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The Ethics of Social Justice: What Do Our Codes Require?

Black Lives Matter. Refugee crises. Contaminated drinking water. “Building a wall.” Voting rights. North Carolina’s HB2. With these and other issues that call for social justice, 2016 has been a watershed year.

What does it mean to be ethical or unethical in upholding the values and standards of social justice? How can helping professionals carry out their obligations in the face of an array of challenging conditions? What options are available when personal beliefs or employers’ expectations clash with interests in social justice?

Examine these questions and more during a special presentation led by Frederic “Rick” Reamer, Ph.D. (Rhode Island College), and Kim Strom-Gottfried, Ph.D. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Travis Albritton, Ph.D. (UNC-Chapel Hill) will serve as moderator.

The Ethics of Social Justice
Monday, Oct. 24, 2016

12:30–2 p.m.

Attend this presentation IN PERSON:
Tate-Turner-Kuralt Auditorium
UNC School of Social Work
325 Pittsboro Street
Chapel Hill, NC

Attend this presentation via ONLINE STREAM:
Details to be posted soon

Program objectives, fees and other information
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will:

  • Know their profession’s relevant principles and standards regarding social justice
  • Understand the five strategies for ethically advancing social justice
  • Recognize the role of civil disobedience in contemporary responses to social justice
  • Understand three options for addressing personal and professional conflicts of interest in regard to acts of social justice

This presentation is free and open to the public. There is a fee for CE credit, if needed. Please visit our registration page for information about CE credit.

About your presenters:
Frederic “Rick” Reamer has served as a professor at Rhode Island College since 1983. An expert on criminal justice, juveniles in crisis and ethics, he is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Maryland. He has served as chair of the NASW Code of Ethics Revision Committee and as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Work Education.

Kim Strom-Gottfried serves as director of Ethics Education and Policy Management for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the Smith P. Theimann Distinguished Professor for Ethics and Professional Practice at the UNC School of Social Work, where she has taught since 1999 and has served as interim dean. She is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Adelphi University and the University of Maine.