Is equity just enough for social work? A response to those who think it is!

Is equity just enough for social work? A response to those who think it is!

Before offering a response to what I take to be a central question posed in my paper and the responses to it, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Richard Hugman and Jim Ife for their insightful and penetrating comments and the Editor for the opportunity to extend the discussion of my paper. Nevertheless, it seems that the latter's views are more in keeping with my own than those of the former. Although I do not wish to minimise the points of departure made by both respondents, I will focus on Hugman's because these appear to be more distant than either Ife's or mine.
In so doing, I want to make it clear that my critique is directed at the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Code of Ethics (AASW, 2002), not those who, along with Richard Hugman, participated in drafting it.
There are two fundamental criticisms I wish to make in response. The first concerns the value of social justice. I argue that although social justice is a cardinal social work value, it ought to be accorded priority, rather than remain one that is relative to others. The second contention is that although the pursuit of equity has merit, it is not, even in its most complex formulations, just enough.

Copyright 2008 Australian Association of Social Workers. Permanent restricted access to published version due to publisher copyright policy.