How TIGHT ARE YOUR BOUNDARIES? 27 Q9 If there is no other suitable option then feel you must cross professional boundaries; however, make sure that you contact your line manager/organisation and watch out for problems relating to handling clients'money Ensure in cases like this that you try to set up some suitable ongoing support to ensure the situation does not occur again You must also explain to the client clearly why you are doing what you are doing Q10 Some mildly inappropriate behaviour does not mean that you have to end a relationship, although you should challenge the behaviour. This may be unthinking behaviour or a common pattern of behaviour for this client. You should always report this sort of issue to a line manager and/or make sure that your case-notes clearly mention it. It is easy for clients to feel rejected in this situation so you should handle it carefully. Q11 Your sessions with clients should focus on their issues and concerns,not your finances. If you followed your client's advice(even secretly) and lost a lot of money what impact would it have on your relationship with them? Q12 Hugs are a sign of a close physical relationship and should be avoided wherever possible as they may give your client, or other clients, the wrong idea. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid a hug- it may be difficult or hurtful to physically push the client away. In these cases you should accept the hug with he minimum contact and then explain that it is inappropriate for you to hug as you need to keep the relationship on a professional basis. Q13 If you suspect that there is an issue with another member of staff (paid or voluntary) it is your responsibility to do something about it. If there is a problem later that day and you kept quiet then you share responsibility for that proble em
How Tight Are Your Boundaries? 27 Q9 If there is no other suitable option then you may sometimes feel you must cross professional boundaries; however, make sure that you contact your line manager/organisation and watch out for problems relating to handling clients’ money. Ensure in cases like this that you try to set up some suitable ongoing support to ensure the situation does not occur again. You must also explain to the client clearly why you are doing what you are doing. Q10 Some mildly inappropriate behaviour does not mean that you have to end a relationship, although you should challenge the behaviour. This may be unthinking behaviour or a common pattern of behaviour for this client. You should always report this sort of issue to a line manager and/or make sure that your case-notes clearly mention it. It is easy for clients to feel rejected in this situation so you should handle it carefully. Q11 Your sessions with clients should focus on their issues and concerns, not your finances. If you followed your client’s advice (even secretly) and lost a lot of money what impact would it have on your relationship with them? Q12 Hugs are a sign of a close physical relationship and should be avoided wherever possible as they may give your client, or other clients, the wrong idea. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid a hug – it may be difficult or hurtful to physically push the client away. In these cases you should accept the hug with the minimum contact and then explain that it is inappropriate for you to hug as you need to keep the relationship on a professional basis. Q13 If you suspect that there is an issue with another member of staff (paid or voluntary) it is your responsibility to do something about it. If there is a problem later that day and you kept quiet then you share responsibility for that problem
PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES IN SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL CARE 14 Clearly, being in a closed space with a client wearing only a towel should be avoided wherever possible. There are obvious issues around sex and nudity and you are there to have a professional relationship and appropriate clothing should be worn eacn siae Q15 You may sometimes encounter clients outside of work. It is best to leave these situations if at all possible be aware that in a pub environment you may both be slightly intoxicated and this increases the risk of difficulties. Even if you avoid each other you may have to use the same toilet facilities or bump into each other as you leave at the end of the night Q16 There are obvious problems with accepting gifts. Perfume can be quite expensive and is something that it is not so easy to share with the team. Even though the client is leaving there are still potential repercussions from accepting a gift. Q17 Music is something quite personal and something that you indulge in when you are outside of work. A shared love of music can bond people very quickly. This information is a chance to understand your client more, not a good issue bond with them over. Your client should like you because you are a good worker, not because of the music that you like Q18 Clearly, racist behaviour of any sort needs to be challenged; even a small level of indulgence of it can act as permission to behave in that way in the future
