The third edition of this popular book has been updated to take account of the latest developments in policy and social work practice. It includes new sections on radical/emancipatory and postmodern approaches to ethics, analysis of the latest codes of ethics from over 30 different countries, additional case studies of ethical problems and dilemmas, practical exercises, and annotated further reading lists at the end of each chapter.

In this ground breaking and controversial work Richard Bentall shatters the myths that surround madness. He shows there is no reassuring dividing line between mental health and mental illness.

Case study: while on placement at a mental health day centre I was assigned to act as key-worker to Mr X, a working-class white man in his early 40s who has been diagnosed with several psychiatric disorders. Mr X also experiences poor physical health. Mr X has been diagnosed as ?having? obsessive compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, anger management disorder, Tourette's syndrome and paranoia. He has also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. For all these, he daily takes a powerful cocktail of (...) anti-depressants, mood-stabilizers, anti-psychotics and pain killers. From his file I noted that he had been discharged from the local community psychiatric team, so he no longer had regular and unproblematic access to either a psychiatrist or social worker. He had been receiving anger management therapy (AMT), but his attendance had been sporadic. Mr X had, he claimed, no real friends, or, as he put it, ?just mere acquaintances?. Mr X lives alone with his mother. Mr X was a new member at the day centre but had had a long career as a mental health service user (owing to his angry behaviours he had been ?asked to leave? his previous day centre). The stated and overt purpose of our relationship was to collaborate towards ameliorating his situation. This work more commonly consisted of offering emotional and practical support, but, when first assigned Mr X, I was told by my practice assessor that eventually I would be required to carry out a risk assessment of him. So, for the purposes of this essay, I will focus on the ethical problems and dilemmas I encountered in the progression leading towards, and the actual process of carrying out, an assessment of the supposed risk that Mr X may pose either to himself, others or both. (shrink)

Drawing from my previous experiences as an Approved Social Worker and my current experiences as a social work educator, this paper will explore the issues that mental health professionals, and specifically social workers, will face when confronted with the requirement to make decisions that are contrary to the emancipatory values that may have been inculcated in them during their period of training. The controlling nature of statutory social work in particular will be investigated and an assessment of its impact will (...) be offered. The legislative system in the United Kingdom dictates that one piece of legislation can override another in certain instances. In applying this phenomenon, the argument will be made that social workers are increasingly required to override certain values to accomplish the desired outcomes of their position. Ethical issues and the concept of care versus control will be assessed in an attempt to rationalize the problems faced by many of today's mental health social workers. (shrink)

Social Ethics is an animated introduction to moral philosophy and the key ethical issues of today, and will serve as the ideal text for undergraduate courses in applied, practical and social ethics.