Pandemic ethics: applying practice lessons to social work education

This workshop will explore lessons learned for social work education from the ethical challenges faced by social workers during Covid-19. Radical changes to practice during this period caused social workers to rethink their notions of right and wrong. An action considered ‘unethical’ in normal times might be judged to be right in pandemic conditions (e.g. restricting family visits to dying relatives, leaving children in inadequate foster placements, meeting service users in gardens, or breaking bad news over the internet). These are examples from social workers’ everyday practice reported in a survey conducted by the authors with the International Federation of Social Workers during May 2020. The pandemic disrupted usual ways of working, in which professional ethical values are embedded, such as: private in-person meetings with confidentiality assured; regular in-person assessments based on service users’ rights to participate in decision-making; or services for homeless people that treat them with dignity and respect. In pandemic conditions, it is important that the ethical components of these practices are identified and abstracted, and new ways of implementing them as well as possible are sought. During a pandemic, how can social workers treat people with as much dignity as possible, accord them respect and choice, and ensure confidentiality and privacy where feasible? How do social workers weigh these principles against preserving the health and safety of individuals, families and the public? The pandemic has brought to the surface the ethical underpinnings of social work for re examination. It has also shown the importance of high levels of ethical awareness and competence to carefully think through the ethical implications of different actions, inactions, attitudes and approaches. This workshop will explore the ethical challenges experienced during Covid-19, and how ethics teaching might take account of learning from the pandemic. We will use case studies from practice in small facilitated groups to draw out key issues, considering new ideas for preparing students through developing ethical vigilance, ethical resistance, enhanced ethical reasoning, decision- making, ‘empathy within reason’, and strengthened professional ethical identity.