Ethical competencies in the professional practice of social workers with the elderly population

This article presents the results of the administration, in Portugal, of a subscale that evaluates the competencies of social workers working with elderly users regarding “Values, Ethics and Theoretical Perspectives.” In addition to examining the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the subscale, the study compares the mean scores with those of samples collected in other countries. The research was carried out with social workers who assume leadership roles in social institutions targeted at the elderly population (n = 387). The results indicate a two-factor structure (transversal competences vs. specialized skills related to professional practice), which explains about 64.72% of the variance. The internal consistency was 0.90 (Cronbach’s α). The average differences found in Portugal, especially in transversal competencies that refer to the integration of values and ethics in professional practice, reveal that despite the absence of a Portuguese code of ethics, the educational and professional project of social workers is based on the centrality of values and ethics.