Social Workers Dual Relationships

Social workers face many challenges in their day to day work. A widespread challenge faced by social workers is the idea of dual relationships. Dual relationships occur when there is an additional relationship between the provider and client, besides the professional relationship, ranging from social relationships, sexual relationships, business relationships, to even religious relationships. According to the National Association of Social Workers, it is unethical for social workers to enter into any dual relationships with clients (National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, 2008), yet there are instances where dual relationships are inevitable. It is the duty of the social worker to provide clear boundaries regarding the additional
Ava has enrolled in Dr. Green’s Introduction to Psychology class, constituting the beginning of the dual relationship. The dual relationship involving Dr. Green and Ava Jones highlights a multitude of significant intricacies that surround the ethicality of dual relationships The ethicalness of Dr. Green’s and Ava’s relationship will be examined using the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, the Ethical Principles Screen, Frederic G. Reamer’s article concerning boundary issues in dual relationships, Elaine P. Congress’s article regarding dilemmas for social work educators, as well as the topics covered in the class notes.
Upon the start of the semester Dr. Green noticed that Ava had enrolled in her class. After grappling with whether she should drop Ava from the course, Dr. Green ultimately decided to allow Ava to remain in the course to prevent her from experiencing any further suffering. Dr. Green’s rationalization is indicative that she is a follower of the ethics of caring. According to the ethics of caring, value is placed on emotions as well as fulfilling the moral responsibility of taking care of those in you are responsible for (Dolgoff, Harrington, & Loewenberg, 2012). Reamer explains how “some boundary issues and dual
Green to remain objective in her work with Ava, both in therapy and in class. As previously mentioned, Dr. Green and Ava had a conversation about how class and therapy were to remain separate. Dr. Green was unable to be impartial when grading Ava’s first paper. She wanted to give Ava additional points on the basis that Ava has had a difficult time and would like to make things easier for her. This illustrates the lack of objectivity Dr. Green possesses towards Ava due to their provider-client relationship. Dr. Green also wants to address Ava’s lack of motivation and focus in class with her, but would be crossing boundaries by doing so. The dual relationship would be unethical at this point because it interferes with the professional’s impartial judgment as well as the exercise of professional discretion (Reamer, 2003). The dual relationship could negatively impact the work Dr. Green and Ava do in therapy based on the fact that the openness is not possible anymore due to the potential of crossing boundaries and blurring the relationships. If Dr. Green is unable to be objectively teach Ava, then the Ethical Principles Screen is not being followed. Least harm and quality of life are being valued over social justice, essentially stating that Ava is more important than the wellbeing and equality of the rest of the class (Dolgoff, Harrington, & Loewenberg, 2012). The Code of Ethics states that social workers that function as an educator should