Social Workers’ Use of Moral Entrepreneurship to Enact Professional Ethics in the Field: Case Studies from the Social Justice Profession

Social workers must manoeuvre within the challenging landscape of service delivery to achieve better outcomes for clients. We apply the concepts of moral entrepreneurship and street-level bureaucracy to three case studies to illustrate how social workers meet organisational mandates while maintaining personal and professional integrity. Dolores, a child-protective services worker, refuses to separate a family rendered homeless due to intimate partner violence despite the difficulty of finding appropriate housing. The Women’s Community Revitalization Project, a Philadelphia non-profit, works collaboratively with constituents and researchers to leverage power, hold city agencies accountable and garner resources for the low-income communities it serves. Brigit works in a court-affiliated prostitution diversion programme; she is critical of existing social systems and resources that limit her clients’ choices, and strives to deliver non-judgemental and practical assistance while desiring broader change. These case studies demonstrate how social workers can and should utilise discretion to further the interests of clients, to resist structures that undercut these interests when necessary and to act in accordance with their professional ethics.