Question
What is boundary crossing?
Answer
A boundary crossing is typically defined as an acceptable, perhaps inevitable, or unavoidable dual relationship. For example, you may live in a small or rural community where it is inevitable that you are going to encounter clients in the community outside of the professional context, that is a boundary crossing. It is not inherently unethical, it is just a fact of life, and it requires skillful management of those boundary issues.
Another example is that your spouse or partner works with your client. This is a boundary crossing. You may be at a holiday event that your spouse or partner's firm has sponsored, you show up because you are invited, and then you discover that your client is there because your client works at that agency or has done some business with that agency. There you are in this social setting, does that mean it is an inherent boundary violation? I do not think so, but I do think it requires skillful management because it is a boundary crossing.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the webinar, Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in Social Work, presented by Frederic G. Reamer, PhD.
