Exploring the Ethical Dilemma of Integrating Social Work Values and Military Social Work Practice

Abstract

Social workers often encounter situations in which they are required to function in systems where competing philosophies coexist. One example is the divergent philosophies of social work and the military. Throughout its history, social work has advocated peace as an essential means to achieving social and economic justice. At the same time, professional social workers have been an integral part of the military system dating back to World War I, when social workers joined forces with the Red Cross to treat victims of “shell shock” (Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2010). Currently, the Veterans Administration is the nations' largest employer of professional social workers and provider of graduate internships (NASW, 2012). Defining an ethical dilemma as “a predicament in which the decision-maker must choose between two options of near or equal value,” Tallant and Ryberg (2000, para. 9) posited that military social workers may be forced to choose between the military mission and their client. This dilemma exemplifies the paradox of the social worker within the military system. In recent years, CSWE has called for enhancing content on military practice in social work curricula. Although cautioning that it is not endorsing “war or aggression,” CSWE has argued that increasing students' capacity to work with veterans will establish social workers as leaders in military care and secure future employment opportunities (CSWE, 2010, p. 2). However, discrepancies between the culture and philosophy of the military system and the social work profession warrant further discussion. The juxtaposition between the profession's advocacy for peace and the call for greater military content in social work education presents an ethical dilemma regarding how these disparate positions can be reconciled within social work pedagogy.

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