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Abstract
Many factors influence concerns about boundaries in social workerclient relationships, including personal and professional ethics and values, legal regulations, theories of practice, and litigation. In response to these concerns, social work has embraced structures of professional relationships that may disempower our clients.
In this article, we discuss the historical and theoretical origins of the concept of boundaries and review factors leading to current concerns about boundary violations. We then examine boundaries in the context of the patriarchal “distance model” of social workerclient relationships (Greenspan, 1995), contrasting it with a feminist “relational” model. We conclude with two brief case illustrations and issues for further reflection.
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