Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

Values are the beliefs and views that people hold about what is right or wrong.

Working definitions of values and social work values (adapted from Banks, S (2021) Ethics and Values in Social Work, 5th Edition. London: Red Globe Press, BASW Practical Social Work Series)

In everyday usage, ‘values’ is often used to refer to one or all of religious, moral, cultural, political or ideological beliefs, principles, attitudes, opinions or preferences. In social work, ‘values’ can be regarded as particular types of beliefs that people hold about what is regarded as worthy or valuable. In the context of professional practice, the use of the term ‘belief’ reflects the status that values have as stronger than mere opinions or preferences. The term ‘social work values’ refers to a range of beliefs about what is regarded as worthy or valuable in a social work context (general beliefs about the nature of the good society, general principles about how to achieve this through actions, and the desirable qualities or character traits of professional practitioners).