How to make good choices? Ethical perspectives guiding social workers moral reasoning

Abstract

Framing and distinguishing mainstream social work ethical perspectives could be useful for social work students and practitioners facing moral choices in daily practice. The article presents a summary and classification of a range of ethical theories and provides some insights into the relationship between ethical thinking and practice issues. It distinguishes between classical approaches and ‘situated’ positions. The former – which includes teleological, deontological, and rights-based approaches – refer to universal and general principles. ‘Situated’ ethics are linked to specific and unique situations of professional practice. Finally, the article suggests some useful questions derived from each approach in order to help students to reflect on complex ethical choices occurring in daily practice.