Sexual Misconduct

• Author: Marilyn J. Samuels/Elayne M. Tanner
• Pages: 114-130

Chapter

12

Sexual

Misconduct

Social work

is a

helping profession.

The

social

work relationship

is

meant

to

enhance

the

functioning

of

clients

in

various walks

of

life.

It is

difficult

for

social workers

to

acknowledge, therefore, that

for the

client this relationship

can

pose

as

much

of a risk of

sexual abuse

as any

other relationship.

Although

sexual misconduct

by

social

workers

is

rarely discussed

or

admit-

ted,

it is not as

uncommon

as we

would like

to

believe. Derek Jehu states,

"In

malpractice lawsuits against therapists, sexual exploitation

of

patients

is a

leading

complaint."1

Robert Barker

and

Douglas Branson report that "the

second most common conduct resulting

in

malpractice

claims

occurs

when

social workers engage

in

sexual relationships with their

clients."

As

they

point

out,

the

problem

is not

exclusive

to

social work,

but is so

widespread

that

"all mental health professionals' codes

of

ethical conduct

now

include

specific

prohibition against sexual relations with

clients."2

In

fact,

as

Ken-

neth

Pope

and

Melba

Vasquez indicate, "Dual relationships, particularly

sexual

dual relationships, account

for the

largest share

of

formal complaints

against

psychologists, whether those complaints

are

filed with

the

civil

courts, licensing boards,

or

ethics

committees."3

A

dual relationship, defined

as

a

relationship where

a

person

fulfills

more than

one

role

for

another per-

son,

was

first

discussed

in

chapter

9,

Confidentiality,

and is

discussed more

fully

later

in

this chapter.

Principle VIII

of the

College's

Standards

of

Practice Handbook reads

as

follows:

1.

D.

Jehu, Patients

as

Victims:

Sexual Abuse

in

Psychotherapy

and

Counselling (New

York:

John Wiley

&

Sons, 1994)

at

152.

2.

R.L. Barker

and D.M

Branson, Forensic Social

Work:

Legal Aspects

of

Professional

Practice

(New York:

Haworth

Press, 1993)

at 33.

3. K.

Pope

and M.

Vasquez, Ethics

in

Psychotherapy

and

Counselling (San

Francisco:

Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998)

at 33.

114

SEXUAL

MISCONDUCT

115

The

influence

of the

helping

relationship upon clients

is

pervasive

and

may

endure long after

the

relationship

has

terminated. College members

are

aware

of the

potential

for

conflict

of

interest

and

abusive treatment

of

clients within

the

helping

relationship.

Behaviour

of a

sexual nature

by

a

College member toward

a

client

represents

an

abuse

of

power

in the

helping

relationship.

College

members

do not

engage

in

behaviour

of a

sexual

nature with

clients.

More than perhaps

any

other topic covered

by the

College's standards

of

practice,

the

topic

of

sexual misconduct

is

fraught

with ambiguities

and

sub-

ject

to

diverse interpretations.

A.

Responsibility

of the

Social

Worker

Principle VIII includes nine interpretive sections, which will

now be

exam-

ined.4

8.1

College members

are

solely responsible

for

ensuring that sexual

misconduct

does

not

occur.

Because

of the

nature

of the

social

worker-client

relationship,

no

matter

how

much

the

social worker believes

and

tries

to

assure

the

client that

the

client

is

viewed

by the

social worker

as an

equal, there

is

always

an

inherent

inequality.

To a

great extent, this inequality exists because

of the

trust that

the

client must

put in the

social worker, whether

the

relationship

is

manda-

tory

or

voluntary.

The

social

worker-client

relationship

is

always based

on

client need, which inevitably leads

to

inequity

and

client compliance.

As

Cynthia Bisman tells

us,

"fiduciary relationships emanate

from

the

trust

that clients must place

in

professionals. Because professionals have

knowledge

and use

techniques that require special expertise, clients must

trust

workers

to act in

their best

interest."5

Simply put,

a fiduciary

obligation

is

defined

as "a

special

duty

to

care

for the

welfare

of

one's

clients

or

patients.6

With this

in

mind,

we can see

that sexual contact between client

and

social worker

is

much

the

same

as

sexual abuse

of a

child. There

is a

power differential, with

the

social worker

in the

more

powerful

position

—

not

unlike

the

relationship between

an

adult

and a

child. Because

of

this

4.

Interpretation

2.2

("Integrity")

is

also relevant

to

sexual misconduct,

but is not

discussed

in

this chapter.

5. C.

Bisman, Social

Work

Practice: Cases

and

Principles

(Pacific

Grove,

CA:

Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1994)

at 6.

6. W.

Pryzwansky

and R.

Wendt,

Professional

and

Ethical

Issues

in

Psychology

(New

York,

NY:

W.W. Norton

&

Company, 1999)

at

125.