Many social workers enter the profession because of their genuine care for others and a desire to improve people’s lives. However, when working with clients, social workers must know how to navigate the complex boundary challenges they may encounter.
Boundary issues occur when practitioners relate to clients in more than one relationship, whether professional, social, or business. Such dual or multiple relationships can occur simultaneously with services or consecutively after they have terminated services.
“A lot of boundary issues are not black and white but multiple shades of gray where reasonable, thoughtful, prudent social workers may disagree,” said professional ethics expert Frederic Reamer, PhD. “The challenge is to figure out where the edge is and not cross that edge, and I don’t think that’s always easy.”
Reamer focuses his teaching and research on professional ethics in social work and lectures on the topic nationally and internationally. He chaired the national task force that wrote the Code of Ethics adopted by the National Association of Social Workers in 1996. More recently, he served on the code revision task force.
His courses on Continued Social Work provide a comprehensive overview of boundary issues and dual relationship issues in the profession and offer practical strategies to protect clients and social workers alike.
The following information is from Reamer’s course Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in Social Work.
Examples of boundary issues and dual relationships:
- Responding to clients’ personal questions (self-disclosure)
- Managing gifts from clients
- Managing invitations from clients
- Managing boundaries in small & rural communities
- Hiring former clients
- Intimate relationships with former clients
- Clients searching online for information about social worker
- Searching online for information about clients
- Responding to current clients’ social media follow requests
- Managing social media relationships with former clients
- Managing after-hours digital communications
“Seeing” into each other’s homes during virtual sessions
Dual or multiple relationships are not necessarily unethical. Some are; some are not. It is important to distinguish between boundary crossings and boundary violations.
- Boundary crossings: Acceptable, perhaps inevitable or unavoidable dual relationships
- Boundary violations: Unacceptable exploitation or conflicts of interest
Reamer describes two views of standard of care: substantive and procedural.
Substantive standard of care is where social workers generally agree on what the standard of care is (e.g., do not have sex with a client, do not enter into a business relationship with a client).
In procedural standards of care, reasonable and prudent social workers can disagree. In this instance, Reamer offers these eight key elements:
- Consult colleagues & supervisors
- Review relevant ethical standards
- Review relevant laws, policies, & regulations
- Review national practice standards
- Review relevant literature
- Obtain legal consultation when necessary
- Consult ethics committee if available
- Document decision-making steps
Risk Management Strategy
Tips to establish unambiguous boundaries at the beginning of the professional-client relationship:
- Evaluate possible dual relationship and boundary by considering:
- Amount of social worker’s power over client
- Duration of relationship
- Conditions surrounding termination
- Client’s clinical profile
- Prevailing ethical standards
- Consider whether a dual relationship in any form is warranted or justifiable.
- Is the relationship exploitative?
- Is the relationship likely to harm the client?
- Ask yourself, “For whose benefit?”
- Pay special attention to incompatible roles (e.g., clinician-client, administrator-secretary, supervisor-supervisee, instructor-student)
- In ambiguous circumstances, consult with colleagues, ethical standards, agency policies, regulations, and statutes.
- Discuss relevant issues with all relevant parties, especially clients.
- Work under supervision whenever boundary issues are complex and risk is significant.
- If necessary, refer the client to another professional to minimize risk and prevent harm.
- Document key aspects of the decision-making process and consultation.
For more on this topic, view Reamer’s courses on Continued Social Work.
Featured Presenter
Frederic Reamer, PhD. Dr. Reamer is a professor in the graduate program, School of Social Work, Rhode Island College. His teaching and research focus on professional ethics, criminal justice, mental health, health care, and public policy. Dr. Reamer received his PhD from the University of Chicago and he has served as a social worker in correctional and mental health settings. He chaired the national task force that wrote the Code of Ethics adopted by the National Association of Social Workers in 1996 and recently served on the code revision task force. Dr. Reamer has lectured nationally and internationally on social work and professional ethics, including in India, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and in various European nations. His books include Social Work Values and Ethics; Risk Management in Social Work; The Social Work Ethics Casebook; Ethical Standards in Social Work; Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in the Human Services; Ethics and Risk Management in Online and Distance Social Work; and The Social Work Ethics Audit, among others.