Values in practice What it means to work

Values in practice What it means to work ethically ‘. . affording a glimpse of how men’s minds are moving overseas’ The Social Worker, Clement Attlee (1920) Guy Shennan Chair, British Association of Social Workers Riga, 4 November 2016

Greetings from London’s East End, where Settlements were born! Oxford House St Margarets House What can we learn from the settlement movement about how values change over time?

Some thoughts to get us started • Values are everywhere, and effect everything we do • A collaboration • Assumption of doing our best • What does your being here today say about your values? • Thinking about language - what do we call the people we work with?

http: //ifsw. org/news/ifsw-statement-from-thesolidarity-symposium-on-social-work-and-austerity/ “The International Federation of Social Workers brought together country representatives from Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Spain and UK to create links between the social workers in the austerity-affected countries for shared learning, support, solidarity and joint action”.

• Is the Client a Fellow Citizen? - Bill Jordan, talk at the BASW Conference, 1975 • Listen to what Daniel Blake says!

“Social workers tend to shy away from thinking about value questions”*, but. . . • Values are everywhere, and effect everything we do, and show in what we do • And our values show in the language we use • So we must think about them and talk about them! • First, what do we mean by ‘values’? *Terry Bamford, 1990

What are values? • The moral principles and beliefs or accepted standards of a person or social group (Collins English Dictionary) • Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes; they reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be (Wikipedia) • Types of values include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values (Wikipedia)

What are your values? • Personal values • Cultural (group) values • Social work values - shared values play a role in the formation of a profession

Merton’s three elements of social values in the concept of profession • Value placed on systematic knowledge and the intellect - Knowing • Value placed upon technical skill and trained capacity - Doing • Value placed upon putting this conjoint knowledge and skill to work in the service of others - Helping Which knowledge, what skills, in the service of whom?

Occupational or organisational professionalism? • • Occupational professionalism • • A focus on the service user • Knowledge is of organisational structure, rules and procedures Doing the right thing, or doing things right? Values and definitions of problems and solutions are the business of social work as a profession Draws on knowledge of user issues Organisational professionalism The locus of control lies with the agency and priorities are managerial procedures and techniques, budgetary imperatives, performance management and audit Jane Fenton (2016) Organisational professionalism and moral courage: contradictory concepts in social work? in Critical and Radical Social Work, 4, 2, 199 -215

Three categories of social work values • Conceptions of people • Outcomes for people • Dealing with people Levy, 1973

Social work values over time A shift from individualist to collective values - influence of radical social work and user movements • ‘Traditional’ values (psychoanalytic influence) • Respect • Individualisation • Confidentiality • Self-determination • Contemporary values (more collective) • Social justice • Equality • Rojek et al, 1988 Human rights

Global Definition of Social Work • Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing. http: //ifsw. org/get-involved/global-definition-of-social-work/

IFSW Statement of Ethical Principles • Human Rights and Human Dignity • • Recognising diversity • Distributing resources equitably • Challenging unjust policies and practices • • Challenging negative discrimination Working in solidarity Social Justice • • Promoting the right to participation • Treating each person as a whole • • Respecting the right to self-determination Identifying and developing strengths Professional conduct • Social workers should act in accordance with the ethical code or guidelines current in their country. . . http: //ifsw. org/policies/statement-of-ethical-principles/

From global to local values • IFSW Statement of Ethical Principles • National Codes of Ethics • Ethical awareness and choices of individual social workers

A radical caveat • “It is, of course, a statement or an aspiration that we would want to adhere to. . . (b)ut we should not confuse the definition with what the vast majority of state-directed social workers actually do in their practice. The definition helps to portray social work as a humane and radical task when the reality of ‘professional’ social work in most states is very different” Chris Jones & Michael Lavalette (2013). The two souls of social work: Exploring the roots of ‘popular social work’, Critical and Radical Social Work, 1, 2, 147– 65.

Big words up here SOCIĀLAIS VIENLĪDZĪBA TAISNĪGUMS CIEŅA CILVĒKTIESĪBAS PAŠNOTEIKŠANĀS Need to show up in small ways, down here

So. . . • If values are up there • And what we do is down here • How do we connect the two levels?

• “There is indeed a difficulty in living up to such aspirations, especially if we focus on what we can do as individual practitioners” • Shennan, 2015

“Knowledge is social” Niels Christian Barkholt * • We need to talk to each other • Ask each other questions • Share stories • Examine and reflect on our practice • Create contexts for this knowledge-sharing “We must focus on what a knowledge-based workplace looks like” * ‘Knowledge-sharing in social work’ - https: //www. basw. co. uk/blog_read. php? pid=20

• Becky’s story

Values in practice • What values do you see and hear in my work with Krystal? • “Trust in yourself, trust in profession, trust in people of how to create and sustain the meaning in your everyday work? ” Trust the process - trust the client

Values in practice • Form a pair Your turn! • One of you bring to mind a piece of work you’ve done recently - tell your partner about it - briefly! - and about what values of yours showed in this work • Change roles - tell your partner about an important value for you as a social worker. Now think of a recent piece of work where this value showed and describe the work - briefly! - and how the value showed through in it

Working collaboratively with service users (2)

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• “What do you want from us, what do you need? ” • Rea Maglajlic, social work lecturer, University of Brighton , UK

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Working with service users • Alliances & solidarity • Collaborative practice • Supporting self-help and peer support • User studies • User-led research

Values and resources • Alliances with service users • Colleagues • Moral courage • Knowledge • ‘Resources of hope’

What we have covered collaboratively together • Our values guide all that we do • Our values are reflected in and communicated by our language • It can be hard to talk about our values and how they show in our practice, and it is important to do so! • There are individual values and shared values • The shared values of social work are part of what makes it a profession • Our actions arise from our knowledge and values • Occupational professionalism or organisational professionalism • Values develop and change over time • Values such as social justice, human rights and professional integrity are important, and they are very high level concepts and need to translate into and connect with our practice on the ground • Working and acting collaboratively reflect an important value • We need resources to put our values into practice, especially each other!

Thank you, for your collaboration, for your listening and your reflecting Guy Shennan Chair, British Association of Social Workers Riga, 4 November 2016 guyshennan@sfpractice. co. uk www. sfpractice. co. uk