Ethics deals with moral principles; it is the science of morality, reflecting on morality and posing questions such as: What is good and what is evil? What is the meaning of my behavior and conduct? How should I act correctly? and similar questions of that kind. Ethics is concerned with human action, and its objects of study are: 1) good and evil in human effort and conduct; 2) values and principles and their realization. Ethics is then a philosophical discipline whose subject is evaluative judgments dealing with distinguishing what is good and what is evil, correct and incorrect. Ethics appears in everyday human life, and therefore it should help us when deciding and acting in difficult, complex life situations. Ethics regulates our behavior so that it is morally right. Ethics can therefore be seen as a tool for examining what is of immense practical importance for a person and at the same time morally right. Ethics is also a theory of morality and ethics itself. The task of morality, in turn, is to determine the degree of certain behavior traits, to define which kinds of behavior, or degrees of specific behavior, are acceptable or not acceptable for both the individual and society. Ethics is therefore closely connected with morality. From their relationship it follows that ethics is a form of morality and morality is the content of ethics. It is their close connection that creates behavioral rules. Morality can therefore be characterized as a social phenomenon that reflects interpersonal relationships and human activity from the perspective of good and evil, extending into all other areas of life. We can find it, for example, in politics, law, art, philosophy, religion, and even in practical human conduct. Morality points to a person's relation to the world, to other people, to nature, and to society. Morality is a complex social phenomenon. Morality is then a set of thinking and related human conduct that corresponds to the relevant ethical and social norms. Morality is a set of moral rules and norms for human conduct. Ethics is therefore a kind of guide for people in life and addresses questions of humaneness and humanity.
Morality evaluates human behavior in terms of good and evil, by comparing it with human conscience. Morally good is that conduct that is in harmony with the actor's conscience. In this respect, according to Jankovský, we do not speak of morality, but of the morality of a specific person. As the author argues, morality (morálka) cannot be objectively evaluated because no one is capable of looking into another person's conscience. If a person's conduct is to be assessed, then it is possible only from the perspective of adherence to given norms, that is, morality. (Jankovský, 2003, s. 24) Morality therefore fulfills a regulatory function, an evaluative-normative function, a cognitive function, a prognostic function, a motivational function, an informative function, a communicative function, and an educational function.
In the regulatory function, morality is about moral regulation that directs the behavior of an individual within the social group to which they belong. The evaluative-normative function is characterized by its two-dimensionality (evaluation—norm, or imperative), because evaluation automatically becomes norm (imperative), and an imperative is in its own way an evaluation. The cognitive function starts from the view that evaluation is a form of knowing, knowing meaning, and that the imperative is based on experience, and therefore on knowledge. The cognitive function is primarily about finding appropriate, that is, correct, conduct. The prognostic function, through ideals, makes it possible to uncover a desirable line of behavior. Its projection is based rather on emotional dynamic stereotypes and emotional bonds, and therefore it does not have a scientifically precise conceptual character. It stems more from moral intuition than from theoretical analyses, but in the social process it plays an extremely important role, though one still little appreciated. The motivational function, in turn, is aimed at motivating human behavior. According to this function, the correctness of human conduct is judged from motives, not from actions. (Vajda, 1995, s. 19 – 21)
On the one hand, morality regulates, directs, evaluates, understands, prognosticates, motivates, and commands; on the other, because it must mediate its rich arsenal of means from person to person, it also fulfills informative and communicative functions. All these functions converge in the educational function. Morality therefore represents value hierarchies and the imperatives that follow from them, teaches a person to behave morally, and becomes a substantial educational element in forming the person.
Ethics plays a key role in cooperation between the field social worker and the teacher in order to improve the educational conditions of Roma children from socially disadvantaged environments. We consider Roma education to be one of the main goals of improving the life level of Roma in Slovakia and in Europe. In this context, education is viewed as one of the possible instruments for addressing Roma social and economic problems. However, Roma education, especially the education of Roma children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, requires the involvement of a broad range of experts such as a general practitioner, teacher, teaching assistant, educator, school psychologist, field social worker, and others, whose work positively determines the living and educational conditions of these children.
The field social worker and the teacher are two professions whose active cooperation can positively influence not only the social and economic problems but also the educational problems of students from Roma communities. The teacher, from the perspective of their profession, should educate pupils in accordance with principles of morality and ethics, provide high-quality education, and create a favorable atmosphere for that to happen. The field social worker, from the perspective of their profession, should provide social assistance and work with the Roma community in its natural social environment. The success of educating children from Roma communities requires good life and educational conditions that these communities and families do not have. And it is precisely in this area that the field social worker should propose ways to address their social situation and help Roma communities to address their social inclusion problems. For example, improving their way of life so that Roma children avoid mental, physical, and social disorders and also avoid socio-pathological phenomena.
