A Conversation between Confucian Ethics and the NASW Code of Ethics in the Chinese context

Recent years have witnessed a growing scholarly interest in the development of professional ethics of social work in China. Confucian ethics is believed to be able to contribute to such development. This article explores Confucian ethics and its interaction with western ethics that underpins the United States' National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. Particularly, it compares the two cultural contexts, western versus eastern, in terms of the ethical deliberation of two elements of Confucian ethics: Chinese people are embedded in a framework of complex relationality, and practical situations take precedence over abstract moral rules (action/practice-oriented situationality). This exploration can provide insight into the Chinese moral context of social work practice and the complex issues associated with formulating Chinese ethical guidelines for such a discipline adapted from the west as social work. There has been an increasing interest in developing Chinese social work ethics based on Confucian values and practices. This article makes comparisons between Confucian ethics and western ethics that underpin the United States National Association of Social Workers code of ethics. Two important elements of Confucian ethics are discussed in terms of the differences between western and Chinese cultural contexts. The first element refers to the Confucian value privileging relationality over individuality, complexity over simplicity and harmony over individualistic disunion. The second element is concerned with that Confucian culture values practice more than abstract knowledge. This article utilises several Chinese social work cases to illustrate such comparisons and explores culturally sensitive solutions to certain ethical dilemmas. These explorations are instrumental in formulating Chinese social work ethical guidelines.