Okuzeka
Social Work vocabulary · Ethics and Confidentiality

Duty of care

Meaning in social work, with examples

nounCore term

In social work, duty of care means: The legal and ethical responsibility to act in a way that keeps people in your care safe and does not cause them avoidable harm.

In Turkish: özen yükümlülüğü, bakım ve özen yükümlülüğü

How it is used

Heard in training, supervision and legal discussions. A worker or organisation has, owes or breaches a duty of care. It often has to be balanced against a person's right to make their own choices, even risky ones.

Example sentences

  1. We have a duty of care to act if we learn that a young person is in danger.

  2. Respecting his choice did not mean ignoring our duty of care.

Common collocations

  • owe a duty of care
  • breach of duty of care
  • duty of care to clients
  • have a duty of care
  • safeguardingAll the measures taken to protect children and adults at risk from harm, abuse and neglect, and to promote their wellbeing.
  • self-determinationA person's right to make their own choices and decisions about their life, even when others might disagree with them.
  • code of ethicsA written set of values and principles that guides how members of a profession should behave and make decisions.
  • professional boundariesThe limits that keep the relationship between a worker and a client professional, for example around gifts, personal contact, social media and sharing personal information.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Ethics and Confidentiality

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