Agenda-Driven Social Working Groups vs. Humanitarian Groups

The two classes into which social work organizations fall are broad: Groups with unselfish intentions and a genuine, humanitarian-driven desire to help all people, and groups that are driven by and serve as advocates for specific agendas or subsets of culture. In an examination of the code of ethics, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) - an organization that falls into the former category - and the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) - which falls into the latter category - the differences between groups with a purely humanitarian mission and agenda-driven groups operate in stark contrast.

A necessary aspect of providing quality service to clients is to be a strong advocate for the client and for their needs. Both the NASW and AACC include similar clauses in their codes of ethics, however, the intended result of advocacy stated in each code differs.

The NASW calls for social workers to challenge injustice with the intended goal of promoting "sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity," a progressive view designed to encourage public discussions of ailments and social issues that impact clients and to reduce social injustices through knowledge while simultaneously promoting understanding and tolerance.

The AACC's code of ethics also calls of social awareness, but for issues that are more pointed, such as a call to build relationships so that the world can "taste the salt of Christ" ; an objective that is designed with a settlement mentality to specifically propagate an agenda rather than to advocate for a client.