Objective: The social work profession, by its very nature, interacts with people with many different characteristics. Individuals are directly or indirectly affected by the decisions made by the social worker. Social work is one of the branches of service that aims to provide social justice and social peace for individuals, families, groups, and communities. The probability of encountering ethical dilemmas in the service models offered by social workers is quite high. The values and ethical principles of the social work profession are very important for social workers to solve this dilemma. In this study, it is aimed to determine the attitudes of social workers toward the ethical dilemmas they encounter within the ministries they work.
Methods: Social workers of active duty in 81 provinces were included. It was designed in the general survey model. In the study, The Nathanson and Giffords Social Work Ethics Scale and a sociodemographic information form prepared by the researchers were used. The collected data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program.
Results: The results indicated that women have higher dilemma-solving skills than men; similarly the professionals working in the Ministry of Health have higher dilemma-solving skills than those working in the Ministry of Family and Social Services. In addition, it was observed that these skills decreased as the age and years of experience increased.
Conclusion: In the light of the results, recommendations are made for a broader range of ethics education and training for social workers, and the importance of keeping an updated professional knowledge through academic activities is emphasized.
Cite this article as: Şahin AB, Ozdemir Y, Atak I, Artan T. Evaluating the attitudes of social workers towards ethical dilemmas in Turkey. Arch Health Sci Res. 2023;10(3):181-185.