Social Work Practice in Cuba: Exploration of Values and Ethics

Background and Purpose

There is very little research done on social work practice in Cuba in general but none on the area of values and ethics and social work practice. One study available related to the topic of values and ethics in a health field in Cuba (Sanchez, Prilleltensky, Walsh-Bowers and Rossiter, 2002) evaluated applied ethics in mental health practice in Cuba. The findings revealed that Cuban psychologists hold a conception of values framed by a social and humanistic orientation, where their personal, professional, cultural, and political values are intertwined and applied in a professional practice setting. This paper explored weather these values were also  true  of social work practice in Cuba taking into consideration that  social work practice in Cuba  its mostly done through community organizing and case management with a very small focus on mental health.

This paper helps to fill this gap by exploring the values and ethics that inform social work practice in Cuba by examining the practice  experiences of social workers..

Methods

A nonprobability purposive sample was used, 13 semi-structured individual interviews and three focus groups with four participants each (ages 32-70) were conducted. Participants were all social workers (65% had a technical social work degree-3 year program; 35% had a licensiatura social work degree-5 year program). The sample was predominately female (85% female; 15% male), and all were working class. The participants were recruited through a letter sent through the  Cuban National Association of Social Workers. Participants’ responses were elicited  using a case vignette that was developed taking into consideration demographic characteristics and living conditions that applied to many families in Cuba. A guided approach with questions for the case vignette and two general open-ended questions on general values and ethics and social work practice were used. All interviews and focus groups were audio recorded and done in Spanish. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded thematically using NVivo qualitative software, guided by the principles of grounded theory and an inductive approach to qualitative analysis.

Findings

 Data analysis reveals that social workers in Cuba are guided by collectivist values where the wellbeing of the family  and the community supersede that of the individual. Values of confidentiality and self-determination are held high but operationalized from a collectivist view as well, specifically the family. Solidarity and service are fundamental values of a social work professional identity, and love/care for clients a condition for good practice.

 Conclusions and Implications

 Findings highlight the role that cultural, social, economic, and political factors play in  shaping values that inform practice for social workers in Cuba. Social work practice in Cuba is not guided by an explicit code of ethics like it is in the United States and other countries, but the findings of this  study indicate that there are ethical and value principles that outline social  work practice in Cuba. This study also provides a comparison and contrast viewpoint of social work practice in countries outside of the United States.