Confucius is known to have said: ‘By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.’

I have been deeply privileged to participate, over many years, in the rich international dialogue concerning the nature and status of social work ethics. I dare say that our efforts have paid off; the evolution of our grasp of ethical issues and challenges counts as one of the most remarkable developments in the profession's history. Consistent with Confucius's claim, our gains are the product of disciplined reflection informed by sometimes painful experience.

Sarah Banks wisely observes that approaches to social work ethics are a function of political and economic climate and ideology; ambitious contemporary efforts to market social work, use empirical metrics to assess outcomes, promote competition among private sector providers, and achieve economic efficiencies have seriously compromised social workers’ commitment to our world's most vulnerable, least advantaged citizens. Indeed, there is some real risk that ethical standards in social work are being co-opted and used to enhance regulation of practitioners’ conduct rather than promote the profession's broader aims. Banks is right to assert that current trends in social work ethics demand constructively critical analysis and reflection. Her principal thesis – that ‘it is important to extend the topic of ethics beyond the focus on professional codes of conduct and the individual moral agent acting rationally on the basis of ethical principles and rules’ – is spot on.

The devil, however, is in the detail. Reasonable minds may differ regarding the very best ways to forge that path. I would like to share my own views on the matter.

The evolution of social work ethics

Before we focus on essential questions concerning the current status and future of social work ethics, it is important to reflect on the road we have taken to the present. Although past is not always prologue, often it is, at least in some important respects.

Recognising that the theme of values and ethics has endured throughout the profession's history, social workers’ conceptions of what these terms mean have changed over time.