Practising Ethically in Unethical Times: Everyday Resistance in Social Work

Abstract

This article considers the challenges faced by social workers struggling to act ethically in what we characterise as the 'unethical climate' of neoliberalism. We offer a brief account of the current context, including the increasing managerialism and marketization of welfare services, exacerbated by cuts in welfare provision following the 2008 financial crisis. We discuss the concepts of 'ethical resistance' and 'ethics work'. We illustrate this with three case examples drawn from accounts given by social workers in Canada and England in the context of two research studies. These accounts feature social workers struggling to be ethically good and to do what they consider to be the right actions in difficult circumstances. We interpret their accounts of their actions largely in terms of everyday ethical resistance to organisational pressures of regulation of practice and rationing of resources. We conclude that everyday ethical resistance is not enough to 'make good' the unethical climate, but is an important precursor to social and political resistance.

Ethical Decision-Making of Social Welfare Workers in the Transition of Services: The Ethics of Care and Justice Perspectives

“…Social workers' codes of ethics do acknowledge that they are accountable to several parties (clients, colleagues, employers, laws) and these accountabilities may conflict and be negotiated to minimise harm to all persons (IFSW 2018). However, studies around the world show that organisational demands within the NMP schema tend to overwhelm and compromise workers' professional values and integrity (Höjer and Forkby 2011;McDonald and Chenoweth 2009;Mänttäri-van der Kuip 2013Weinberg and Banks 2019). Moreover, new information technologies have strengthened workers' accountability on recording and auditing processes, rather than decreased bureaucracy, resulting in the loss of professional autonomy (Burton and van den Broek 2009).…”

“…While there is a convincing body of studies verifying the detrimental effects of NPM on social workers' professional ethics, there are few studies showing how they cope with the above-mentioned difficulties. Weinberg and Banks (2019) pointed out ethical resistance as the main strategy to deal with conflicting demands between professional values and work processes. Social workers used direct methods of resistance, such as outright refusals and formal procedures to express their concern, as well as indirect and subtle methods, such as bending rules, shaping language to convince managers and referrals, and prolonging contacts with service users over time limits to secure their access to appropriate services (Weinberg and Banks 2019).…”

“…Weinberg and Banks (2019) pointed out ethical resistance as the main strategy to deal with conflicting demands between professional values and work processes. Social workers used direct methods of resistance, such as outright refusals and formal procedures to express their concern, as well as indirect and subtle methods, such as bending rules, shaping language to convince managers and referrals, and prolonging contacts with service users over time limits to secure their access to appropriate services (Weinberg and Banks 2019). Similarly, social workers at probation offices have attempted to subvert the adverse effects of increased managerialism and control by enhancing good relationships with offenders (Gregory 2011).…”

Marginalised groups protest against social welfare and public health: conceptualising the challenge for social workers

“…Much of the literature on collective action and the social work response focus on cases that are alone inadequate to understanding and explaining collective action by marginalised groups as a general phenomenon for social workers (Brady et al, 2014;Carey & Foster, 2011;Carr, 2007;Hardina et al, 2015;Mendes, 2002;Pyles, 2013;Strier & Bershtling, 2016). Second, few studies explore a crosscountry perspective (Pyles, 2013;Weinberg & Banks, 2019), despite evidence of sharing global disruptions, such as neoliberalisation and the COVID-19 pandemic. The few existing studies do not share a common theory, let alone a conceptual framework.…”

Ethical dilemmas in field placements: The experiences of social work students in Norway and possible implications for social work education

“…The two other ethically challenging aspects for the students were handling the power and responsibility of the worker and negotiating the power of the professional relationship. Weinberg & Banks (2019) write that social workers who in their educational programme have been trained to see moral injuries and to have integrity while working for the best of others, can experience frustration at the micro-level of the work with individuals due to political systems that challenge the situations of the service users. Contemporary political and structural systems seem to conflict with the values of the social work profession.…”