Ethical Dilemmas in Power and Authority: A Social Work Student Confronts Her Own Power

Abstract

Issues of power and authority are core to social work. Social workers often grapple with difficult professional and systemic power dynamics with both service users and the other professionals they encounter in multi-agency working. In this essay, I reflect on my experiences of the ethical issues arising from an imbalance in power dynamics – both between myself and a service user and between myself and another professional. I explore the use of power and professional authority, value dilemmas resulting from my role as both a social work student and a youth justice worker, and deontological and teleological issues arising from tensions between professionals with differing objectives.

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