Friendship Vs Professional Relationship Analysis

In Managing Social Service Staff for Excellence, Nancy Summers (2010) provides a list of “The Differences between a Professional Relationship and a Friendship” (p. 192). The very first item on the list states that a professional relationship puts the client first; whereas in a friendship, “each friend gives the support to the other” (p. 192). Hepworth, et al. (2013) also supports this by stating that professional boundaries intend to make “the client’s interest the primary focus” (p. 71). From my perspective, this is the main difference between a professional and personal relationship. As my field instructor has pointed out, in a professional relationship, it’s about the client’s needs. As social workers, we should not try to get anything

A client may expect a social worker of the same gender to agree with their own perspective. For example, in a couple going to marriage counseling with a female social worker, the wife may expect the social worker to take her side, while the husband may expect to receive little support. A social worker could also push how they feel about their gender on a client. For example, a female social worker may not approve of how a female client dresses and expect the client to dress the way she does or did at that client’s age. A client who is from the same culture as the social worker may expect the social worker to follow cultural norms, even if those norms are not in line with the NASW’s Code of Ethics. A social worker with a similar cultural background as a client may only offer certain resources, assuming the client will only accept resources that fit into the culture. Clients in the same age bracket as a social worker may feel the social worker is more of a friend and the social worker may find it difficult to earn the respect of a

The clients I currently work with are young female mothers in the foster care system. The clients all currently live in independent living, but have not yet been emancipated. I have had positive and negative experiences involving both age and culture. Because I am approximately only eight years older than the clients (and many of them initially assumed I was even younger), the clients were willing to be open with me. I believe that it was partially due to the small age gap that a client specifically requested to have individual sessions with me. However, I have also had issues with being so close in age to the clients. Things that the clients say, such as curse words, they will try to hide from my supervisor or another older intern. They will whisper it or attempt to say it when neither of them is in the room. Yet, when I am there, they will blatantly say whatever they want. I understand that this and other issues that I have encountered are due to lack of respect. While they are willing to trust and open up to me, I have found it difficult to receive respect from this group of clients because they see me as someone in their age