The Relationship Between Fitness for the Profession and Ethical Development: An Undergraduate Human Services Program Model

The human services profession calls for practitioners to be fit for the profession, a concept reflected in its ethical standards. It is imperative that human services students understand and abide by these ethical standards. However, many students might not receive adequate training and experience with Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals (ESHSP) or ethics in addition to facing fitness issues during their training and beyond. This article describes a human services program’s professional fitness policy and ethical programming and reviews the need for attaining and maintaining professional fitness and adequate ethical development for human services students. Implications of such fitness policies and ethics programming for the profession are discussed along with limitations to these practices.