28 Professional Boundaries in Social Work and Social Care Q14 Clearly, being in a closed space with a client wearing only a towel should be avoided wherever possible. There are obvious issues around sex and nudity and you are there to have a professional relationship and appropriate clothing should be worn by each side. Q15 You may sometimes encounter clients outside of work. It is best to leave these situations if at all possible. Be aware that in a pub environment you may both be slightly intoxicated and this increases the risk of difficulties. Even if you avoid each other you may have to use the same toilet facilities or bump into each other as you leave at the end of the night. Q16 There are obvious problems with accepting gifts. Perfume can be quite expensive and is something that it is not so easy to ‘share with the team’. Even though the client is leaving there are still potential repercussions from accepting a gift. Q17 Music is something quite personal and something that you indulge in when you are outside of work. A shared love of music can bond people very quickly. This information is a chance to understand your client more, not a good issue to bond with them over. Your client should like you because you are a good worker, not because of the music that you like. Q18 Clearly, racist behaviour of any sort needs to be challenged; even a small level of indulgence of it can act as permission to behave in that way in the future
Chapter 3 Why do We have Boundaries? The big picture Boundaries underlie almost everything that we do within social work and exist to protect everyone involved. At the broadest level it can be said that the entire population has some involvement with or reliance on social work If you look at the bigger picture, all of the groups below should expect that a safe, professional and effective service is delivered by social care professionals. Each group needs to be protected, in different ways, from abuse, negligence or self-harm Clients: individuals who receive a service from workers and organisations. Clients can be abused by other clients or by workers, can suffer as a result of negligent workers or organisations and often need to be protected from themselves or the consequences of their behaviour. Workers: the staff wbo manage and deliver the services to clients Workers can be abused by their clients or other workers, can suffer as a result of the negligence of their team members or organisations and need to be protected from burning themselves out or from the consequences when things go wrong
29 Chapter 3 Why Do We Have Boundaries? The big picture Boundaries underlie almost everything that we do within social work and exist to protect everyone involved. At the broadest level it can be said that the entire population has some involvement with or reliance on social work. If you look at the bigger picture, all of the groups below should expect that a safe, professional and effective service is delivered by social care professionals. Each group needs to be protected, in different ways, from abuse, negligence or self-harm: • Clients: individuals who receive a service from workers and organisations. Clients can be abused by other clients or by workers, can suffer as a result of negligent workers or organisations and often need to be protected from themselves or the consequences of their behaviour. • Workers: the staff who manage and deliver the services to clients. Workers can be abused by their clients or other workers, can suffer as a result of the negligence of their team members or organisations and need to be protected from burning themselves out or from the consequences when things go wrong
PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES IN SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL CARE Organisations: charities, business and government organisations that employ and manage the workers. Organisations can suffer if their employees or clients are abused by each other, can suffer legal consequences as a result of negligence and need to understand their responsibilities to their workers and clients. Funders/stakeholders: organisations, charities, local councils and government departments that provide the money to organisations. Stakeholders need to know that their money is being well spent, that they are not paying for abusive or negligent services and that appropriate outputs and outcomes are achieved The wider community: anyone whose life could be impacted on directly or indirectly by the services that are offered. The wider community relies on the support services to protect and support themselves, friends, family and their neighbours and the community in Therefore all of these groups rely on the quality of the service provided by the workers to the clients. The quality of this service is determined by the ability of the staff and managers to work within their professional bound nies The specifics To establish a safe, supportive relationship Many of the boundaries that apply to workers' behaviour help to create a safe, open, stable, transparent relationship that is clearly based on the client's needs if a client understands what will or won't happen in given circumstances it gives them a sense of control. If the purpose of the relationship, the role that worker and client play, and he rules that govern it are clear, then the client can relax Change and uncertainty create anxiety and no one is at their best when they are anxious. Whether you want to make a client feel comfortable with you supporting them in their own home,or comfortable enough to explore difficult personal issues, boundaries provide a safe framework
