Social Work Education in Action Values, Ethics, Law, & Decision-Making in Social Work Practice

1. Purpose and Mission of Social Work  2. Social Work Values: Strategies Used to Fulfill the Mission  3. Social Work Ethics: Responsibilities to Clients  4. Government Interference and Mandated Protections  5. Duty of Care  6. Duty to Inform  7. Duty to Respect and Protect Privacy  8. Duty of Confidentiality  9. Duty to Report  10. Duty to Warn or Protect  11. Handling Ethical Dilemmas

Biography

Raquel Warley, PhD, is an associate professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, a former Chair of the Council on Practice Methods and Specializations and member of the Commission on Educational Policy for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). 

"Social Work-In-Action is a timely and essential resource for the next generation of social workers, who will need to respond to new challenges with creativity rooted in the deepest principles of their profession. Raquel Warley has succeeded in bridging the often-wide gap between theory and practice by grounding values, ethics, and legal responsibilities in real-world case examples and practical activities. What sets this book apart from traditional textbooks is its workbook approach, which not only teaches concepts but actively trains students to embody professional values through concrete, observable behaviors.

Warley’s teaching and learning framework ensures that students are not passive recipients of abstract knowledge that they will need to retrieve (or not!) in the future, when it is time for them to practice with clients. Instead, students are engaged participants in their own professional formation while they are learning abstract concepts. The clarity of the writing, combined with the depth of practice exercises and attention to pedagogy, make this volume invaluable for classroom instruction, field education, and lifelong learning."

Joanna Karczewska, PhD, MSW; California State University, Los Angeles

 

"This textbook makes an outstanding contribution to social work education. Grounded in the science of learning and informed by adult learning theory, it fosters deep understanding, ethical awareness, and real-world skill application. Informed by professional values, ethics, and legal responsibilities, it cultivates skills necessary for a competent and thoughtful practitioner. Through its integration of microlearning, metacognition, and experiential practice, it enhances professional preparation and reflective capacity. Rich with applied learning opportunities, this research-informed textbook exemplifies how thoughtful curriculum design can produce ethical, practice-ready social work professionals for today’s complex educational and practice environments."

Chaka McAlpin, PsyD, LMFT; California State University, Dominguez Hills