Professional Ethics and Philosophical Considerations in Social Work Practice in Impoverished Communities in Zamfara State

This study examines the professional ethics and philosophical foundations of social work practice in impoverished communities in Zamfara State, located in Nigeria's North West geopolitical zone. Social workers occupy a morally complex professional position in which they mediate between individual client welfare, family interests, community norms, and state policy, generating ethical dilemmas that require philosophically sophisticated reasoning to resolve. Using a professional practice design, the study draws on the philosophy of social work ethics from Sarah Banks, Kantian respect for persons, and African communitarian social philosophy, supplemented by secondary literature published between 2020 and 2024. Structured interviews with 20 practising social workers, welfare officers, and philosophy academics in Gusau provide the primary data. The study analyses specific ethical dilemmas encountered in Zamfara State social work practice, including child marriage intervention, domestic violence management, and the allocation of welfare resources between competing needs. Findings reveal that social work professionals in Zamfara State lack a coherent philosophical framework for ethical decision-making, relying instead on authority deference and cultural accommodation that sometimes conflicts with clients' fundamental rights and dignity. The study argues that an ethics of care combined with Kantian respect principles provides the most appropriate philosophical foundation for social work practice in this context. Keywords: social work ethics, Zamfara State, professional philosophy, ethics of care, communitarian ethics.