Answer to Question #227944 in Management for Suku

Question

Scenario #3

Sergio was removed from his biological parents at age 10 due to abuse and neglect and lived in foster homes until his mother was able to regain custody of him when he was 15. Sergio is now a case manager through a social service agency. When he is assigned the case of Jonathan Chavez, he sees many similarities between Jonathan’s history and his own. During his initial meeting with Jonathan’s parents, Sergio discloses many details about his own history and informs the parents of the steps his mother went through, including inpatient rehab, intensive therapy, and taking psychotropic medication, that helped her turn her life around. Based on what he has read in previous social worker reports, he informs Jonathan’s mother that she “sounds a lot like my mom” and suggests that she be evaluated for psychotropic meds. 

Discuss the boundary issue in each of the above scenarios. Explain the correct way it could have been handled in order to respect boundaries.

Answer 1

Scenario #3

The first boundary issue is the fact that Sergio perceived to see many similarities between Jonathan's history and his own which posed the challenge of conflict of interest .Sergio was not going to be objective in offering his services. He was influenced by his past and how it is similar to Jonathan's case to make conclusions .Rather than treat Jonathan's case as a special case and handle it professionally ,Sergio makes judgement on the case based on his own past. The correct way of handling this case to respect boundaries was to refrain from comparing Jonathan's case and his or transferring the case to another person with no conflict of interest.

Sergio disclosing many details about his history was a breach of professional boundary .His narration about his past was uncalled for as it served no clear purpose. In no way was his history going to help the client. Sergio discloses many details about his own history and informs the parents of the steps his mother went through, including inpatient rehab, intensive therapy, and taking psychotropic medication, that helped her turn her life around. In the way he expressed this it sounded intensive and may instill fear in Jonathan's parents of how the process is hard and demanding. The best way to handle this and respect boundaries was to mention vaguely his history in a positive way to encourage Jonathan's parent that however difficult the situation might seem ,in the end they stand a chance to resolve the matter.

 Sergio breached a professional boundary when he pointed out loudly to Jonathan's mother that she sounded a lot like his mum. This was unprofessional of him as he sounded judgemental by comparing his mother with Jonathan's mother. That statement could have a negative effect on the client .The correct way to handle this in order to respect boundaries was never to make such kind of comparative statement in the first place.

Sergio made a conclusion on the case by reading other reports that are not related to the case .He concluded that Jonathan's mother to be evaluated for psychotropic medicine without basing his conclusion on the real situation at hand. The best way to handle this to respect boundaries was to stick to the situation at hand .He was to to do this by reading only the report on the provided case and making conclusion based on it and not other unrelated reports he had read or his personal history.