How to Write about the CASW Code of Ethics in the MSW Statement of Purpose
Introduction
If you’ve started working on your MSW personal statement, or even just started reading some of the prompts, you may have noticed some common themes, like ethics, social justice, and how your experience or a particular topic is related to social work. Although schools don’t explicitly mention it, all of these topics can be related to the CASW Code of Ethics in one way or another.
It can feel a bit daunting to consider incorporating the CASW Code of Ethics into your personal statement, especially if you don’t have a background in the field. In this post, I’ll break down what the Code of Ethics is and the seven core values, give some examples of how to incorporate the Code into your personal statement, and answer some FAQs.
What is the CASW Code of Ethics?
The CASW explains that “The purpose of the Code is to serve as a foundation for the ethical practice of social work in Canada. All values, principles and guidelines have equal importance and work together to describe the ethical conduct, behaviour, and professionalism necessary to provide ethical social work services in Canada.”
Put another way, the Code of Ethics are guidelines that all social workers in the country follow. Because social work is a regulated profession throughout the country, having consistent guidelines helps ensure that social workers practice to a consistent standard, even when practicing all over the country!
Seven Core Values of Social Work, Explained (CASW Core Values)
In simple terms, the CASW Code of Ethics lays out seven “core values” for professional social workers in Canada to abide by. In some ways, the CASW core values are part of what sets the profession apart from other helping professions, which could include counselling, healthcare, community service, or education.
While you don’t need to memorize the CASW Code of Ethics while you’re working on your MSW application, it’s important to be familiar with it. Not only does this give you a better idea of what a career in the profession looks like, but demonstrating an understanding of the Code of Ethics can help set your personal statement apart, because it will show that you have a good baseline knowledge of the profession.
Below, I’ll give a brief overview of each of the seven CASW core values. That said, I’d still recommend giving the CASW Code of Ethics a read so that you have a stronger understanding of each core value before you get to writing your personal statement!
Respecting the Dignity and Worth of All People
This value emphasizes that social workers strive to respect, promote, and uphold the dignity and worth of everyone, regardless of their identity. This also specifically includes respecting “the status, rights, diversity, and needs” of Indigenous peoples.
Promoting Social Justice
Promoting social justice in this context means advocating for the rights of all people, groups, and communities, including fair and equitable access to services and opportunities. In particular, this means that social workers strive to ensure that the needs of equity-deserving groups and communities are met.
Pursuing Truth and Reconciliation
This value requires that social workers both acknowledge the worldviews of Indigenous people and groups, and uphold the values and principles of reconciliation in their professional practice.
Valuing Human Relationships
Human relationships are at the heart of social work practice, and this value not only encourages social workers to centre the well-being and interests of all people in their practice, but also to continually develop self-awareness to guide their practice.
Preserving Integrity in Professional Practice
As social workers, we must act with integrity, meaning that we are honest, accountable, responsible, and trustworthy. This also means that social workers maintain appropriate professional boundaries and avoid conflicts of interest.
Maintaining Privacy and Confidentiality
Given that social workers are often privy to confidential information, we are obliged to uphold the right to confidentiality of those who are accessing services. This also means that social workers are transparent about the limits of confidentiality.
Providing Competent Professional Services
Competence ensures that social workers practice within their area of expertise and continue to grow their knowledge and skills in the field.
MSW Personal Statement Ethics Prompt Examples
Most often, prompts for the MSW personal statement for Canadian schools do not explicitly ask about the CASW Code of Ethics, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write about it in the personal statement. Below are a few examples of prompts, and what it might look like to reference the CASW Code of Ethics when writing your response.
Prompt example, University of Calgary:
“Introduce yourself and discuss your decision to apply for graduate education (MSW) in the context of your personal and professional development.”
To incorporate the CASW Code of Ethics: Part of what is important in this prompt is showing the admissions committee that you are interested in the profession of social work specifically. When writing your answer for this prompt, I would consider linking your past experiences to a couple of the core values, which shows that even though you weren’t practicing social work specifically, your experience and approach already align well with the field.
As an example, maybe you have experience working in the education field. Although this isn’t exactly social work, perhaps you could draw parallels by highlighting how in your past role, you were advocating for students whose needs weren’t being met in a traditional classroom setting due to some kind of barrier. Or, perhaps you could write about how you recognized the importance of building strong relationships with the students you supported. The core values choose to incorporate are personal, and there is no right or wrong answer!
Related: University of Calgary MSW Personal Statement Guide
Prompt example, University of British Columbia (Okanagan):
“What specific client population(s) and related social issues would you like to learn to professionally address at the clinical graduate level? Explain.”
