Dual Relationships In Social Work

Dual relationships are a social worker’s interaction with a client outside of their professional role. The combining of roles often lead to conflicts of interest between the social worker and the client. Conflicts of interests arise when a Social worker's values oppose the morals of their clients. Furthermore, Conflicts of interest also appear when the social worker fulfills their own interest over the interests of their clients (Dolgoff, Harrington & Loewenberg, 2012). 1.01 of the code of ethics states that a social worker is responsible for the welfare of their clients. “Clients interest are primary”. 1.01 of the code of ethics protects the clients from being exploited by the social worker. Nonetheless, dual relationships can occur

According to Reamer, there are two different types of boundaries. Boundary violations are usually unethical and exploitative in nature (2012). On the other hand, boundary crossing is unintentional deception, and manipulation (Reamer, 2012). Dr. Green should terminate her professor-student relationship because she crossed boundaries when she boosted Ava’s grades. 1.06 (c) of the code of ethics states, a social worker should set clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries. Dr. Green was unable to separate her personal feelings about Ava with her professional ones. Some boundary issues arise from some social workers need to be altruistic (Reamer, 2012). The social worker unintentionally creates harm by causing the client to be reliant on them. If Ava confides in Dr. Green about her stress levels, then Dr. Green may be inclined to boost Ava’s grades to further reduce her stress. Thus, Ava grows an attachment for Dr. Green. One of the ethical principles described in the code of ethics is least harm. When a social worker is faced with a harmful scenario, the social worker should choose the least harmful option. Dr. Green is unintentionally creating harm by allowing Ava to become dependent upon her. Thus, terminating the therapist relationship could undo all that they have accomplished in therapy. Nevertheless, Dr. Green should terminate the relationship of psychology professor to Ava. 1.06 (a) of the code of ethics states, “protecting a client’s interest may require termination of the professional relationship with proper referral of the client. By terminating her role as professor, Dr. Green can focus on improving Ava’s relationship with her Aunt and