ABSTRACT
Social workers – including clinicians, community organizers, policy makers, supervisors, researchers, administrators, students, and educators – often encounter circumstances that pose actual or potential boundary issues. Boundary issues occur when social workers face possible conflicts of interest in the form of what have become known as dual or multiple relationships (Congress, 1996; Kagle & Giebelhausen, 1994; Lazarus & Zur, 2002; Reamer, 2012; Strom-Gottfried, 1999; Zur, 2017). Dual or multiple relationships occur when professionals engage with clients or colleagues in more than one relationship, whether social, sexual, religious, or business (St. Germaine, 1993, 1996). Dual or multiple relationships can occur in the context of face-to-face and online relationships. Norms pertaining to boundary issues vary significantly across the globe; in addition to international differences, there is noteworthy variation within nations based on ethnic, cultural, religious, and geographic differences, among others.