Based on academic literature, what makes the above social issue(s) important to social work?
To incorporate the CASW Code of Ethics: While you could discuss the Code in either part of these prompts, the second of the two lends itself well to discussing the Code of Ethics. This is because in the first part, you can write about the issue itself, but in the second part, you are linking the topic specifically to the field of social work.
There are many values you could draw on here, but a couple that would probably fit most seamlessly would include Promoting Social Justice, Respecting the Dignity and Worth of All People, and/or Pursuing Truth and Reconciliation, depending on the social issue you chose to discuss.
For example, perhaps your analysis in the first part was about gaps in services experienced by new immigrants to Canada. In this case, it could make sense to highlight social justice and the dignity and worth of all people. Discussing the social issue in the context of the CASW core values, it helps to draw a clear link between the issue and the field of social work, making it easy to argue why the topic should be important to the field!
Related: UBC-O MSW Personal Statement Guide
Prompt example, Wilfrid Laurier University:
Write a brief statement of interest discussing how your personal, academic, volunteer
and/or professional experiences have informed your decision to pursue graduate studies
in social work at Laurier. Please address how these experiences:
Would influence your approach to social work practices with individuals, families,
groups, communities, and/or organizations;
Have shaped your understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion;
Have contributed to your short-term and long-term career goals; and,
Influence how you might contribute to the student community, the learning
environment, and life of the Faculty of Social Work community and the larger Laurier
community
To incorporate the CASW Code of Ethics: This prompt has a lot of sub-prompts, and you could really discuss the Code in the context of any of them, depending on your experience and perspectives.
For example, with point 1, you could draw parallels between your experiences (whether social work or non-social work), and a core value or two that align well with your experience. In this way, you are able to show the reader that you can build on your past experiences which already fit with the field, and continue to apply the Code in your professional work in the future.
Another option could be mentioning the core values when referring to point 3 and talking about your goals for the future. This is another great prompt to set yourself apart and show the admissions committee that you are passionate about social work specifically, as opposed to another helping profession. For example, maybe your short-term goal is to do direct counselling, and your long-term goal is to help shape mental health policy. You could briefly discuss your perspective of counselling from a social work lens, which helps tailor your statement specifically towards the field of social work.
Related: Wilfrid Laurier University Personal Statement Guide
FAQs – CASW Code of Ethics and MSW Personal Statement
Q: Should I reference the CASW Code of Ethics in my personal statement?
A: Although you don’t need to explicitly reference the Code, particularly if the prompts don’t ask directly about it, I would still recommend considering it! If you do choose to mention the Code, such as by explicitly incorporating a core value or two, I would suggest including it with an in-text citation, as well as in the references section of your personal statement.
Q: Which social work values should I mention in my statement of purpose?
A: This is completely personal, and there is no right or wrong answer here! I would recommend choosing core values based on what aligns well with your experience; for example, one person’s experience might lend itself really well to discussing social justice and truth and reconciliation, while another person’s might fit better with speaking to human relationships and competency. All of the core values are important in their own way, so whatever seems to align with your background and experience should work well!
Q: Should I talk about every CASW value in my MSW statement of purpose?
A: The short answer to this is probably not. While the core values are important, it is more helpful to show the admissions committee your depth of understanding. If you just list the seven core values, it doesn’t show the admissions committee that you understand them, just that you have read them. On the other hand, by strategically choosing 1-2 core values to focus on, you are able to dive a bit deeper and explain why these fit with your perspectives and experience.
Q: How do I write about social work values with no experience?
A: Although it might seem a bit backwards at first, writing about the CASW core values even when your experience isn’t related to social work can actually help you draw the parallels between your experience, and the field of social work itself. When doing this, I would suggest thinking about some of the insights you have gained through your background and experience, and how these could be related to social work. If you’re concerned about applying to your MSW with no experience, we also have a blog post breaking down how to get accepted to your MSW even with limited experience!
Conclusion
Even though Canadian schools typically don’t explicitly ask about the CASW Code of Ethics, discussing the Code of Ethics in your personal statement can help demonstrate your understanding of the field, and set your personal statement apart from other applicants. By becoming familiar with the CASW core values, you will be able to discuss the CASW Code of Ethics in a way that is meaningful, and specific to your experiences.
Still having a hard time with how to relate your experience to the field of social work? We can dive deeper into this in a 1:1 consultation with an Application Advisor, so that you are able to link your experience to social work with confidence!
