Social work ethics and regulation in British Columbia : a feminist discourse analysis.
Date
1999
Authors
Strega, Susanr
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Abstract
Social work is a profession historically and currently concerned with both public and private dimensions of morality and ethics, yet its own ethical foundation and practices are rarely studied. This study analyzed the discourse of social work ethics and discipline as it is embodied in the regulatory procedures of The British Columbia Board of Registration for Social Workers. The documents and experiences of two social workers, one of them the researcher, were examined through a hermeneutically-influenced discourse analysis.
This study suggests that social work ethics and discipline reproduce the existing ruling relations of heteropatriarchal capitalism, questions the use of juridical discourse in social work ethics and regulation, and creates an oppositional discourse which shows where and how the prevailing discourse might be resisted.