Conflict of interest in social work policy Case Study

Conflict of interest in social work policy - Case Study Example As social workers strive to maintain the expected professional and personal ethics, they face challenges when handling ethical dilemmas. Usually, there are times when there is an evident conflict between policy and practice and social workers are compelled to make critical decisions when handling such conflicts. The code of ethics is critical in establishing certain ethical standards that define the social work profession. This paper will consider conflicts of interest as one of the ethical standards governing the conduct of social workers. It will present instances of unethical social work behavior and present scenarios whereby there is evident conflict between policy and practice. In such situations, social workers are expected to depict a professional demeanor, and this will be discussed in the paper. According to the code of ethics that social workers rely on for guidelines of their professional behavior, it is evident that they should stay clear from conflicts of interest that compromise their professional discretion motivating them to exhibit partial judgments. Social workers are required to recognize any occurrence of a conflict of interest that may arise between them and their clients and take the necessary steps to address the conflict of interest. Notably, it is the role of the social worker to protect the interests of the client. In serious cases when a conflict of interest arises between a social worker and a client, the situation compels the social worker to terminate the professional relationship (Congress, 2001). After the termination of the professional relationship, the social worker may refer the client to a colleague. These ethical standards also forbid social workers from using professional relationships with clients to promote their interests, whether personal, political, and business or religion. In addition, it is unethical for social workers develop dual or multiple