From professional ethics to ethics in professional life : reflections on learning and teaching in social work.

Abstract

This chapter offers some reflections on features of the traditional professional ethics literature used for teaching in the English-speaking world, which tends to focus on codes, conduct and rational decision making in difficult cases. It is argued that this kind of approach offers a rather artificial, abstract and narrow conception of ethics. Consideration is then given to what might be the implications for learning and teaching of shifting emphasis towards a more embedded conception of ethics in professional life, with a focus on the commitment and character of professional practitioners and the specificities of the contexts in which they work.