30 Professional Boundaries in Social Work and Social Care • Organisations: charities, business and government organisations that employ and manage the workers. Organisations can suffer if their employees or clients are abused by each other, can suffer legal consequences as a result of negligence and need to understand their responsibilities to their workers and clients. • Funders/stakeholders: organisations, charities, local councils and government departments that provide the money to organisations. Stakeholders need to know that their money is being well spent, that they are not paying for abusive or negligent services and that appropriate outputs and outcomes are achieved. • The wider community: anyone whose life could be impacted on directly or indirectly by the services that are offered. The wider community relies on the support services to protect and support themselves, friends, family and their neighbours and the community in general. Therefore all of these groups rely on the quality of the service provided by the workers to the clients. The quality of this service is determined by the ability of the staff and managers to work within their professional boundaries. The specifics To establish a safe, supportive relationship Many of the boundaries that apply to workers’ behaviour help to create a safe, open, stable, transparent relationship that is clearly based on the client’s needs. If a client understands what will or won’t happen in given circumstances it gives them a sense of control. If the purpose of the relationship, the role that worker and client play, and the rules that govern it are clear, then the client can relax. Change and uncertainty create anxiety and no one is at their best when they are anxious. Whether you want to make a client feel comfortable with you supporting them in their own home, or comfortable enough to explore difficult personal issues, boundaries provide a safe framework
WHY DO WE HAVE BOUNDARIES? To ensure good practice and minimum standards It is important for any profession to be able to set out the standards for its members. This enables us to lay out clearly what is expected of workers and organisations and provides something to measure and evaluate them against. To build and maintain client trust As individuals and as a profession we rely on our clients trusting us Clients do place an amazing amount of trust in us, letting us into their lives, their homes and their families. Nonetheless, clients will often group all social care workers together in the same bracket, and will have certain expectations, judgements and beliefs about us. If we break boundaries and abuse clientstrust in us it will rebound not just on us and our relationship with that client. It can impact on that client 's trust and engagement with services in general and can colour other people's opinion of the Have a think about how much harm the victoria climbe did for the reputation of social workers, or what Harold Ship man did for the relationship between older patients and their doctors. Imagine how you would feel having had your trust betrayed, and how hard it would be to re-engage with a similar situation to that which led to the betrayal in the first place To ensure consistent service delivery Boundaries ensure consistency between team members and between different professionals. Being a client of social care services can be a difficult and confusing journey, particularly if with different services and workers. It helps clients if they know roughly what they can expect when they see a professional care worker To ensure tedm coherence Workers need to work together as a team and provide a united front, all working towards a common goal in a common direction. Having boundaries allows for individual working styles and personalities
Why Do We Have Boundaries? 31 To ensure good practice and minimum standards It is important for any profession to be able to set out the standards for its members. This enables us to lay out clearly what is expected of workers and organisations and provides something to measure and evaluate them against. To build and maintain client trust As individuals and as a profession we rely on our clients trusting us. Clients do place an amazing amount of trust in us, letting us into their lives, their homes and their families. Nonetheless, clients will often group all social care workers together in the same bracket, and will have certain expectations, judgements and beliefs about us. If we break boundaries and abuse clients’ trust in us it will rebound not just on us and our relationship with that client. It can impact on that client’s trust and engagement with services in general and can colour other people’s opinion of the profession. Have a think about how much harm the Victoria Climbié case did for the reputation of social workers, or what Harold Shipman did for the relationship between older patients and their doctors. Imagine how you would feel having had your trust betrayed, and how hard it would be to re-engage with a similar situation to that which led to the betrayal in the first place. To ensure consistent service delivery Boundaries ensure consistency between team members and between different professionals. Being a client of social care services can be a difficult and confusing journey, particularly if with different services and workers. It helps clients if they know roughly what they can expect when they see a professional care worker. To ensure team coherence Workers need to work together as a team and provide a united front, all working towards a common goal in a common direction. Having boundaries allows for individual working styles and personalities