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Citation |
Cowley C. Br. J. Soc. Work 2020; 50(7): 2083-2097. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2020, Oxford University Press) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Healthcare and social work would seem to have a lot in common. Both of them involve professional care, even if the methods and the targeted needs are different. However, they differ strikingly in the place accorded to conscientious objection (CO). The right of healthcare professionals to refuse to perform or authorise certain lawful services is well protected by the law of most Western jurisdictions. In addition, these conscience rights have been subject to a good deal of discussion in the medical ethics and medical law literature. In contrast, there seems to be very little scope for CO among social workers and very little discussion about CO in the social work literature. I examine the possible reasons for this difference, and then investigate the sort of things that a social worker might plausibly object to. In the end, I defend the position that social workers should not be permitted to express a CO, although I accept that they have other avenues for expressing legitimate dissent. |