SCWK90055 Chap.2 Ethical Theories for Social Work Practice
Ethical Theories for Social Work Practice
Ethical literacy, in this subject, means knowing enough theory to look at a dilemma from more than one side. This chapter separates metaethics from normative ethics and then compares the three main families: deontology, which judges the act and the duty behind it; consequentialism, which judges outcomes for everyone affected; and virtue ethics, which looks to the character and motives of the person acting.
It decodes the module's reflection on lying to a client, where each common answer maps onto one family, and explains why your own instinct is already a theory. It then moves beyond the big three to the ethics of care, non-Western and emerging Aboriginal ethics, and the contrast between absolutism, relativism and the ethical pluralism the subject recommends.
It ends with the four principles of Beauchamp and Childress, the approach most used in health settings. The emphasis throughout is practical: what each theory notices in a case, what it misses, and how to write a paragraph that moves between lenses without declaring one of them the winner too early.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Metaethics, normative and applied ethics
- 02
Deontology and duty
- 03
Consequentialism and outcomes
- 04
Virtue ethics and character
- 05
Ethics of care and other traditions
- 06
Pluralism and the four principles
Worked example · free
Three answers to a question about lying
- 1Never acceptable is deontological; its weakness is that duties, such as honesty and protection, can collide.
- 1Acceptable to prevent harm is consequentialist; its weakness is that a bad act may be allowed for a good result.
- 1Depends on the worker's motive is virtue ethics; its weakness is the lack of agreed virtues for hard dilemmas.
Key terms
- Normative ethics
- Normative ethics is ethical theory that guides practical decisions, as distinct from philosophical metaethics.
- Ethics of care
- The ethics of care is a feminist ethical theory, associated with Carol Gilligan, that centres relationships, gender and power.
- Relativism
- Relativism is the view that morality differs from one culture to another, with no rule that holds everywhere.
- Non-maleficence
- Non-maleficence is the principle of doing no harm, one of the four principles of Beauchamp and Childress.
- Beneficence
- Beneficence is the principle of doing good for the wellbeing of others.
Ethical Theories for Social Work Practice FAQ
Do I have to choose one ethical theory?
No. The module says theory is used to examine a dilemma from different perspectives, not as a single creed to adopt. Ethical pluralism, using several lenses on one problem, is recommended for complex social work dilemmas.
Which theory are professional codes based on?
Codes of ethics are built largely on virtue ethics, because they describe the character and conduct of a good practitioner. That is why a code is not simply a deontological rulebook, even though it contains rules.
What are the four principles?
Justice, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence, from Beauchamp and Childress. They are widely used in bioethics and health care because they can be applied quickly, but they are hard to use when two of them point in opposite directions.
How does the ethics of care differ from the classical theories?
It asks what a caring response within the relationships involved would look like, and it examines gender and power. It grew partly from dissatisfaction with deontology and consequentialism and suits a profession that works through relationships.
Will the tests ask me to name a theory from a statement?
That is a likely item type. The first review quiz and tutorial polls matched statements such as the greatest good for the greatest number, or a preference for absolute principles, to theory families, so practise recognising each family from its typical sentence.
Assessment move
Build a four-column comparison of deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics and the ethics of care, with what each judges, a typical claim, its weak point and a shorthand phrase, and recite it until you can reproduce it from memory. Then take one dilemma and write a short paragraph for each lens; notice where they agree and where they split, because the split is the dilemma.
Learn the three positions on the spectrum from absolutism to relativism with pluralism between them. For health settings, practise naming all four principles, saying which way each points, and locating the conflict. Matching items, from a statement to its theory, are common in short tests.
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