Technology is ‘nothing new’. The human timeline is steeped in the acquisition, development and utilization of tools that have extended our limits, helped us adapt to changing environments, and transformed our societies. The exponential rise of communicative and ‘social’ technology in recent years is the manifestation of a long and deep relationship between people and their devices. In contemporary society, where technological advances are exponential, this intersection of the ‘digital’ and the ‘social’ creates an important space for professional practice dialogue. While much of the popular discourse centers on the adoption of technology for service provision, or on issues of access and equity for service users, the principles that underpin the development and implementation of these technologies must also be understood and critiqued in light of our own professional values. For social workers in a large government department, technological change has been rapid and unavoidable. Government services are adapting to the radical (sometimes fundamental) remapping of social, cultural, political and economic structures brought about by the Digital Age. For a number of practitioners, this journey has resulted in a dynamic interaction of values, through both interplay and collision. This paper uses cooperative enquiry to draw on the emerging practice wisdom of those heavily engaged within a new (often unknown) environment, as well as a broad range of literature, to consider the similarities and differences between modern social work values and those of the Digital Age. The ways in which social workers continue to operate from a base of social justice, self-determination and engagement, while using technologies designed for efficiency, rapidity and connectivity, will also be explored.

1. SYNCINGSPACE
S
DANIEL HADSON
SOCIAL WORK VALUES IN A DIGITAL AGE

2. ‘The real problem is
not whether
machines think but
whether men do…’
B.F SKINNER

3. ‘Tell me what you pay
attention to and I will
tell you who you
are…’
JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSETT

4. PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
SOCIAL JUSTICE
HUMAN DIGNITY
ENSURE

5. ENSURE EFFICIENCY
INCREASE SPEED
AMASS
INFORMATION

6. ‘In order to function,
you have to remain
authentic…true. You
are not a machine’
PRACTICTIONER QUOTE

7. ‘Justice looks
different in this
world. You are
fighting for yourself,
as well as your
PRACTICTIONER QUOTE

8. ‘It is a conscious
effort to avoid
feeling like
everyone is the
same. Stories can
start to clash and
PRACTICTIONER QUOTE

9. ETHICALITY & RISK
EQUITY OF ACCESS
PRACTICAL
APPLICATION

10. ‘We have arranged a
civilisation in which
the most crucial
elements profoundly
depend on science
and technology’
CARL SAGAN

11. DANIEL HADSON
VALUES . TECHNOLOGY . STORY
SYNCINGSPACE
S
DANIEL HADSON
SOCIAL WORK VALUES IN A DIGITAL AGE
daniel.hadson@humanservices.gov.au