In recent decades, after several family tragedies with fatal outcomes in the Netherlands, a critical attitude emerged towards the role of youth care that prompted refinements of procedures and guidelines. These measures partly aim to eliminate moral hesitancy among social workers, defined as hesitation to act while expected to know the morally right thing to do. Yet such efforts were implemented without substantial insight into the phenomenon itself. This qualitative study investigates how social workers experience moral hesitance in situations of child abuse and how such hesitance manifests itself and is managed. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty workers varying in age, experience, background, and position. Grounded theory analysis revealed three types of moral hesitance: role ambiguity, uncertainty about possible courses of action, and limitations. These categories improve the understanding of moral urgency in child abuse contexts and demonstrate that moral, cognitive, and practical challenges contribute to the development of moral hesitance. While hesitation may persist, fade, or be overridden by external pressures, it can also stimulate deliberate moral reflection and promote moral competence. Further research is needed to identify additional types of moral hesitance, examine their interplay, and develop support for workers who encounter moral hesitance in daily practice.
This article discusses ways in which the work of moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre can be drawn upon by social work as a practicing profession and academic discipline to enrich theory and practice. MacIntyre's ideas about the exercise of practical rationality, the cultivation of professional virtues and the pursuit of excellence in professional practice are particularly apposite to social work theory and practice. These ideas can be worked with and modified by social work theorists and practitioners. Useful modifications and additions to a MacIntyrean approach in social work could include the moral teachings of Indigenous cultures, Habermas's model of communicative rationality, insights from pragmatic philosophy and the ethics of care, and a continuing basic deontological commitment to human dignity and human rights. A nuanced approach to applying MacIntyrean thinking on practical rationality and virtue ethics could better position social work to be a more effective moral leader and a more substantive contributor to the struggles for social justice and ecological sustainability in our troubled world.
This ethics in practice article reflects on the ethical dilemmas and tensions that emerged from a research study employing online interviews with social workers in the context of (i) how to respond to suspected Imposter Participants (ii) whether to report individuals for fraudulently posing as social workers; (iii) how to better screen for Imposter Participants whilst minimising the chance of excluding genuine participants and (iv) whether to reimburse suspected Imposter Participants for their time. The article also makes recommendations for researchers seeking to recruit a similar participant demographic by way of a 'what we would do differently next time' section.
In response to ongoing debates regarding universality versus cultural relativism in the development of social work codes of ethics and globalised approaches to social work values, this article utilises the talanoa methodology to explore Fijian constructions of good social work. Speaking with 42 social workers from across Fiji's five major townships, this paper suggests that practice efforts that prioritise the importance of being accountable to your community lend well to both the Fijian-specific practice landscape and the broader terrain of global social work praxis. It found that key concepts such as 'walking the walk', 'practicing what you preach' and 'going the extra mile' highlight the significance of integrity when building trust and meaningful relationships for practice. An integrity framework may assist in global retheorizing efforts of values and ethics in social work practice.
Zimbabwe is a country well known for its strong child protection policies; however, in some cases, the application on the ground is a challenge. Protection rights ensure children's safety, which is crucial for optimal development. This article focuses on the perspectives of the early childhood development phase. Data were collected from seven directors of seven children's homes in Harare, Zimbabwe, using semi-structured individual interviews. Data were thematically analysed. Findings indicated a mixture of negative and positive perceptions towards promoting children's protection rights. The findings revealed that perceptions of corporal punishment generated tension between cultural norms and child protection policies. The study further highlighted the challenges of safeguarding children who exhibit complex behavioural issues. Some participants indicated a positive perception of promoting children's protection rights, which was evident through the use of age-appropriate chores. Recommendations were made to mitigate the risks in a bid to promote and implement protection rights in Harare's children's homes.
This article comprises a series of discrete reflections by different authors on the theme of 're-imagining social work ethics'. It takes its inspiration from a workshop hosted by the Social Work Ethics Research Group (SWERG) in partnership with the Ethics and Social Welfare journal. The authors consider the meaning and motivation of calls to 're-imagine' social work ethics in the light of current practical, political and philosophical challenges to the western, universalist and anthropocentric values underpinning the profession. They conclude that the process of re-imagining ethics is a necessary and valuable exercise, while challenging to implement in practice.
This paper argues that the U.S. child welfare system is structurally rooted in racism, settler-colonialism, and white supremacy, and therefore cannot be reformed but must be abolished. Drawing on epistemic injustice theory, it examines how child welfare practices systematically silence and delegitimize the knowledge of Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized families while privileging white family norms. Recent empirical studies demonstrate the persistent overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous children in out-of-home care, alongside racially inequitable decision-making processes that shape investigation, substantiation, and removal. This paper situates the U.S. within a global context, tracing parallels across settler-colonial states, highlighting how child welfare systems operate as tools of social control and family separation, and argues that social workers must move beyond reformist approaches and align with abolitionist movements that seek to dismantle child welfare, replacing it with community-based, anti-racist structures of care and support. By confronting the intertwined epistemic and material violence of child welfare, social work can play a role in building liberatory alternatives grounded in justice, safety, and collective well-being.
