ABSTRACT
The author employs a classic social work strategy in this chapter and reframes the issue of worker “burnout” as one of “battering.” From an analysis of the sources of this battering, he expands his discussion to the ethical issue of balancing concerns of “good” versus “right.” A variety of studies indicate that persons seeking employment in the helping professions do so for nonmaterial as well as material reasons. If one is seeking wealth and status, employment in the helping profession is counterproductive. The nonmaterial rewards are more likely to be realized. In the usual practice situation requiring worker judgments, the worker must reconcile means and ends in choosing what is right and good for the client. This choice is the most difficult one the worker has to make. The author concludes "Ordinarily, in a situation free of conflicting valuations of good and right, right ought to take precedence over good".
