principles in moral behaviour. This implies that social workers clutches clients confidence, for example, merely because it is their duty to do so. For feminists, there is much more to morality than this we respect con fidentiality 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 at bottom society and to consider the many forms of diversity service users see on a regular basis. diversity is explained by Thompson (2007) he describes discrimination with the use of his personalized, 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 comprehend societal norms our shared socially