Social Media Ethics Among Social Work Students (1 CE)

Number of Credits: 1

This course is for:  Clinical psychologists, Counselors, and LMFTs

Course By: Michael Parent, PhD

Content By: Ricciardelli, L. A., Nackerud, L., Quinn, A. E., Sewell, M., & Casiano, B. (2020). Social media use, attitudes, and knowledge among social work students: Ethical implications for the social work profession. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2, 100008, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2019.100008

Course Description: Social media requires that mental health workers reorient perspectives on privacy, confidentiality, and professional boundaries. The authors review the relevance of social media to professional competency guidelines. The researchers conducted a quantitative study using data from 57 social work students. The vast majority of social work students used social media, primarily for reading posts made by other people. Social work students noted the importance in privacy of social media, endorsed use of social media by law enforcement, reported worry about others’ use of social media, and endorsed use of social media to connect with others. Implications for social work training are discussed. Future research may expand the geographic scope of data collection and including trainer and faculty perspectives.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify how social media is relevant to five aspects of professional ethics
2. Identify the primary reasons reported for social media use
3. Describe attitudes toward social media use in the sample, pertaining to law enforcement use of social media, worry about use of social media by others, and the function of social media

Course Outline:

• Read and understand social media use, attitudes, and knowledge among social work students: Ethical implications for the social work profession
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives.
• Review the summary of social media and social work ethics, and the study findings.
• Complete the post-test questions. Recall that answers should be based on the referenced article.
• Return to the referenced article for any missed questions and/or to understand how social media use perspectives among social work trainees.

Approvals: