Researching ethics in social work

Ethics has in the past decades been of growing interest for social work researchers, as the challenges and vulnerabilities in social work practice are multiplied with the growing complexities of human lives and changing welfare societies. Corresponding difficulties in researching ethics in social work thus necessitate ongoing methodological developments and innovation while understandings of this field can greatly contribute to knowledge base in social work as well as capacity building. Hence, the SWERG (Social Work Ethics Research Group), currently a group of social work researchers from six countries, is dedicated to researching ethics in social work practice, involving aspects such as ethics and professional identity, ethical decision-making, the role of virtue ethics, professional wisdom, ethical dilemmas, ethics education etc. The aims of SWERG are to explore these perspectives in international contexts, with their specific education traditions and social policy frameworks. The validity and relevance of such research rests also on including cross-national and cross-institutional perspectives – and these can be reached through collaboration of researchers across countries. The SWERG group members believe that establishing an interest group (such as a SIG in ESWRA) could facilitate an establishment of a pan-European (and wider) network of researchers interested in social work ethics.