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Publication Date
2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
School for Social Work
Keywords
Social workers-Attitudes, Values, Reproductive rights, Abortion, Social service-Moral and ethical aspects, Contraception, National Association of Social Workers. Code of ethics, Reproductive choice, Social workers personal values, NASW Code of ethics, Social work-Moral and ethical aspects
Abstract
The study examined social worker's views on reproductive choice and personal value conflicts that may exist with the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics (2008) and policy statements. The study sample consisted of 109 social workers who completed a 59 item survey. It was found that the majority of social workers supported a woman's right to choose and had no personal value conflicts with NASW's position on reproductive choice. Yet, 8.3% of social workers stated that women should not have the legal right to terminate their pregnancy for any reason. The majority of respondents were not aware that NASW had published policy statements on reproductive rights and were thus unfamiliar with their content. There was also a general lack of knowledge of laws concerning abortion and contraception. Not all social workers perceive they would be able to separate their personal and professional values in practice. No demographic variables were able to successfully predict attitudes and values on reproductive rights, suggesting it is a complex issue. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine the relationships between variables.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Linnman, Jennifer, "Social workers' views on reproductive choice" (2014). Dissertation, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/377
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Comments
vi, 143 pages : color illustrations. Dissertation (Ph.D.)-Smith College School for Social Work, 2014. Includes bibliographical references (pages 110-115)