Ubuntu principles : unethically ethical? : decolonising social work values and ethics in social work practice and research

![CDATA[Ethics and values are central in social work practice worldwide. Scholars have continually had ethical debates and dilemmas on appropriately adhering to social work values and ethics. This concern is more pronounced in Sub-Saharan African countries like Uganda, which formulate codes of ethics in consultation with Western and international social work bodies. We explore the extent to which the Western ethical views of social work (un)align with the African context of the ubuntu principles. We draw on personal reflections on some ethical dilemmas regarding privacy, consent, confidentiality, receiving gifts and incentives, controlled emotional involvement and the right to self-determination. This chapter presents ethical dilemmas through brief case discussions and includes case resolutions and their implications for ubuntu and social work in research and practice. We argue that Ubuntu offers interpretations and solutions to some ethical dilemmas. And that social work practice ethics in an African or indigenous setting should vary from the Westernised conceptualisation of ethics to accommodate the indigenous contexts of practice.]]