Understanding adjudication: origins, targets, and outcomes of ethics complaints

Various bodies and standards regulate social work practice. Social workers can be held accountable by licensure or credentialing boards, by civil and criminal laws, and by various professional organizations to which they belong. NASW considers complaints against its members for violations of the organization's Code of Ethics, yet the average member may know little about the nature and process of such actions. This article describes the professional review process and analyzes the results of a study of ethics cases filed with NASW from 1986 to 1997. This article also describes the parties involved in complaints and violations, the disposition of cases, and the corrective actions required of those who were found in violation of the Code. These research findings are compared with NASW membership data and the results of other studies on malpractice and ethics violations.