Turn complex ethical challenges into confident action with applied frameworks and real-world insight.

Enhance and expand your social work practice with a comprehensive, case-based text designed for today’s rapidly changing landscape. Featuring authentic scenarios reflecting contemporary ethical challenges, it helps students, faculty, and practitioners apply frameworks, interpret the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics, and implement solutions. This textbook helps strengthen critical thinking and professional judgment with multi-level practice coverage, diverse contributor insights, and digital resources. Unlock your free eBook with your print purchase—accessible anytime on Springer Publishing Connect!

Key Features:

Provides case-based chapters with frameworks, tools, and ethics codeintegration for real-world analysis
Builds confidence to assess ethical dilemmas and implement effective, professional decisions
Includes Instructor’s Manual, Instructor Test Bank, Instructor ChapterPowerPoint slides, and Sample Syllabus
Renowned leaders and practitioners bring diverse expertise and practical insight to every chapter

Contents

Contributors

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Resources

UNIT I. SOCIAL WORK ETHICS, THE NASW CODE, AND ETHICAL THEORY

Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview

Chapter 2. Codes of Ethics

Chapter 3. A Moral Response to a Shattered World: The Values, Principles, and Theory of Social Work Ethics

Chapter 4. From Theory to Practice: Social Work Models of Ethical Decision Making

UNIT II. ETHICAL PROBLEM SOLVING—CLIENTS, PROFESSIONALS, ORGANIZATIONS

Chapter 5. Confidentiality and Privacy in Social Work

Chapter 6. Boundaries and Dual Relationships

Chapter 7. Ethical Challenges in Technology, AI, and Social Media

UNIT III. ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE—MICRO, MEZZO, AND MACRO APPLICATION

Chapter 8. Ethical Dilemmas in Physical Health

Chapter 9. Ethical Dilemmas in Mental Health

Chapter 10. Ethical Dilemmas in Substance Use Disorders—Interventions

Chapter 11. Ethical Dilemmas in Group and Family Work

Chapter 12. Ethical Dilemmas in Children's Services

Chapter 13. Ethical Dilemmas in Services to Older People

Chapter 14. Ethical Dilemmas in Macro Practice: Administration and Organizations

Chapter 15. Ethical Dilemmas in Macro Practice: Community Organizing

Chapter 16. Ethical Dilemmas in Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Chapter 17. Ethical Dilemmas in Social Work Education

UNIT IV. ETHICS OF RACE, OPPRESSION, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Chapter 18. Ethics and the Other: Racialized Borders, Black Immigrants, and the Ethics of Belonging

Chapter 19. Ethical Dilemmas and Transgender Care in Conservative and Liberal Environments

Chapter 20. Ethical Issues and Social Policy—Immigration

UNIT V. CONCLUSION—LIVING AND PRACTICING ETHICALLY

Chapter 21. The Ethical Professional in an Era of Empathy Abandonment

Chapter 22. The Future of Social Work Ethics: Reflections on the Ethics and Philosophy of Practice in Contentious Times

Index

Authors

Elaine P. Congress, DSW, MSW, MA, LCSW, is professor and associate dean at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. At the United Nations, she represents three NGOs (Non-government Organizations), the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the Institute of Multicultural Counseling and Education Services (IMCES), and Fordham University. Each year she oversees a group of Fordham graduate students at the United Nations. Dr. Congress is also a member of the executive committee of the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is vice-chair of the NGO Committee on Mental Health, and is active on the NGO Committee on Migration and the Committee on the Status of Women. She has served as the North American representative on the IFSW's Permanent Committee on Ethical Issues.

Eric Levine, DSW, LMSW, MSW, is assistant professor and director of the Alumni Association at the Touro University Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW), overseeing continuing education, licensing, career support, and resource development. He has extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, with expertise in organizational management, fundraising, strategic planning, community and government relations, and community organizing.

Katie Schendel, LMSW, is a 2025 MSW graduate from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service, where she received her Master of Social Work and Certification in Crisis and Resilience. At Fordham, she was recognized with the Ann Walsh Award for her commitment to social change.

Instructors

Suggested Courses: 

Values and Ethics for Social Work Practice/Service Delivery
Philosophical Foundations of Social Work
Legal Foundations of Social Work

Included Instructor Resources: 

LMS Common Cartridge With All Instructor Resources
Instructor's Manual
Instructor Test Bank
Instructor Chapter PowerPoints
Sample Syllabus

Included Student Resources:

Glossary

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Product Details

Release Date: November 28, 2026
Paperback / softback
351 Pages
Trim Size: 7in x 10in

Number of Illustrations: 1
ISBN: 9780826191649
eBook ISBN: 9780826187697

Resolving Ethical Challenges in Social Work Practice

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