Youth workers as professionals: managing dual relationships and maintaining boundaries

The 'dual relationships problem' is a term used across the professions to talk about potential difficulties that can arise when a practitioner has a professional relationship with someone, but also another kind of relationship with the same person which has different (and perhaps conflicting) obligations and expectations (Corey et al. 2007). The problem was first identified in the ethics of medicine, around treating a family member: the concern was that strong emotional feelings might impair professional judgement and decision-making (Cook and Hoas 2001). However, it is just as important in youth work. A young person may work at the hair salon which a youth worker uses, or go to their church, or routinely end up at the same nightclub. In these situations, the roles and rules can easily become confused (Gottlieb 993), and the boundaries start to shift and become uncertain. The sites where this may emerge are expanding all the time with the advent of social networking sites and the possibility of out-of-work 'friend'-type contacts online.This chapter will outline some typical situations involving dual relationships, explore what can go wrong in such situations, and offer guidance on how to minimise problems when dual relationships cannot be avoided.