Ethics and social work:the ethical dimension of professional intervention

Abstract

This paper analyzes concerns shared by Philosophy and Social Work as a field of thought and a profession that focuses on intervention that articulates the needs, conflicts, decisions, purposes and interests of different actors which move together through institutions and legal structures that channel the demands of people, institutions and society, together with the dictates of the Professional School. The various traditions of social work as well as the configurations of the “contemporary social question” are also a factor. This requires a complex and questioning analysis. That treats ethics as a constantly present dimension, often hidden behind religious, political or technical positions used to justify professional actions. To explain this dimension an interrogation must be conducted about what type of knowledge characterizes Social Work. The issues addressed include the disciplinary field and the dispute for interpretations; history as a possibility of establishing new meanings; a questioning of Social Work and tutorial interventions and the context of professional intervention from the organizational and institutional perspective, among others.