ABSTRACT
An underlying tenet of this chapter is that workers in the helping professions should seek to take a principled and ethical stance in relation to their work, not only in their direct work with clients but in all of the professional roles and tasks that they undertake. Practitioners’ own individual understanding of what is ‘right’ or ‘fitting’ is likely to exert a significant influence on their practice, and such understanding is a sound starting point for taking an ethical path through the maze of work. As Baldwin and Barker (1991) state:
Workers are accountable to their clients, their colleagues, employers and to society. Each worker has a responsibility to determine where his or her ultimate responsibility rests. Within these constraints, many workers will decide that they are, ultimately, responsible to themselves, and will operate according to a personal ethical code.
