Abstract

This study was designed to examine the use of the informed consent process in social work practice. The primary purpose was to examine the relationship between professional identity, commitment to respect for client autonomy, and commitment to justice for clients, and the use of the process of informed consent. ;An ex post facto correlational field study was utilized with data collected at one point in time using a mail survey. A random sample of approximately 634 M.S.W. social workers was drawn from the official lists of licensed social workers in nine states which were randomly selected from each of the nine geographic Divisions of the United States Census Bureau. The actual return rate was 52% and the usable return rate was 45%. ;The study instrument, consisting of four scales, was a mailed questionnaire, utilizing Dillman's total design method, which included original scales designed for both the independent and dependent variables as well as demographic, social, and career related characteristics. The four scales were the Informed Consent Scale, the Social Work Professional Identity Scale, the Autonomy Scale, and the Social Justice Scale. These scales were examined by a panel of experts for face and content validity and were field tested with M.S.W. social workers. Reliability of all scales was established on the pre-test sample and on the study sample. Reliability coefficients on the latter were at acceptable levels. Factor analysis was used to determine construct validity. ;The study hypothesis---that there would be a positive relationship between the level of professional identity, the level of commitment to respect for client autonomy, the particular social justice perspective of the social worker, and the use of the informed consent process in social work---was partially supported. Multivariate analyses determined that commitment to client autonomy and the utilitarian justice perspective had a positive association with the social worker's use of the informed consent process. Professional identity and the other three social justice perspectives were not significant factors in predicting a social worker's use of the informed consent process. ;This study contributed to knowledge of informed consent. A major finding that had not been reported elsewhere was the positive association between respect for the autonomy of clients and the utilitarian social justice perspective. This research is the first empirical study to be undertaken which attempted to understand characteristics of the social worker that result in the use of the process of informed consent. It should be useful to educators and administrators who have responsibility to assure that respect for client autonomy and socially responsible self-determination, as expressed in the NASW Code , is operationalized by informed consent, an ethical standard of practice required by the Code