Self Determination Essay Example

Self determination means the right to determine ones own life. Client self determination in the context of modern day social work relates to the idea that we want our work to be anti oppressive and to empower our clients. It’s a theory that requires that we respect our client’s rights and dignity and we believe that nobody is more qualified to run their lives but them. The Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (AASW) outlines the role of the social worker and puts in place ethical guidelines that social workers must abide by when practising. The Code states that “each society has an obligation to pursue social justice, to provide maximum benefit for all its members and to afford them protection from harm” (AASW code of ethics 2004). This quote from the Code of Ethics puts emphasis on the principle self determination, as we believe that maximum benefit comes from empowering a client to feel confident to determine their own life.

“We believe that self-determination is an important value, although it needs to be balanced against dangers to others if decisions have the potential to harm others” (Chenoweth and McAuliffe (2008, p. 53). The conception of the discourse is largely derived from the works of French philosopher Michael Foucault. The main theme of Foucault’s work is” The importance of discourse as the location in which power is defined and refined” (M.foucault (1972). Archaeology of knowledge. New York, Pantheon.). It is proposed that there are 4 competing discourses in human service delivery these are Managerial discourse, Professional discourse, Market discourse and Community discourse The principle of self determination poses many challenges in being operationalised in the context of social work as not all of the four discourses of human services allow room for or their philosophies contradict the intervention of the concept of self determination.

. Social work in the past has been operationalised by the professional discourse. This