Family assistants and the suggested ethical principles of their profession. An attempt to examine the problem

This article attempts to analyze the attitude of family assistants towards the selected principles adopted in the proposed ethical code. The aim of the research was also to diagnose the scope of values which the respondents encountered in the course of their education and which have been selected from the presented proposal. It has been assumed that the values constitute an important tool for persons who provide professional assistance to families, affecting the level of efficiency of the tasks they perform. The research has revealed that respect for other people was the most important element for the respondents. At the same time, most of them encountered this feature in the course of their education. The following principles were also rated highly by the subjects: “treating the clients as partners and experts on their own lives”, “working with the family instead of controlling it” and “listening to people”. It seems that the principles considered the most important by the respondents in their work are also ranked as the most important ones by theoreticians dealing with the professionalization of the family assistants. The study presents only the axiological framework of the family assistance practice which, undoubtedly, requires further in-depth research. The aim of this paper was to draw the attention of the persons involved in family assistance to the issues connected with professionalization of the family assistants and to emphasize that professional ethics is an indispensable part of their work, having a decisive effect on the success of that work.