"On the one hand, our society exerts pressure on responsible educational institutions to prepare citizens for life in the knowledge society and to ensure that as many as possible of them are employable on the labor market during their lifetime. On the other hand, the education sector, which provides primary and secondary education of citizens after compulsory school attendance, is shocked to note that each year schools are being left by Roma, a larger part of whom, for example, cannot even sign their names or read a written text continuously and with understanding. Roma move from the sector of compulsory schooling directly into the social sector, which over the next 50 years of their lives provides social interventions, especially in the form of material hardship benefits. Instead of actively demonstrating throughout the period of receiving material hardship benefits that they are increasing and developing themselves according to the needs of the knowledge economy, they have 'considered their individual potential'." (Loran, 2010, s. 50)
There are many social, economic, cultural, and systemic causes leading to absence and school failure of Roma children. Among the repeatedly recurring causes are poor health, low motivation to learn, sexual behavior by which girls often have children early, and then their social role becomes bringing them up and caring for the family, and also poor self-perception and school results, among others. For example, according to Loran, "the first and most clearly visible objective factor contributing to the production of the human capital potential of Roma is unquestionably elementary school as the educational environment. In fulfilling compulsory school attendance of minor citizens—students, it even has a legal obligation to shape primary literacy, to produce and develop human capital potential for the needs of society. At present this is already for the needs of the knowledge society and economy." (Loran, 2009, s. 48) In connection with this problem, we therefore consider cooperation between the field social worker and the teacher to be highly significant, and we see it as one possible instrument for addressing the educational problems of Roma children from socially disadvantaged environments.
Each profession carries moral responsibility in itself. For example, a layperson in the case of a traffic accident cannot provide professional medical help to a victim, but can provide first aid. In this case, the layperson bears no direct responsibility in that situation because they do not have corresponding knowledge. A medical professional is capable in this situation of acting quickly and correctly, making a diagnosis, and carrying out a medical procedure. Therefore we believe that we cannot be professionally responsible in full for what we are not equipped with the competencies to resolve. Professional responsibility therefore includes duties of professionals to act in a professional way, to follow the law, to avoid conflicts of interest, and to prioritize clients' interests over their own interests. According to Mátel, "the role and profession of a social worker require not only proper education and practical training, but also certain demands on personality and character. Too often ethical requirements toward social workers focus exclusively on responsibility toward clients, forgetting that a social worker can be as responsible for others as he or she can be responsible for oneself." (Mátel, 2010, s. 88)
Being honest and truthful, being considerate of others, and thus expressing humanity and respect, which is closely linked to accepting the rights of all people without any distinction, but also fairly distributing values in the form of praise or punishment, rejecting any duplicity, and instead being truthful are considered in social work with Roma communities to be highly essential. "Justice as an attribute of personality does not mean only acting justly but also having a volitional tendency of thought or conviction toward justice (not only, for example, out of fear of punishment or social isolation), because conduct is just if it is guided by the prior general idea of justice or a specific idea of justice." (Hajduk, 2009, s. 12) Likewise, one should avoid abusing the trust of the Roma community for personal gain because benefit should be directed to the client who needs help, since in this situation the client builds very strong trust in the actor. So from the perspective of professional ethics (which applies general moral norms to concrete professional activity), as applied ethics in social work, one can speak of the principle of responsibility, the principle of humanism, the principle of justice and equality, the principle of honesty and conscientiousness, and the principle of trustworthiness.
Among other moral principles, specifically in the work of the field social worker and teacher, we consider the principle of beneficence, the principle of human dignity, and the principle of autonomy. The principle of beneficence in social work with a marginalized and excluded Roma community should be primarily focused on behavior and conduct guided by the principles of altruism. That is, suppressing one’s own egoism and practicing beneficence at the expense of one’s own good. In other words, prioritizing the good of others over one’s own, thus willingly sacrificing one’s own interest for the interest of others. This is therefore selfless help provided to Roma who need it. However, with the principle of beneficence questions arise such as: How is it possible that beneficence exists in society at all, and what motivates a person to act selflessly in helping others? The principle of human dignity is tied to the value of human life and a person's behavior and conduct. If we speak of social work provided to excluded Roma, we must emphasize and, of course, also ensure mutual respect and dignity not only toward them but also that respect and dignity are observed in relations with actors in social work in order to build strong reciprocal relationships. By human dignity we mean respect for the human being, regardless of sex, age, race, education, religion, and so on. The principle of human dignity recognizes a person’s inherent right, as well as his or her acceptance and ethical treatment. Human dignity is often also used in connection with the problem of the treatment of oppressed and endangered groups and nations, cultures and subcultures, and adherents of religious faith or ideals.
