Ethical re-significations in the form of autonomy for the interventions of contemporary social work

Abstract

The issue of ethics is widely debated nowadays in events, texts, and interventions, as well as in the field of Social Work training. Such debates are related to the meanings of this discipline and to theoretical-methodological derivations for professional training and practice, in the context of the current crisis and before the emerging demands of social rights. Consequently, some voices are heard as they seek not only to widely recognize the professional challenges brought about by the new social realities, but also to reveal the ethical-theoretical essentials that are necessary to approach them. This has implied, for the so-called contemporary social work, to rediscover its ethical bases as a profession, and to elucidate its expectations towards an opening and consolidation in both society itself and the social sciences.

This text presents a conceptual constellation on autonomy, from the point of view of Habermas‟ ethical-discursive perspective, as well as a reflection on the ethical contents related to autonomy, as emerged in contemporary intervention and in Social Work. This is why the starting point here are the current ethical discussions in Social Work, as well as their re-significations, their context, their relation to professional autonomy and their dialogic framework, trying to suggest some articulating elements between ethics, autonomy, and social intervention, which would lead to a methodological proposal for approaching autonomy in the field of social work intervention.