ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the approved social worker's role in sections 115,137, 138,29 and 135 of the Mental Health Act 1983, which form boundaries of the approved social worker's role. It explores some implications for the approved social worker in relation to professional and personal ethics. The relationship between the notion of an ethical base for approved social workers and the core value base as defined by the Central Council for the Education and Training of Social Workers (CCETSW) has perhaps remained dormant. Professional ethics are not mentioned explicitly in CCETSW's paper 19.19, although seven core values are identified. The chapter focuses on social work aspects of the Mental Health Act 1983. There are sections of the Act which can place approved social workers in an invidious and precarious position with regard to their professional duties and individual responsibility—a position which evokes dilemmas touching on professional and personal ethics.