The principle of autonomy accepts the autonomy of a person, or their ability to make their own decisions regarding their life. According to this principle, people should have control over their life to the greatest possible extent, because only they themselves can fully understand their chosen type of way of life. For example, according to Ferrara, autonomy concerns the actor’s responsibility for choosing the direction of their conduct regardless of the reasons or type of rationality that inspired this choice. Authentic conduct is in some way connected with the core of the actor’s personality and ultimately also expresses it. (Ferrara, 1997, s. 88) In essence, this principle is an extension of the ethical principle of beneficence because an independent person usually prefers to have control over one’s own life in order to achieve a way of life that is most beneficial for them.
Conclusion
On the one hand, since the field social worker provides help to a client in a situation they cannot handle and resolve adequately on their own, on the other hand, when the social work client after some time can manage their social situation with their own strengths, the client becomes independent of this help. The Roma community, however, requires precisely long-term help from social workers. This was why we focused in this paper on the moral principles of the field social worker and the teacher. Because the values to which moral principles relate should form the basis of their recognition. We believe both professions require great effort in work with the Roma community, and as support or cooperation between both professions it could be, in this brief form, for example, that the field social worker should acquaint the teacher with the social and economic situation of a specific student, so that the teacher can understand the situation in which the student and family are.
The field social worker, given that in this cooperation they act as some kind of intermediary between the teacher and the student, and because it is the fact that the teacher is not in daily contact with the parent, should communicate to the teacher information about the student’s educational problems. This is because many parents do not know how to properly interpret problems their child cannot handle at home, for example with writing homework. It is also the case that many parents cannot help their children with homework, simply because they themselves have not even completed basic education, and therefore do not understand the tasks. In this way, the field social worker would contribute to improving the situation and would encourage students, their parents, and their community toward proper attitudes toward education, and also toward understanding why education is important to them. The teacher, in turn, should inform the field social worker about school attendance or truancy, academic success or failure, behavior, and school obligations, and in this sense collaborate and help one another. Since it is true that well-managed cooperation of these professions can lead to improvements in the social, economic, and educational problems of Roma students from socially disadvantaged environments.
Author: Mgr. Jozef Facuna Štátny pedagogický ústav
List of bibliographic references
[1] FERRARA, A. 1997. Autonomie a autenticita. In: Etika autonomie a autenticity. Praha: Filozofia, 1997. 215 s. ISBN 80-7007-099-4. [2] HAJDUK, Ľ. 2009. Filozofia spravodlivosti. Bratislava : ŠPÚ, 2009. 104 s. ISBN 978-80-89225-49-1 [3] JANKOVSKÝ, J. 2003. Etika pro pomáhajíci profese. Praha : Triton, 2003. 223 s. ISBN 80-7254-329-6. [4] LORAN, T. 2010. Andragogicko – sociálne dilemy prípravy exkludovaných pre potreby vedomostnej spoločnosti. In: Pedagogická revue. ISSN 1335-1982, 2010, roč. 62, č. 1-2, s. 42 – 54. [5] LORAN, T. 2009. Paradigma kreovania ľudského kapitálu Rómov. Bratislava : Štátny pedagogický ústav, 2009. 170 s. ISBN 978-80-89225-56-9. [6] MÁTEL, A. 2010. Etická zodpovednosť voči sebe a profesii. In: Etika sociálnej práce. Bratislava : Vysoká škola zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce sv. Alžbety, 2010. ISBN 978-80-89271-85-6, s. 88 – 98. [7] VAJDA, J. 1995. Etika. Nitra: Enigma, 1995. 203 s. ISBN 80-85471-23-X.
The lecture was presented at the international scientific conference Applied Ethics in Social Work and Other Helping Professions, which took place on 20. – 21. October 2010 in Piešťany and was published in the proceedings of this conference: MÁTEL, A. – SCHAVEL, M. – MÜHLPACHR, P. – ROMAN, T. 2010. Aplikovaná etika v sociálnej práci a ďalších pomáhajúci profesiách. Zborník z medzinárodnej vedeckej konferencie. Bratislava : VŠZaSP sv. Alžbety. 413 s. ISBN 978-80-89271-89-4.