Values and Ethics and Asylum Seekers

Values and Ethics and Asylum Seekers

Ethical awareness is a necessary part of the professional practice of social workers and their ability to act ethically is an essential aspect of the quality of service offered to clients (Ethics pp). According to the International Federation of Social Workers, professional social workers are dedicated to service for the welfare of human beings, and to the use of scientific knowledge concerning human behavior (International pp). Workers are also expected to use resources for the enhancement of the quality of life and to achieve social justice (International pp).

According to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers:

The social worker should act to prevent practices that are inhumane or discriminatory against any person or group of persons.

F.3. The social worker should not practice, condone, facilitate or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, mental or physical handicap, or any other preference or personal characteristic, condition or status.

III.G.3. The social worker should not engage in any action that violates or diminishes the civil or legal rights of clients.

(Staton pp).

Under #1.5 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, social workers must understand culture and its function in human behavior and society and understand the strengths that exist in all cultures (Staton pp). Moreover, they should be knowledgeable of their clients' cultures and competent in providing services that are sensitive to differences among cultural groups (Staton pp). Social workers should be educated concerning the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to "race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, political belief, religion, and mental or physical disability" (Staton pp).

According to Anita Bocker, refugees and the global refugee problem have generally been studied from two perspectives. First, from the legal perspective of international law, focusing on the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with respect to the legal definition of refugee and the concept of the rights of those granted status or other form of protection (Bocker pp). Second, from the perspective of the integration of refugees within the country of settlement, regarding housing, medical needs, voluntary agencies and participation in the labor market (Bocker pp). During the last ten years, these perspectives have been supplemented by studies into other aspects of the refugee problem, with respect to the causes of migration, financial and other assistance to the countries of first refuge in a conflict region, and the refugee policy of a certain country or group of countries (Bocker pp). Bocker concludes that it is not the characteristics of the countries of destination as much as the situation of the asylum seekers or the circumstances of the flight which appear to determine the destination of the asylum seeker's flight (Bocker pp).

Respect for autonomy means respectful actions, not simply an attitude of acceptance (Staton pp). Although quality of empathy, cultural sensitivity is not testable as content, it can however be an expectation of practice in the same sense that integrity or justice can be (Staton pp). The desirable posture for the social worker is one of cultural agnosticism (Staton pp). In other words, "not trusting in any particular cultural mold to determine what is right, wrong, or ultimately meaningful" (Staton pp).