The Concept of Control in Selected Codes of Ethics in Social Work

Abstract

Social work is referred to as an ambivalent profession which includes both assistance and control. This leads to a number of dilemmas. As support when seeking for the solution to those dilemmas one could use the Code of Ethics for social workers of the Czech Republic. Due to the fact that its current form does not focus on the topic of control and that there are not many guides in the Czech language for its processing, the aim of this text is to fi nd out how control work with clients is processed by selected codes of ethics. In order to achieve the goal, we chose a qualitative analysis of eight selected codes of ethics. We have found that the codes examined can be distinguished according to logic – explicit use of the term control, legitimate/illegitimate control, contraindication of control, the situation of legitimate control, the form of control, and ethics of control work. This text is devoted to the fi rst four categories. It is this scope that could be used in the eventual consensus of experts about the new necessity to incorporate parts dealing with control into the Czech Code.