British Journal of Social Work(2008)38, 1238-1249 . dvance Access publication July 2, 200B Critical Commentary: Social Work Ethics Sarah bank Sarah Banks is Professor in the School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham Un writes and researches on ethical issues relating to the social professions, and has just completed a ook with Ann Gallagher on Ethics in Professional Life: Virtues for Health and Social Care, to Correspondence to Professor Sarah Banks, School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Elvet Riverside 2, New Elvet, Durham DH13JT, UK. Email: s j. banks(@durham.ac uk Summary This short article explores the expanding and contested terrain of social work ethics, considering the form and content of future areas for development. It charts the broad- ening of the field beyond a focus on professional codes of ethics, principle-based the- ories, difficult cases and decision-making models towards more embedded and situated approaches to ethics in professional life. The potential for further empirical research into ethical issues in social work, including how practitioners conceptualize and handle ethical difficulties, is noted, alongside the scope for focused studies and monographs drawing on moral, political and religious philosophy to examine particular theoretical approaches(such as virtue ethics or the ethics of care)or to develop new ways of approaching ethics in social work, drawing on its radical, critical and transforma tory traditions. 9569 Keywords: Social work ethics, professional ethics, moral philosophy Introduction This critical commentary focuses on social work ethics as an emerging subject area within the professional discipline of social work. In this context, I am using the term social work ethics as a singular term to refer to a specialist area of professional ethics comprising the study of the norms of right action, good qualities of character and values relating to the nature of the good life that are aspired to, espoused and enacted by social workers in the context of their work The body of literature on social work ethics is still relatively small com pared with that in related fields such as medical or nursing ethics, but it is C The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.Critical Commentary: Social Work Ethics Sarah Banks Sarah Banks is Professor in the School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, UK. She writes and researches on ethical issues relating to the social professions, and has just completed a book with Ann Gallagher on Ethics in Professional Life: Virtues for Health and Social Care, to be published by Palgrave Macmillan. Correspondence to Professor Sarah Banks, School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Elvet Riverside 2, New Elvet, Durham DH1 3JT, UK. Email:s.j.banks@durham.ac.uk Summary This short article explores the expanding and contested terrain of social work ethics, considering the form and content of future areas for development. It charts the broad￾ening of the field beyond a focus on professional codes of ethics, principle-based the￾ories, difficult cases and decision-making models towards more embedded and situated approaches to ethics in professional life. The potential for further empirical research into ethical issues in social work, including how practitioners conceptualize and handle ethical difficulties, is noted, alongside the scope for focused studies and monographs drawing on moral, political and religious philosophy to examine particular theoretical approaches (such as virtue ethics or the ethics of care) or to develop new ways of approaching ethics in social work, drawing on its radical, critical and transforma￾tory traditions. Keywords: Social work ethics, professional ethics, moral philosophy Introduction This critical commentary focuses on social work ethics as an emerging subject area within the professional discipline of social work.1 In this context, I am using the term ‘social work ethics’ as a singular term to refer to a specialist area of professional ethics comprising the study of the norms of right action, good qualities of character and values relating to the nature of the good life that are aspired to, espoused and enacted by social workers in the context of their work. The body of literature on social work ethics is still relatively small com￾pared with that in related fields such as medical or nursing ethics, but it is # The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved. British Journal of Social Work (2008) 38, 1238–1249 doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn099 Advance Access publication July 2, 2008 at Fudan university on January 6, 2011 bjsw.oxfordjournals.org Downloaded from