COVID-19 has accelerated trends towards digital communication in human services. This talk discusses the ethical challenges for social workers, for whom human relationships lie at the heart of their work. It draws on data from an international survay in May 2020 and an ongoing survey of UK social workers during 2020-21 to examine lessons from digital working during COVID-19 from a virtue ethical perspective.
Sarah advocates for 'slow ethics' in times of fast-moving crisis, and the virtues of courage, compassion and professional wisdom exemplified through the 'ethics work' of practitioners struggling to practise thically in new and difficult circumstances.