| This phenomenological study explored professional social work boundaries from a constructive-developmental perspective. The study proposed that individual social workers-practitioners and educators alike-understand professional boundaries in unique ways resulting in diverse interpretations of professional social work boundaries.;Using the subject-object interview (SOI) protocol and development theory of educational psychologist Robert Kegan, individual interviews were conducted with ten social workers-five practitioners and five educators-to explore how they make meaning of professional boundaries.;Several themes emerged from the interviews. Social workers who operated from a less complex developmental order were tightly connected to clients, authority figures, and rules. Their ability to critically process boundary challenges was bound by policy and approval from others; including past professors, supervisors, clients, and parents. All these participants were direct practice social workers situated at a socialized order of consciousness.;Conversely, the social workers who made meaning at a more complex order relied on their own values, were decisive, and assumed that others operated from a similar perspective. All the participants who operated at a self-authoring order of consciousness had current or previous experience conducting ethics and boundaries workshops and teaching social work courses at the college level.;Implications from this study suggest that ethics and boundary trainings, presented by highly developed educators, may be too complex for practitioners at lower levels of developmental complexity. Practitioners operating at the socialized order of consciousness expect to be told "what to do" by those in authority. Educators situated in the fourth order and beyond assume others can employ critical thinking skills, consider the viewpoints of others, and confidently come to conclusions.;This is important research as the social work profession continues to struggle with how best to teach and uphold professional boundaries while protecting the numerous stakeholders involved in professional client/worker relationships. The results from this study can inform curriculum development and continuing education efforts. Furthermore, this study suggests continued research into boundary crossings and violations using a constructive-developmental framework with the ultimate goal of protecting individual social workers, clients, agencies, and the profession. |
