Groups needing a social worker's advocacy include children, the aged, the disabled, minorities, and the poor. Social workers make decisions every day. Some decisions are easy, such as deciding when to schedule appointments. Other decisions are difficult, such as whether to take an abused child into protective custody and place that child in a foster home. Social workers frequently make decisions that are considered to be ethical dilemmas .
Ethical dilemmas pose difficult and painful challenges to social workers.
They involve deciding which ethics, among the ethics subscribed to by the social work profession, should take precedence in situations with clients. For example, clients may reveal information potentially threatening to someone else. Taking preventative action by revealing the information to law enforcement officials and to the person who is threatened involves revealing information that a client shared in confidence. If your answer is yes, then social work may be the profession for you. Good communication and listening skills are needed by social workers.