Code of Ethics

Introduction
According to Congress (1999), there has been a renewed and growing interest in social work ethics. This renew interest according to Hugman is due to the development of a greater awareness of the social structural, and political roots of problems faced by social work clients.   Ethics therefore, became the corrective measures used by social work practitioners.   Hugman,(2005) further stated that without a conscious engagement with ethics social workers are poorly equipped to act accountably or to address issues of social injustice faced by clients.  
Codes of professional ethics in social work as in other occupations, seek to fulfill several functions. Among the most important claims made for such codes are; that they provide   guidance to professional practitioners about decisions to be made in determining acceptable and unacceptable professional behaviours; and when combined with a regulatory body, standards to determine who may be excluded from the profession on account of unacceptable behaviour.
According to Jamal and Bowie (1995) codes of ethics are designed to address three major issues. First code of ethics address instances in which a profession’s self-interest may conflict with public’s interest. For example should social workers be expected to disclose to police confidential information about crimes a client admit to committing.
Secondly codes address issues of professional standards which are rules that govern how professionals should behave to enhance and maintain professional integrity. An example of this is that social workers should not engage in sexual relationships with former clients.  
Finally codes address issues that concern professionals’ duty to serve the public interest. Social workers are expected to volunteer some portion of their time without financial return.

Literature Review
  During the earliest years of social work history, few formal ethical standards existed. The earliest known attempt to formulate a code was...